Conserving Water

Changes in the way we live our lives, population growth and climate change are placing increasing demands on our water supplies. It’s important that we do not take this precious resource for granted and that we all use water wisely to ensure that there is enough for everyone in years to come.

Start now and not only will you be doing your bit to ease the pressure on our reservoirs and underground aquifers, but you could even save money if you are hooked up to a water meter.

So how much water do we use?

• In the UK, every person uses  an average of 155 litres of water a day - that is roughly 70% more than 30 years ago!

• In developing countries each person uses only 20 litres a day

• 1/3 of household water is used to flush the toilet

• On average, people flush the toilet 5.2 times a day.

• Washing machines and dishwashers used over 500 billion litres of water in the UK in 2000 alone (94% was used by washing machines). Recent predictions show that consumption is set to rise by an additional 100 billion litres by the year 2020.

• Just taking a five minute shower very day, instead of a bath, will use a third of the water, saving up to 400 litres a week.

• A dripping tap could waste as much as 90 litres a week.

Buying a water butt

A staggering 100,000 litres of rainwater falls on the roof of each home every year. Nearly all of this goes straight down the drain,  when all you need to do is catch it.
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You can buy a water butt from most garden centres or DIY stores and it’s easy to fit one to the downpipe from your guttering. Next time there’s a hosepipe ban and not a cloud in the sky, your garden will thank you for a soaking.

Where can I install a water butt?

You can install a water butt next to the down pipe of your house or any garden building that has a system of gutters, such as a shed, greenhouse, conservatory or outdoor office. If the structure does not have the necessary pipe work, it might be worth adding them to help you save water.

How to do it

Follow the instructions supplied with the butt to ensure your model is installed in the correct way. Generally, there are two main ways of fitting a water butt in your garden. You can remove the lower part of a down pipe, so the upper part runs directly into a butt placed beneath it, adding an overflow pipe to take excess water away to the drain.

Alternatively, stand the butt to one side of the downpipe and saw out a section of the down pipe with a hacksaw. Fit a rain diverter over the cut area to channel water into the butt. Once it is full, any excess water will go directly into the downpipe.

When installing a butt, make sure the tap is facing forward and there’s enough room underneath it to fill a watering can comfortably – a height of 38cm from the ground should be ideal. To ensure it remains stable, site the butt on level ground, placing it on a paving slab if necessary. Large, upright water butts may need securing to brackets drilled into the wall.

If you have the space you could consider connecting several butts together with a linking kit to increase the amount you can store. When one butt is full the water will automatically flow into the next.

See our picture guide in how to install a water butt…

Keeping the water fresh

If your water butt remains covered you should have no problems at all, but if it smells or you have a floating layer of algae, scum or slime on top, add a few drops of Biotal Refresh (available from garden centres) to keep the water clean.

Sometimes algae grows in the water, but avoid using chemicals to get rid of it as they won’t be good for wildlife. You can scoop it out by hand, or even empty the whole lot every now and then and give it a good scrub.

If you don’t put a lid on your butt, remove leaves and twigs regularly and put in a plank so that animals can climb out.