NI Water campaign encourages public to reduce water use

NI Water campaign encourages public to reduce water use

24 July 2019

NORTHERN Ireland Water is appealing to people across the district to be smarter with how they use water.

The organisation has launched a new campaign encouraging people to adopt lifelong habits designed to help protect the environment and one of the planet’s most precious resources — water. 

NI Water’s environmental outreach and learning officer, Anna Killen, said people can save water by looking at everyday habits and seeing where they can be changed.

She said there are some excellent examples of people saving water in their everyday lives, from turning off the tap when they brush their teeth, to washing clothes with a full load in a washing machine. 

“We are calling for everyone to adopt these simple habits into their everyday lives,” said Anna. “Waterbutts are also a great way to save water around the garden. A waterbutt collects rainwater and can be used for watering plants, filling ponds, washing windows and cars.”

NI Water’s tips for consumers to save water includes turning off off the tap when brushing teeth, explaining that a running tap can use six litres of water per minute. 

Shortening the time in the shower can save seven litres of water a minute, while those who like to keep their car clean are asked to ditch the hose and use a bucket and sponge.

In the garden, the advice is use a watering can as, incredibly, a sprinkler can use as much as 1,000 litres of clean drinking water in a single hour, that’s more than a family of four would use in a whole day. If you have to water the garden, NI Water suggests using water from the kids’ paddling pool.

In the kitchen, the advice is to use a a bowl for washing vegetables and, when it comes to laundry time, use full load washing machine programmes. NI Water says half load programmes use more than half the water and energy of a full load.

And turning off the tap while washing hands or shaving can save over six litres of water every minute. Householders are also advised to fix leaking taps as a dripping tap can waste more than 60 litres of water per week. 

Other key advice is chill water in the fridge and don’t run it from the tap until it gets cold and only fill the kettle with only as much water as you need. This not only saves water but energy.

NI Water says that although the planet is covered in water, only one percent of it is actually drinkable, that’s why it’s essential to conserve water now for the future generation of water users.