Our fresh water supply is limited and even more so now that in Catalonia we are in drought pre-alert after two months without rain. If the reservoirs fall below 40% of their capacity, restrictions may begin to be decreed. Currently, they are at 56%.
Water is one of the earth's most valuable resources, so it is important to use water-saving techniques every day that will be reflected in both our water bill and our lifestyle.
Conserving this resource means using our limited water supply wisely and taking good care, because each of us depends on it for survival.
There are many reasons why we should conserve water: it ensures food production, protects our ecosystems, plants and animals, minimizes the effects of drought and water scarcity, and helps protect our environment.
We can all make lifestyle changes to reduce water consumption.
What can we do?
From Espígul we propose a list of actions that will allow you to save water at home and that will help you to start a new culture characterized by prioritizing the saving and efficiency of this valuable resource.
- Take a shower instead of a bath. Avoid bathing often, since filling the bathtub wastes between 100 and 140 litres, even more depending on the size of the bathtub, while taking a shower saves 70%. You can even use a timer to make sure you don't spend more than 5 minutes in the shower to save water.
- Turn off the facets when you do not use water. Turn it off whenever you soap your hands, brush your teeth, wash the dishes... (open facets can lose up to 12 litres per minute). Use water rationally and do not waste more water than necessary.
- Repair facets or small water leaks as soon as you detect them. If a facet or cistern leaks water, notify a technician, since a facet that leaks one drop per second has a loss of 1000 litres per month. We recommend you to carry out a preventive maintenance of the installations and the facets to avoid it.
- Wait until the washing machine is full and select the appropriate program, as this can reduce your electricity and electricity bill. When washing clothes, fully load the washing machine and set cold water programs (snowflake or eco). The short programs of the washing machine are the ones that consume more energy.
- The toilet is not a wastebasket. Flush the toilet only when necessary and avoid flushing things that do not belong in the toilet such as toothpicks, cigarette butts, etc. Some of this waste can contaminate drinking water.
- Every time we wait for the shower water to heat up, we waste liters and liters of water. Why not put a bucket and use that water for something else? To water, to wash the dishes... You can also install outdoor tanks to store rainwater and use it later.
- Wash the car in the car wash or with a sponge and a bucket, instead of with a hose. You will save up to 350 liters of water per wash.
- Washing dishes by hand, leaving the water running while doing so, is one of the most wasteful actions. If you don't have a dishwasher, fill both sinks, one for soaping and one for rinsing. You can save up to 115 litres.
If you want to go further, you can opt for the installation of various devices and devices that allow you to maximize water efficiency to enhance your saving habits and customs. Adapting cisterns, showers and faucets allows you to save large amounts of water and, therefore, also money.
As a result, you can also opt for low-consumption cisterns, low-flow showerheads, mixer taps and washing machines with low-consumption programs to help you regulate consumption and save water.
Turn these gestures into habits and apply them not only at home, but also at work and when traveling. Do you think you will be able to put them into practice?