water waste at home

The apartment I live in is located on Anzac Parade, and has been used for over ten years. Since most equipment and furniture are quite old, plenty of unsustainable issues take place at home. For example, we attempt to close the taps every time we finish using water, but leaks still happen.

One or two drops may not seem like much at first glance, but imagine, a large deal of water could be wasted over a long period of time. According to the institution of Sydney-sustainable Living, one leaking tap can waste up to 3L in an hour, that is 2000L in a month. It is necessary to fix leaking taps or replace washers as soon as taps/shower heads begin to drip. Moreover, similar issues could happen in the toilet. Placing a sheet of dry paper at the back of the bowl could be a quick way to find out whether there is a leak. Fortunately, in my bathroom, the paper remains dry between flushes, which indicates the toilet does not drip.

On the website hunterwater.com, water usage in each household (including waste water) could be calculated, in accordance with your daily activities. In my calculation, the total amount of water used annually is approximately 339 kL, which indicates 232L water is used by each member per day. The amount is below the average usage (300L/day), but it is only because we do not have gardens and cars. Except the 500L water waste per week, caused by dripping tap, inefficient shower is another problem. On average, more than 25% of household water use is for showering. The standard shower equipped in my apartment rose supplies up to 20L every minute. However, if a low flow shower is installed, only 9L or less water will be used per minute. In addition, an 8-minute shower for each member of my household might be too long. Hope we could try to shorten it to 4 minutes, as recommended. It could not only save water, but save on the energy cost associated with heating water.

In the next blog, I would discuss the WELS Star Rating Scheme.

Reference: 

http://www.sydney-sustainableliving.com/learn-explore-grow/saving-water/

http://www.hunterwater.com.au/Save-Water/Water-Usage-Calculator.aspx