Our water storages are now at 33.6% of capacity which is 118 billion litres lower than the same time last year, when they were 40.3% (715.2 billion litres) full.
The good news is that average daily water consumption was 1,028 million litres which was 83 million litres less than the previous week, and below the 1990s spring average of 1,246 million litres a day.
The weekly update concluded by saying Melbourne’s water authorities are encouraging four-minute showers and providing a free showerhead exchange program to help save more water ahead of summer.
So, how much am I saving ahead of summer by daily sponge-bathing and a weekly bath?
Equipped with a bucket and a stopwatch, my daughters and I worked out the flow rate of our shower. Luckily my oldest daughter is a whiz at working out equations such as what the per minute flowrate of the shower would be if a 12 litre bucket fills in 46 seconds (Answer: almost 16 litres per minute*).
Assuming I stick to the four minute shower in the morning and have a quick two minute one in the evening (and this is a big assumption...as sometimes the water is just so nice and warm, and the thinking time just too irresistible...but go with me on this one) I'm using a total of 96 litres per day just in the shower.
My sponge bath option uses just 4 litres in a basin twice a day, plus I'll add an extra 8 litres four times a week to wash my hair over the hand basin. This averages to about 12.5 litres a day.
Where the 1930s figures start to blow out though is in the weekly bath. If I was being scrupulous about water-saving I'd only put a few centimetres into the bottom of the bath. But if it's the only bath I'm going to have all week, I know I'll be tempted to fill it to a reasonable level so I can soak. This could mean up to 200 litres.
Even with the deep soaking bath option, my 1930s regime uses a total of 287.5 litres a week compared with the showering 672 litres per week.
Over the course of a year, I would save almost 20,000 litres.
I tried to think of a way to graphically represent that amount of water, then it came to me.
20,000 litres is about two-thirds the volume of our swimming pool.
Of course, if I just swam every day I could avoid the whole sponging/showering dilemma totally. It may be a chilly option in winter, my skin would dry out and I would smell of chlorine rather than soap, but I guess it's an option.
What are you prepared to do to save water?
*Please do not hesitate to correct me if any of my maths is wrong - it's been known to happen. And, I've now realised that this showerhead flowrate is excessive. A water-efficient shower head has a flowrate of less than 9 litres per minute. I will be looking at swapping to a water-efficient one.
Thursday...I shall report on 'bath day'.
6 comments:
We have made two major decisions - one not to put in a pool and the other to install a 5000 lt water tank. Now you would think that our water bills would have plummeted but no.
My theory is that this is directly related to the fact that our daughters are now teenagers and therefore obsessed with their appearance. Just think how bad it would have been if we had put in the pool and not the water tank!
Oh god, I just hate to think how much water Master 8 and I consume a day... I'm thinking at least 160litres in showers. I feel so ashamed, and yet clean at the same time.
I admire your following through with this experiment. Not sure if I could do it. For me it would be like dieting. After not having ice cream or sweets for a month or two, I would probably eat twice as many. Defeating the purpose of dieting in the first place. Although I know what it is like to live without many things, I am so spoiled these days. It is still very good practice to try different ways of living. Have great day!
Wow - that's a lot of water to save Good on you.
Californians in my neck of the woods are profligate with their water. Every minute of every single day, wasted drinking water flows down the gutters in our street, the result of over-watered lawns, washing cars and driveways with the hose, and total lack of knowledge or concern that the entire state is in drought.
They are gobsmacked to hear about water restrictions in Oz, dual-flush loos and water-saving practices. I saw on the telly recently that Americans use 12 times as much water per day, per person, as Australians. And there are 300 million of them!
Thanks for this there's some really interesting statistics there.
We have no water shortage problems at the moment in the UK. Quite the opposite! However we are still encouraged not to waste water. I think it's really about getting into the habit of valuing our resources and just not wasting them regardless of whether it's a time of plenty. Who knows what will happen in the future with global warming.
Water meters are now installed in houses, so you pay for what you use rather than in older houses where you pay a standard rate regardless of what you use. This means people are more careful about using water. We also have dual flush loos and our water companies encourage you to put a sort of water saving pack in the cistern that reduces the amount of water it refills.
Showers are encouraged to save water but the trend towards power showers over the last few years defeats the object. We've taken ours out and just have a normal shower and I like it better.
Using the shower doesn't just save water, it saves heating costs too which are significant in our climate. Gas, now there's another expensive bill!
At least with a bath, its easy to bucket the water out and put it on the garden.
Just 'cos its easy, doesn't mean I do it though....
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