We, in Cyprus, waste a lot of precious water.
These Ten Commandments are to help the ordinary man and woman
conserve this resource to avoid the rigours of water rationing,
without losing any quality of life. Please, do remember that it does
not matter whether the water comes from a mains supply or from a
well or borehole; water from a local water table may be the same as
used to fill a potable water supply or used by a farmer to grow your
vegetables. If you waste this “free” water, you will be depriving
others unnecessarily. A word of advice for any householder: have a
look at your water bills over the past year. Add up the quantity
consumed and divide by the number of persons in the household. Add
in the quantity of non-potable water bought in for the garden and
water drawn from the well. If you don’t have a garden, the rule of
thumb should be a maximum of about
50 m3 . With a
small garden (<
300 m² ),
75 m3
would be reasonable. Large lawns and swimming pools are water sinks.
These commandments boil down to a simple phrase:
do not waste water from any
source.
1.
Never hose down the pavement or
road outside your house. The pathways, verandas etc.
inside your property may be brushed as often as you like and
mopped down once a week from a bucket (and use the dirty water
afterwards to water your pot plants: they love a dash of
detergent in it, too, but no bleach!)
2.
Do not wash your car with a
hose. Use a large-scale carwash company that recycles
its water in a cascade system. If you must do it yourself, use a
sponge and buckets (and use the dirty water afterwards to water
your pot plants: they love a dash of detergent in it, too!)
3.
If you run a bath, don’t wait
for the hot water to run before you put the plug in. If
you wait for the hot water before filling it, you will only have
to add cold water later, having wasted the water in the pipes.
4.
Brush your teeth in the cold
water while you are waiting for the hot water to come through,
before washing face or hands.
5.
Shut the tap off in the bathroom
while you are soaping and open it again only when you
are ready to rinse off. This applies at both the wash-hand basin
and in the shower.
6.
Put a wet sand-filled plastic
bottle in your toilet cistern, if you do not have
economy types. This will reduce the volume of water used at each
flush. The size and shape of the bottle should suit the cistern
design so as not to interfere with the ball cock mechanism. Some
cisterns may be better with two small bottles than with one
large one. Generally, one litre of water less will not reduce
the quality of the flush.
7.
Use the economy switch on your
dishwasher and clothes washer. Many washing machines
have an economy cycle without a pre-rinse. If the dishes and
garments are not too dirty, use this. Never run a machine which
is not fully loaded; it is better to wait until there are more
dishes or clothes so that the machine is at a reasonable
capacity.
8.
In the summer, do not irrigate
your garden more than once a day. It is bad for the
root development of your plants, as well as doubling the water
loss through evapotranspiration.
Water only in the evening, after the plants are no longer in
direct sunlight. Spray systems cause water loss through
evaporation before the water even reaches the plant; use drip,
jet or flooding methods instead, as close to the roots as
possible. Note that seedlings may require a small morning
watering as well, until they develop their roots.
9.
Don’t irrigate established fruit
or ornamental trees. Once
a tree is about six or seven years old, its roots should
normally have developed deep enough to find their own water.
Water them only if they show signs of suffering. Younger trees
may require watering copiously once per week or even twice in
exceptionally hot, dry weather.
10.
If you are building or
renovating a house, put in a grey water system.
This will cost a few hundred pounds extra but will halve your
water consumption.