Reduce Water Consumption

The information on this web page has been adapted from a factsheet provided by Northumbrian Water Limited.

Water - a vital resource

Water is precious and vital to all life on our planet. But, there is only a limited amount of it. The water that we use today is the same water that has always been here. The same water the dinosaurs drank, bathed or swam in.

Two-thirds of the planet is covered in water but only a tiny portion of all the water you see in the satellite pictures looking back at earth is actually drinkable water - 3%. And, of that 3% the majority is locked in icecaps and glaciers so that the actual amount of drinkable water available on earth is about 1% of what you can see from space or on maps.

Water is a limited resource but we are all using more and more of it. A household in Britain today uses 70% more water than it did 30 years ago. We all have many time and labour saving devices in our homes that use more water than their "old fashioned" counterparts.

Water - why do we all take it for granted?

Most of us don't even think about water. We turn on the tap or flush the loo and there it is - as much or as little as we like. Imagine if you had to collect your water every day (remember 1 litre of water weighs 1 kilogram or 2.2lb), or if you had to dispose of your own sewage (what on earth would you do with it all?).
It is important that we all remember that treatment and provision of clean, safe water for us to drink, delivered to and taken from our houses and places of work or leisure, uses valuable natural resources. The more water we use, the more other resources we also consume and more waste products are produced.

We all need to use water more sensibly and try to waste less water. Not necessarily use less but definitely waste less - there is a big difference. Let me explain. We all use far more water than we realise just going about our day to day lives. Below is a list of things we all do everyday. The list is by no means exhaustive; there are lots of other ways we use water in our communities. Try completing the grid below and see just how much water you get through in a day!

How much water do you use?

Stage 1 - How many times do you do any of the following things in one day?

Activity	Number of Times	Total
Go to the toilet
Have a bath
Use a normal shower
Use a power shower
Brush teeth & wash hands (not under a running tap)
Brush teeth & wash hands (under a running tap)
Cook and make drinks
Wash the dishes by hand
Use a dishwasher
Use a washing machine
Use a hosepipe
Use a garden sprinkler (per hour)

Stage 2 - Now fill in the boxes below and work out how much water you use on average in the bathroom, kitchen or garden each day.

Activity	Average amount of water used (litres)	Multiplied by	Number of times each day (from previous table)	Equals	Daily Total
Go to the toilet	9	X		=
Have a bath	80	X		=
Have an ordinary shower	35	X		=
Have a power shower *	70	X		=
Brush teeth & wash hands (not under a running tap)	10	X		=
Brush teeth & wash hands (under a running tap)	15	X		=
Cook & make drinks	10	X		=
Wash the dishes by hand	6	X		=
Use a dishwasher	35	X		=
Use a washing machine	80	X		=
Use a garden hose	150	X		=
Use a garden sprinkler	650	X		=
* 5 minutes (minimum 70 litres maximum 200 litres)				Grand Total of Water used by you each day

It's a surprisingly large amount isn't it? - And that's just for you

How many people live in your home? And all this, all of your household's water and sewerage needs, delivered to and taken from your door, for just ..........54p* per day! What can you buy for that?
(* Based on 2000/2001 figures)

Picture this.....

In the North East, on average, each and every one of us uses 145 litres of water per day! Not many of us can imagine what 145 litres of water actually looks like but can you picture this?

almost two baths full
or 255 pint bottles of milk, or beer if you prefer
18 buckets of water
or 439 averaged sized cans of pop

That amount of water is also a heavy and bulky commodity. 145 litres of water weighs 145 kilograms. In other words the equivalent of 145 standard bags of sugar or the people in a small family!

But there are others in your communities who need water too. Every aspect of our day to day lives involves water to some extent in the manufacture of goods, in cleaning, in transport, in farming, food preparation, providing power etc.

Industry uses water to make the goods we consume - for instance, did you know that it takes 15,000 litres of water to produce one car or that it takes 7 litres of water to make 1 litre of beer?

Farming uses water for both crops and animals - did you know that a cow drinks 90 litres of water per day?

Wildlife uses water as homes and habitats. Use more water and there is less for plants and animals to live in. Pollute the water and you can destroy the wildlife and damage their environment.

Leisure activities use water in a variety of ways - swimming, sailing, fishing and other watersports all require lots of water.

Landscapes just wouldn't be the same without water - from village pond to the river's Tyne, Tees and Wear; they all form an integral part of Northumbria.

New developments all need water - changing living habits and population growth mean that there are likely to be 4.4 million extra homes in Britain by 2016.

Climate change means that the water cycle is also changing. Predictions of lower rainfall and hotter summers mean that there will be less water available for all of these competing uses.


Home \| What's New \| Contact Us \| Site Map \| A-Z \| FAQs \| Accessibility \| Text Only \| Useful Links \| Help