be Water Wise with Ariel
water saving tips
Try these top water saving tips – you’ll be surprised at just how easy it is to save precious water...
In the Kitchen...
Stock up
A typical cooking pot will hold around 4 litres of water, so once you’ve boiled your veggies, why not re-use the water to make stocks or soups. Or, pour it on your garden when it’s cooled!
Washed up
Washing up using a running tap use 9 litres or water per minute whereas the average washing up bowl uses 8 litres of water each time. So use a washing up bowl to do your dishes instead of just a running tap and you’ll save water.
Sparkling asparagus
Similarly, by washing your fruit and vegetables in a bowl rather than under a running tap, you will cut down on water waste effortlessly. And, as an added bonus, you can use the leftover water to feed your houseplants.
Forget the pre-wash
Using detergent with advanced cleaning technology like Ariel means you’ll no longer have to pre-wash your load, meaning you’ll use less water. By reducing the need to pre-wash, together we could save nearly 100 million litres of water every week!
Chill out
Fill a jug with tap water and leave it to cool in your fridge. This way you don't have to run the tap for ages just to get a cold drink.
In the Bathroom...
Feeling flush
If you don’t have a dual flush toilet, place a hippo or save-a-flush bag into the cistern to save around one litre per flush. Alternatively just fill a bottle with water and put it in your cistern. If everybody made this one small change together we could save 300 million litres of water.
Switch off while you lather
The average shower uses 9 litres of water every minute. If you consider that half the time we spend in the shower is spent avoiding the water while we soap up – switching off whilst you lather will mean big water savings.
Give water waste the brush off
Turning the tap off while brushing your teeth can save up to 10 litres of water each time – more than 500,000 litres over a lifetime.
Water babies
Start your kids off early by teaching them simple water saving tips like turning taps off and showering rather than bathing where ever possible. It’s easier to get them started early than try to change habits later.
To flush or not to flush?
Try to avoid flushing away cotton balls, make-up tissues and those pesky spiders. Flushing them down the loo means wasting around 9 litres of water each time, so throwing them in the bin will massively reduce water waste.
In the House & Garden...
Invest in a butt
A water butt is the ideal way to catch and store some of the rain, so that on drier days, you have water for use on your garden. Water butts are available cheaply from most DIY centres, your local council or local water company.
Stop those drips
A dripping tap wastes at least 5,500 litres of water a year: that's enough water wasted to fill a paddling pool every week for the whole summer.
Soak, don't sprinkle
Giving your plants' roots a good soaking once or twice a week in dry weather is much better than lightly watering them every day because most of that water just evaporates away. Do remember, though, that new plantlings do need regular watering until they are established.
Water wise
Water your garden first thing in the morning or in the evening – the cooler temperatures means less evaporates, saving water.
Be prepared
Check out where your main stop valve is and make sure that you can turn it on and off. If ever a pipe bursts, you'll know how to cut off the flow straight away.
The bucket and sponge approach
Rather than washing your car with a running hosepipe, try using a bucket and sponge instead. (Better still; fill the bucket with water from the water butt). Just 30 minutes with a hosepipe will use about 500 litres, which is more water than the average family uses in a day. And, using a bucket will give your car a much more precise wash and only uses about 35 litres in total.
