Water Conservation

Seeing an atlas or picture of the world it is easy to see most of it, 70% is covered in water plus all the water "locked up" in ice caps and ice sheets, glaciers and snow.  Combining this with the fact that water is a renewable resource, it is sometimes difficult to understand why we need to manage how much water we use.

The reason is that despite all this water being around us and in the United Kingdom often falling from the sky when we do not want it, much of it is not in  a readily available form to drink or use in our homes and industry.  We can almost regard this useful water as non renewable in the short term, particulary if it encourages us to use it better.

In the United Kingdom we each use 155 litres of water everyday on average. Some is essential but some is from dripping or running taps and other unnecessary over use.

Doing Your Bit

• Make sure taps are fixed and don't drip
• Try to take showers rather than baths
• Use low water options on washing machines and dishwashers
• Try not to use lawn sprinklers, overwatering can weaken the grass
• Try not to leave taps running while brushing your teeth or washing dishes
• Use grey water (like washing up water) from around the house to water the garden
• Install water containers to collect rainwater from gutters and use during drier times

What the Council is Doing

Water resource use is not the responsibility of the local council but we try to respond to Environment Agency concerns in relevant planning applications. The quality of local bathing water is monitored by our Environmental Health Unit.

Links

• Southern Water-Water Conservation Advice
• Environment Agency - Water Conservation Advice and water quality of rivers