10 Sydney Plumbing Tips: How to Save Water in Your Home

It might not be the highly-publicised issue that it was a few years ago when Sydney and the rest of Australia were experiencing a decade long drought, but it’s still just as important to save water. But how can your plumber help you save water? And what are a few ways you can save water without the help of your local plumbing contractor?

1.      Update Your Showerhead: Older showerheads aren’t as water efficient. Install a new water saving showerhead and you can save lots of water, as well as money on your electricity bill because you’ll use less hot water.

2.      Flush Eco-Friendly: The dual-flush toilet is an Australian invention, so show your national pride and use the half-flush rather than the full-flush when you can.

3.      Proper Basin Behaviour: There’s no need to let the tap run while your brush your teeth, and when you’re shaving just fill the basin up and use a plug rather than running the tap. These little changes can save you 12 litres of water a day or more.

4.      Fix Your Leaking Toilet: A slow-leaking toilet can use up to 4,000 litres of water each year. To check if your toilet’s leaking, put a couple of drops of food colouring into the cistern and wait 30 minutes. If there’s coloured water in your toilet bowl, you’ve got a leak.

5.      Shorter Showers: By cutting a minute from your shower you can save up to nine litres of water if you have a water efficient shower head, or up to 20 litres if you have an older style showerhead.

6.      Go From Top-Loading to Front-Loading: Changing your old top-loader washing machine to a new front-loader machine will see you saving thousands of litres of water each year.

7.      Wash With a Full Load: To reduce the number of loads your washing machine has to do, only use it when you can fill it to the brim with dirty clothes. This way you’ll save time and water.

8.      Vegetable Baths: It’s always a good idea to wash any fruit and vegetables that you’re going to eat, but instead of washing them under a running tap, put a plug in the sink or fill a bowl with water and give them a wash that way.

9.      Dishwasher Smarts: Just like with your washing machine, only use your dishwasher when you’ve got a full load, and use the economy cycle if it has that setting.

10.  Rinse and Hold: Some newer models of dishwasher now come with a rinse and hold setting. This means you can rinse your dishes by placing them in the dishwasher, rather them running them under the tap.