WATER

We've reduced our water consumption from a daily average of 467 litres (Jan 2007 - which was already 29% lower than comparable households, according to our bill) to an annual daily average of around 260 litres. That's a reduction of 44%.

Per person that's 65 litres per person, per day and Melbourne's target consumption is 155 litres. So our water use is 58% lower than the target! According to the Target 155 website, the average use across all of Melbourne is 144 liters per day.

Jan 2007

October 2010

October 2010

 How did we do it?

• Install rainwater tanks. We installed two tanks, one 2,100L external and one 2,600L bladder tank which is hidden under our deck.
• Plumbed the water tanks into the laundry and downstairs toilet. For the last 2+ years, all of our washing and downstairs flushing has used free rainwater. The plumbing system in our two story house limits our ability to plumb the rainwater to upstairs toilets. We'd save another 10-20L per day if we could
• Use the rainwater to water the vegetables and garden in summer.
• Redesigned large areas of the garden to remove grass and replace with drought tolerant plants to reduce watering needs in summer.
• Installed a dripper system for summer watering of the garden borders.
• Installed mulch to all garden beds to reduce water evaporation
• Divert some grey water into the garden to water trees during drought times.
• Install water efficient taps and showers throughout, during the house renovation.
• Install dual flush toilets.
• Limit our time in the shower and only shower the children every few days (also stops their skin being dried out by soaps).
• Switch off taps which teeth brushing and rinsing vegetables.
• Catch unused water from our drinking bottles and cooking and use on potted plants.
• Bought water efficient whitegoods (clothes and dishwasher). Use the dishwasher only once per day.
• Asked the water retailer to fix a leaking mains stop cock (saved their water, not on our bills!).
• Minimise the number of baths we take (almost none). 
• Instantaneous gas heater - because we can set the temperature to exactly what we want, there's no need to turn on the cold water to mix. We save lots of water by not spending that time trying to balance the two. We also don't get frozen or scalded when another tap turns on in the house. Also see Energy - natural gas.
• Not related to water savings - but we never buy bottled water (except in 'emergencies'). It's an environmental/sustainability monstrosity. When we leave the house for any kind of trip, we put filtered tap water into aluminum (rather than plastic) water bottles and carry them with us.

Links

• http://conservewater.melbournewater.com.au/content/water-wise_gardens/water-wise_gardens.asp