The costs of utility bills are steadily growing, increasing the burden on the family budgets of Russians. Water as a vital resource belongs to those expenditure items, which in principle cannot be excluded, but there are ways to minimize their volume. How to do this without reducing the quality of economic support - the following recommendations will help.
1. Using rainwater
The collection of precipitation with its proper organization will save tens of liters of water that is spent on household needs. To do this, it is necessary to mount a system of rain tanks, which will be constantly filled with rainfall. Initiative homeowners in this way organize entire networks of canals with the replenishment of large tanks installed in technical rooms. In the future, the collected water can be spent, for example, when watering the garden during periods of drought, leaving the main water supply channels intact.
2. Pre-cleaning dishes
A considerable amount of water is used to rinse the dishes before the main stages of washing. This may also apply to its preparation for shipment to the dishwasher, and manual washing. The main principle of saving is that pre-cleaning dishes from food debris will reduce consumption in the same stream from the tap.
In practice, this procedure is organized in a specially prepared container. It can be a large bowl, basin or pan. It is important to completely rinse the dishes, which will facilitate the subsequent stages of washing, minimizing water consumption.
By the way, specially collected residues of contaminants can be used for compost, if an appropriate container is provided for it. Thus, additional benefits will be brought for subsequent fertilizer needs.
3. Rational organization of washing processes
During the manual dishwashing, many people spend extra time on intermediate operations. This may be the same scraping off food debris, and the addition of cleaning products, and other procedures. In this case, the water flow remains not blocked. The way out of the situation can be either premature preparation with the implementation of the necessary operations prior to the start of direct washing under water, or temporary shut-off of the tap already in the washing process. Again, the systematic implementation of these simple tricks already at the level of habit will certainly contribute to the savings.
4. Partial loading of the dishwasher
Not all even experienced housewives know that dishwashing equipment can be started with partial or half load. What does it mean? First, consider the full load mode. In this case, the automation gives a command to work with the expectation of the full load of the machine, resulting in a 100% filling of the washing tank.
But is it advisable to use a fully loaded dishwasher if you only need to wash 2-3 plates? Of course no. Resources in this case will be expended with the same expectation of full service of the entire volume, which is redundant with virtually incomplete loading of dishes.
In turn, a partial or half load at the level of the machine’s operating mode will make the consumption of resources adequate to a small amount of work with a small amount of dishes. In this case, not only water consumption, but also electricity will be economical, not to mention a more intensive implementation of the entire procedure.
5. Do not litter the toilet
It seems to many that sewage can also be used to dump small debris like napkins. In fact, this practice of using the toilet is not only fraught with the formation of plugs with the further need to clean the canal, but also with excessive use of water when flushing. At the same time, placing water bottles in the tank will help to save water on drains in the toilet. Thus, due to the displacement, the standard water flow will be reduced in cases where there is no need for this.
6. Use of economical shower heads
Thanks to new technologies, ordinary water consumers can more rationally spend water almost imperceptibly for their convenience. So, for a long time on the market there are whole families of water-saving shower heads, which save the volume of the produced stream up to 70%, depending on the nature of the use of water.
What is the reason for such savings? The whole secret lies in the special geometric design of the nozzles, which actually work to reduce the flow, but with the preservation of its pressure. According to one of the technologies, artificial aeration of water occurs in the nozzle, that is, the stream is enriched with air, providing the same discharge force, but with less consumption of the main resource. At the same time, at any time, the user can adjust the amount of air in the stream and the pressure itself at its discretion, depending on current needs.
At first, the savings may not be significant, especially considering the costs of updating nozzles, but in the long run this solution will fully justify itself economically.
Similar pressure regulators and aerators are now available for other types of plumbing faucets and faucets. It is enough to find a head suitable for the settings and size and install it after dismantling the old nozzle.
7. Rational use of garden sprinklers
Once again, you should turn to the methods of organizing watering events, but with a more familiar technique. For example, today automatic watering systems are common, which are similar to fire sprinklers. They are used for autonomous irrigation of lawns, garden plots and vegetable gardens. The problem is that the operating mode of this sprayer does not always correspond to the needs of plants and the economic interests of the owner. A typical situation is when the sprinkler operates in the format set by the schedule, regardless of external conditions. A fully automated machine can work during the same precipitation, which should be taken into account when setting up.
8. Saving water when watering the lawn
In this case, we are talking about the normative consumption of water for irrigation of decorative grass cover. Many homeowners and summer residents spend more water on watering the lawn than the plant requires. Such an overspending is incorrect for financial reasons, and in terms of maintaining the viability of the stands. In particular, an excess of fluid can lead to a violation of the basic functions of the turf, which will affect the health of the vegetation.
9. Elimination of leaks in taps
The classic problem of unjustified water consumption is the elementary presence of leaks. The most common example is a malfunctioning faucet from which droplets flow. Such an expense may seem insignificant, but, again, the months and years of the presence of such leaks ultimately form impressive amounts.
10. Checking the tank for leaks
If ordinary taps and piping during inspection can be checked for leaks with the naked eye, then in the case of a toilet bowl, everything is not so obvious. Check the density of the valves of this device will help colored liquid. It is enough to pour a small volume of bright solution into the tank and wait 10-15 minutes. If colored water appears in the flush area, this will be a sign of a leak.