Water, water everywhere but not as much to drink

Water in the UK news

Water has been in the UK news a lot this week, from extortionate profits, to not investing enough in infrastructure to raw sewage in our rivers and seas. So, to continue the subject we thought we’d share the findings from a recent survey. 

Finish (the dishwasher range) and WWF, recently surveyed 2000 adults on their water habits and it revealed some interesting water wastage statistics. It found that over half (58%) of people flush their toilets more than once after using it. 77% of people often leave the tap running when they brush their teeth and 19% always leaving the tap running. Despite a common misconception, using a dishwasher over washing up by hand can save on average 130L of water per week and by skipping the pre-rinse, they can save another 19L of water per week.  

This got us thinking about saving water

Recent reports have found that around 15% of water bodies in England have been impacted by changes to natural flow and levels, this is mainly due to high levels of water being removed for drinking. This affects water tables, which in turn affect plants and wildlife. So, by adjusting a few simple things in our lives we could all save water, which is one of the most needed resources on this planet. Just imagine if all 28 million UK households could save just 10 litres per week, that saving alone, of approx. 280 million litres could fill 112 Olympic swimming pools a week or nearly 6000 per year. 

Why should we save water?

Despite all their huge profits, water infrastructure is still around 60% of the same pipework that was taken over when the water industry was privatised. It is inevitable that pipes will leak: they move, they expand, they contract, they occasionally get hit by accident during work and sometimes they just wear out. 

Recent figures released by Ofwat (the UK water regulator) have shown that water leakage in the UK is 51 litres per person per day for England, this increases to 82 litres for Northern Ireland and 84 litres in Scotland. 

You could argue “why should I save water when the water industry is allowed to waste so much” and you could be right, but then apathy is part of the reason we have climate change issues, no one was bothered and now we’re at tipping point. People are worried about food prices going up due to droughts in other countries, as well as the fact they can’t water their lawns for 3 months of the year, but if we don’t save water, who will?