Time to Counter the Water Meters

April 22, 2012 - PRLog -- People may not be happy about it but Water meters will be installed on all domestic properties by the end of 2014 and we will have to pay for what we use in Ireland.

There are plenty of ways to reduce what we use however. Colm Griffin of http://purchase.ie outlines several ways to do this below.

"Most of us have been guilty of taking an unnecessarily long shower or running the kitchen tap for ages letting good water flow down the drain as we await the water to reach our desired temperature.
Letting water flow unused down the drainpipe really is a bit of a sin. Use a bucket or some sort of container under the tap or shower head whilst you are waiting for the right temperature. Using that water on your plants or in the garden is something we should all get used to doing.
A simple way to counter water wastage in the shower is to install an aerated shower head which uses half the water of a normal shower head without compromising the showering experience. Most shower heads use about 12 liters of water per minute but this can be reduced to just 6 liters with the aerated shower head. These shower heads come with a universial fitting suitable to fit on the vast majority of showers and there is also a fixed aerated shower head model for wall fittings.
You can install the same technology on your taps. Some taps will use up to 20 litres of water per minute when fully switched on. Tap aerators come in two different models. One has an efficiency of 4 litres per minute and are ideal for bathroom taps. The other has an efficiency of 8 litres per minute.
Be more aware of the time you spend in the shower by installing a shower-timer. A great way to drop hints to our members of the household if nothing else!
Not a very attractive topic but the toilet is somewhere we can make significant savings all the same as it is estimated the the toilet accounts for 40% of total amount of water used in a household on any given day.
Modern toilets tend to have a dual flush option (half flush for the number ones and full flush for the number twos). A full flush is generally about 6 litres on these toilets and thus are quite efficient.
If your toilet cistern has not been replaced since the 1980s you probably use 12 litres of water every time you flush. If the cistern was installed in the 1990s a full flush probably accounts for 9 litres of water.
There are a full products available to help reduce this water. A toilet tummy acts as a cistern displacement device. Simply fill it with water and attach it to the side of the toilet cistern and save water every time you flush. If your on a budget you can always fill a mineral bottle and drop it into the cistern and it will do pretty much the same thing.
The flushwiser is an alternative water saving product for the toilet. It is installed by drilling a hole in the siphon of the toilet. The flushwiser then acts as a tap for adjusting the ballcock upwards or downwards.
If you got water leaks in your home it could cost you a small fortune when the water charges come in. A water leak alarm will detect a leak of 40ml per minute (one drop every two seconds) or greater. Simply fit it to the water pipe in your home and if the alarm sounds check all around the house for visible leaks. If you can't find any call the plumber to get it checked  out.
If we follow the UK example in Ireland (we still invariably tend to do this) saving water in the garden might be forced upon us rather than it being a matter of choice. In the UK they recently introduced a garden hose pipe ban. Failing to take it seriously could result in a hefty 1,000 GB Pound fine!
Installing a Water Butt Kit on the downpipes of your home is a great way to save water in the garden. The Water Butt will collect rainwater from your roof and your plants will appreciate it much more than mains water anyway!
You should also give consideration to installing a Water Saving Nozzle to your garden hose (whilst you can still use it!) This works using the same technology as the aforementioned shower head and taps and has seven different flow patterns.
Its also wise not to give your plants more water then they need. A moisture meter can be plugged into the roots of your plants as you water and can tell you when its time to stop watering.”

http://purchase.ie is an online store specialising in products to help consumers save money by saving energy, conserving water and reducing waste.

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