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10 Water Saving Tips As Temperatures Rise

Oct 4, 2023 | Property

With the hot summer months on their way, and temperatures already starting to pick up across the country, it’s now more than ever important to consider how you can conserve water. Not only will any water-saving efforts go towards water conservation (a worthy reason on its own), but you could also lower your water bill. In a time when everything has gotten extremely expensive, water saving tips like these can go a long way to helping make life more affordable.  

With that in mind, let’s review some of the most popular and practical water-saving tips, perfect for a hot summer (or any time of year). Hopefully a combination of these tips in your home could help you save thousands of litres of water and thousands of Rands in water bills.

 Water Early Or Late 

Not to sound too much like a science lesson, but when temperatures heat up and the sun is high in the air, water evaporation is at its peak. By watering either very early in the morning or later in the afternoon, you ensure that more of the water you expend soaks into your lawn and garden.  

Just Let The Grass Grow Longer 

Did you know that longer blades of grass help shade each other and retain moisture? Essentially, a slightly longer grass length means that you can water your lawn less often – and the water you’re using is going to much better use. If your mower has this function, raise the cutting height so you can let the grass grow longer and maintain this height in a tidy fashion. 

Change Up Your Lawn With Landscaping 

Alternatively, you could lose lawn space in favour of more landscaping. The fact is that lawns need more water than flower beds or shrubs. It therefore makes sense to consider living your best Pinterest dreams by including more landscaped areas that require less ‘blanket’ watering in favour of a more targeted watering approach.  

Make A Hygiene Judgment Call 

The ultimate water conservation goal when it comes to cleaning yourself is to take a super short shower. This is to ensure that you use the least amount of water, reportedly helping you save up to 40 litres of water per person per day.  

But it’s not always possible to limit your showers to five minutes or less. For instance, if you’re cleaning kids who are very dirty, there’s no way you’re getting it done with a short shower. Especially with multiple littles. So, if it’s you and you’re not dirty then switch to short showers. However, if you need a stronger approach to getting clean, then make a judgment call and run a bath. What will help you avoid running multiple baths is to use a bucket to scrub hands and feet, and then do a general cleanse in the bath. This allows you to run a single bath for all the kids, because the water won’t turn to mud.

Fix Those Leaks 

A leaky tap can waste so much more water than you think. If you’re not sure whether you have any leaks, just leave the plug in overnight and check if any water has accumulated by the morning. You can then either fix the leak OR you can collect this water in a bowl and use it elsewhere in your home.  

Develop A Family Water Plan 

Sit down together and talk about how you use water in your home, where you can cut back and how you can work together to recycle water. 

Install A Smart Geyser 

A smart geyser gives you complete control of your geyser, helping you save on your electricity and water bills. The right smart geyser will even notify you in real time if anything goes wrong, detecting and alerting you to leaks. Plus, a shut-off valve automatically closes the water supply to your geyser when it detects a leak. 

Use A Dishpan For Washing And Rinsing Dishes 

We urge you to scrape your dishes, rather than rinse them before loading them into the dishwasher. If you’re not using the dishwasher, fill up a dishpan for washing and rinsing dishes because you’ll use far less water than a full basin. 

Use Your Warm Up Water Dishes And Laundry Water  

A quick and easy way to save water is reusing your ‘warm up’ water. This ‘warm up’ water is so named because it’s the water that you run while you let it get to the right temperature to do the washing up, etc.  

Place a bowl or bucket under the tap while you let the water run to warm up and use this ‘wastewater’ to rinse the dishes or clothes, wipe down surfaces, water the plants, or even flush the toilet. 

Don’t Forget About Your Greywater  

You can capture the runoff water from your dishwasher or washing machine in a reservoir or large plastic bins and use to flush toilets, water gardens, etc. that said, we do caution you to switch to eco-friendly, biodegradable detergents instead of harsh chemicals in your dish washing or laundry processes if you want to use it domestically. 

Feeling Informed? 

By developing good conservation habits, you can help the planet and lower your water bill. We hope that these tips will prove useful in your own home and don’t forget that AA Inform is also home to a range of useful tools and resources including our Home Valuation Report.

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