{{selectedAlertBand.alertDescription}}
{{selectedAlertBand.incident.heading}}
{{alert.alertDescription}}
{{index+1}}
/ {{ alertBandDate.length}}
{{selectedAlertBand.alertDescription}}
{{selectedAlertBand.alertDescription}}
{{selectedAlertBand.alertLinkText}} {{selectedAlertBand.alertLinkText}}
For further updates subscribe
We're all looking for ways to save money, so you may already be changing the way you use water around your home. Your kitchen is also a prime spot for fats, oils and greases to make their way into your sewer pipes. So here are some of our favourite tips to help you to make small, sustainable swaps to save and protect your pipes.
Small swaps to save water
- A running tap uses 15 litres every minute – so why not try washing your fruit and vegetables in a bowl of fresh water.
- If you have a dishwasher, you can save even more time, water and money - hand washing your dishes can use 10 times more water in comparison.
- Remember not to pre-rinse dishes - instead, scrape any leftovers into the bin and let the dishwasher do the hard work.
- The average household will use around 12% of its energy bill on heating water, so by using the eco setting, or a lower temperature – if you set your washing machine to 30 degrees, you can use around 30% less electric.
We all know the washing can quickly pile up. But did you know that washing machines use an average of 60 litres of water per cycle? By simply making sure you only wash full loads you can save around 10 litres of water every wash. 10 litres might not sound like much, but it all adds up! And with the average family washing four loads of laundry per week, you can easily save 40 litres of water - which is the same as 250 cups of tea, 5 watering cans and 5 toilet flushes.
Make hard water easy – the natural way
Scale formed by the natural minerals in hard water doesn’t affect water quality – in fact, hard water has lots of benefits for both you and the environment. That stubborn build-up we find in our homes on our taps and in our toilets is caused by minerals such as calcium and magnesium. It’s these minerals that make our region’s water hard and result in limescale.
Lemons are a great natural option to help remove this build-up from places like your kitchen tap. Simply use the juice to tackle any limescale on your tap’s spout – remember to add the remains of the lemon to your homemade compost bin.
Protect your pipes
The average household puts over a litre of fats, oil and grease down the sink every year. This is equivalent to 8 cups of tea sitting in your sewer pipes waiting to cause a potential blockage. Explore more ways to keep your pipes clear in the kitchen.
Water is precious, so we work hard to make sure there is enough to go around for both today and tomorrow, protecting our environment, wildlife and future generations. Explore more about how we save water here.