NI Water Urges Customers To Be Water Wise This Summer

NI Water has issued a call to its customers to adopt a water wise strategy over the summer months, with temperatures soaring this week (June 30th) and water usage rising by 12 litres per person per day… which, over the course of a year, is over 4,000 litres each – or the equivalent of 80 baths.

Anna Killen, the water company’s environmental outreach and learning officer, explained that Northern Ireland has one of the UK’s highest rates of water usage even before the pandemic, with an average of 158 litres per person per day, compared to the average of 142.

But there are ways in which this can be reduced, with Ms Killen saying that running a tap can waste six litres of water per minute, so if the tap is left on for two minutes while brushing teeth, that’s wasting 12 litres per brush.

And water audits from NI Water show that the average time people spend in the shower is ten minutes, with showers using up to seven litres per minute – and even more with a power shower… so a quick ten-minute shower actually uses 70 litres of water.

Ms Killen also made mention of gardening in the summer months, saying: “As we seek to add a little colour to our gardens and hanging baskets, remember, we don’t need to increase our water use to keeping our gardens blooming.

“Add water retaining swell gel crystals to the compost when planting pots and hanging baskets. This can greatly help reduce the demand for frequent watering as the crystals swell and keep plants hydrated for longer, saving both time and water!

“If you have no grass to tend to and are thinking of sprucing up the paving or decking, a power hose can use 600 litres of water in just one hour! That is enough to supply a family of four with water for 24 hours! Being mindful of this can help ensure you don’t use more than you have to.”

For businesses, there are all sorts of ways that water usage can be reduced. You could, for example, consider comparing business water suppliers to find one that better suits your needs. Or you could look into water leak detection and repair, given that three billion litres of water is lost through leakage in England every day.

Another option is rainwater harvesting, where you collect and store the rainwater that falls on the roof of your premises. This can then be filtered and reused for all sorts of applications, ranging from toilet flushing and vehicle washing to laundry and process water.

Changing the appliances onsite to more water-efficient ones could also make a big difference to how much water you use, so perhaps look into aerated taps, dual-flush toilets and so on. If you’d like to find out any more about saving water at work, get in touch with SwitchWaterSupplier.com today.