Weatherwise, it feels like we just can’t win.
The last two years were some of the wettest ever across the UK but this year droughts are already on the way thanks to the driest spring on record.
A drought has been declared in the North West of England and water companies in the South East are advising households to think about how they use water in order to avoid hosepipe bans.
Anyone with a garden is already seeing the effects of the dry April that brought only half the usual amount of rainfall. So much for April showers.
Summer of '76
Those of us with long memories remember the drought of 1976. For us kids it didn’t seem such a big deal at first. Apart from not being able to sleep on sweltering nights, there appeared to be considerable upsides.
Saving water was a good excuse for not washing as thoroughly as expected and there had never been a better argument for drinking dandelion and burdock at mealtimes. (But, mum, we’ve got to save water!)
Even the standpipes that were being set up in the streets were something new and interesting (this was before TikTok). Until, that is, our local standpipe got erected and it wasn’t, as we’d expected, right outside our front door but a good five-minute walk away. A trek to get water - and queue for ages for it - and carry it home in buckets! Turned out droughts weren’t as much fun as we’d thought.
Thankfully, rain clouds saved the day before we ever had to trek, queue and carry home what had previously come so easily we’d never given it a second’s thought. But we had learned a very important lesson – water does not necessarily have to be on tap.
Here are some good water-saving habits that can be easily incorporated into your life – drought or no drought.
Water-saving easy wins
1. Capture rainwater. Water butts are a no-brainer if you have access to outside space and a downpipe. With a water butt, rainwater falls from the roof into the gutters, but rather than flowing through the downpipes and down the drain, a diverter is inserted to collect it in the butt. Once the water butt has reached maximum capacity, the rest of the water will simply divert to the drain.
You can also make use of a garage or shed roof by attaching a Mini Rainsaver 100 litre. If you really mean business, the Harcostar Magnum triple butt kit will save up to 1,050 litres, and if you want something different to the standard black or green butts, check out the Amesbury range at EvenGreener.com.
In dry weather plants stop making nectar, so keep them well watered for the sake of bees.
Rainwater capture at Ryton Gardens, home of Garden Organic, near Coventry.
2. Keep a jug near the sink and when you want hot water, let the tap run into this rather than down the sink. You can tip this into your water butt or use it to boil the kettle or flush your loo.
3. Stand a bucket in the shower to collect water that would otherwise go down the drain as you wait for it to heat up. Use this to flush the loo.
4. Wash vegetables in a bowl of water and then use this on the garden. You can also use drained, cooled cooking water on the garden.
5. Take a shower instead of a bath. A five-minute shower uses about 40 litres of water, which is about half the volume of a standard bath. And shortening the length of your shower by just one minute also makes a big difference.
6. Fix dripping taps – they can waste enough water in a year to fill a child’s paddling pool every week of the summer.
7. Fit low-flow aerators on taps and showers – you get the same water pressure but use much less water.
8. Turn the tap off while brushing your teeth. A running tap uses up to nine litres of water a minute.
9. A water-saving device in your toilet cistern could save between one and three litres each time you flush the toilet.
10. Use a watering can instead of a sprinkler or hosepipe in the garden. This also stops blooms browning. Water for longer so it can permeate into the ground rather than frequently in small quantities.
11. Water the garden during the cool part of the day in the morning or evening. Do not water in anticipation of a shortage. Soil cannot store extra water.
12. Wash clothes when they’re dirty – rely on spot cleaning and the ‘sniff test’ most of the time.
I’m an old hand at this last method. It’s something I started doing once my son reached a certain (teen)age and suddenly raised his laundry expectations to the level of 5-star hotels preparing for royal visits. Fed up with arguing that his jeans couldn’t possibly need washing after a mere two hours’ wear, I developed a secret new system:
1. Pick jeans out of laundry basket.
2. Hang up in wardrobe.
I probably did this about 10 times before washing a pair of his jeans. And unless he reads this he will be none the wiser.
