Save water easily with our five tips
Our newest and recently renovated properties have an apartment-specific water meter, and invoicing is based on the tenants’ true water usage. This allows you, as a tenant, to influence how much you pay for water. Here are our tips for smaller water bill!
5 x tips for saving water.
Using water sparingly is economical as well as environment friendly. You can save remarkable amounts of water without giving up your standard of living or hygiene. The less water you use, the more thankful is the nature alongside your wallet!
1. Keep an eye on your water usage.
First step towards mindful water usage is to observe your own habits. If you live in an apartment with a water meter, you can observe your water usage in MyHoas.
Most often taking the time to think about your own everyday routines is enough to figure out the best ways for you to lessen your water usage in a way that fits your own lifestyle.
By keeping an eye on your water usage, you also notice sudden changes in it. For example, a quick rise in your water usage might indicate a leak that must be fixed.
2. Don’t spend your time (and money) in the shower.
Hot water is almost three times as expensive as cold water. The most economic result is achieved when you keep an eye out on your hot water usage.
Taking care of hygiene takes up as much as 45 % of all the water we use. However, without giving up your hygiene standards, you can save water. Take a look at your showering habits.
The easiest way to save large amounts of water is in the shower. One five-minute shower uses 60 liters of water, while 20 minutes shower uses already 240 liters. You can save gallons of water by spending less time in shower. Speaking of showering, to save even more water turn off the faucet while you use soap and shampoo.
You can also save water while brushing your teeth. Turn off the faucet when it’s not needed. Consider if using a cup for rinsing could be an easy way for you to save water.
3. Clean home with less water
Another water-glutton in a household is cleaning. With these tips you keep your household clean without using too much water.
If you wash dishes by hand, use a plug in the sink. Wash dished in soap water, empty the sink, and then fill it with clean water for rinsing the dishes. This way you can lessen the amount of water used for dishes for almost 100 liters. If your apartment has a dishwasher, it is recommended to use it instead. Remember to turn it on only when it is fully loaded!
Wash your clothes smartly. All clothes worn once or twice don’t need to go in the washer. Instead, you can freshen them by airing them out. To air your clothes out, you don’t have to leave your house: place the clothing in a hanger and the hanger on the door of your closet. In the morning, fresh clothing is waiting to be worn! When it is finally a laundry day, wash only full loads of laundry.
4. Cold water straight from the fridge
Do you prefer to drink cold water instead of lukewarm? Often it takes a while for water to cool, and all the excess water goes straight to the sewer. Try to use a water jug or bottle for keeping in the fridge. This way you always have an easy access to chilled water to drink and as a bonus, less water is used.
5. Are there leaks in water fixtures?
Even seemingly small leaks can quickly become expensive. Keep an eye on the water fixtures in your bathroom and kitchen. Pay attention especially to faucets, toilet, and hand shower. If you notice a leak or moisture that is not drying, fill a fault report in MyHoas as soon as possible.
+ BONUS – try these when you want a real challenge!
Save the excess water. While waiting for water to warm or cool, large amounts of water run straight into the sewer. Excess water is also formed in the kitchen when you cook, for example when boiling potatoes or pasta. However, there are many ways to utilize this excess water.
- Watering your plants. For example, if you boil potatoes, you can let the boiled water to cool down and use the nutritious water for your plants.
- Also, the water used for rinsing fruits and vegetables can be saved and used for other purposes. Rinse the veggies in a dish and save water for cleaning, watering plants, or flushing the toilet.
- When you plan your menu for the week, you can optimize the mountain of dirty dishes. If the upcoming turn to wash dishes doesn’t seem too appealing anyway, take notes! When you cook one-pot-meals, such as soups, stews, or casseroles, you lessen the dish load – save water while being lazy.
- While you wait for the shower to warm up, put a bucket under the water. The water collected in the bucket can be used to flush toilet or mop the floors.
- Remember the times at the cabin without running water? Use the eco-friendly style of the old days and wash yourself with water bucket and ladle instead of a shower.