Gecko Towers
STOP PRESS: 23.10.24 – in the absence of a comprehensive “new instructions” from the Junta de Andalucia Drought Committee, who met last week before the deluge received around 14.10.24, we understand that there was agreement to reduce consumption on the Western Costa del Sol – amazingly, it has been reported that a total of 250mm (that’s near 10”) fell in this recent storm. A new limit of water to be used by each inhabitant has been reduced from the previously set 225 litres per day to 200 litres per day.
Never has it been more timely to consider ways of reducing consumption. As a result, we are republishing a blog aimed at encouraging us all to think carefully and act responsibly to conserve the limited water resources we have. I do hope this is not seen as nagging our audience but it is vital for the long term.
We are being encouraged at every turn on the Costa del Sol to consider our water use. On the advice of water suppliers most notably, Acosol, Aguas de Benahavis and Hydralia, we had initially been encouraged to reduce our consumption by at least 20%. This all seems viable and we just have to cope, but everyone can do their bit by following some useful tips as to how to reduce their consumption during a period when stocks are low.
As we have discussed before, important initiatives are being forged as we seek to turn that massive salt water reserve – also known as the Mediterranean Sea – into a resource to buffer the region from the worst excesses of the climate. It is proving to be partially successful I am told – How Marbella Is Solving its Water Crisis.
Well, I thought it would benefit us all to scan the world’s media to get a clear idea of what we can all do to save more water. I have come up with the following, a ten point guide aimed at the most strategic approach, in a domestic setting, that we can all try to adhere to.
1. Flushed Away – aside from checking for any obvious leaks in pipework and taps, toilets come in two distinct flushing modes. The full flush – where you only have one button or lever – tends to use around 11 litres per flush. A dual flushing system reduces a full flush – usually where the crescent and button are pushed together – as in our image below – to around 4.5 litres and its second, half flush alternative – where the centre button alone is pushed – reduces this to around 3 litres per flush.
There is an expression, often used in yachting and motor boating, where the disposal of human waste is a critical issue. “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down”. This should, perhaps, become the mantra for using the loos in your house as we can see the potential for saving is immense.
2. Kid the Cistern – Continuing from above there seems to be a trick used to deceive your cistern into thinking it’s full. Take a plastic water bottle – depending on the size of your cistern – this could be a 500ml bottle or a full litre. Partially fill the bottle with sand and top up with water, reseal the cap and place it into your cistern away from the operating parts. I am told this could save around 15 litres a day in normal usage. Alternatively, you could use a brick.
3. Brushing the Pearly Whites – typically, we tend to run the tap before applying toothpaste to our brush. Equally, we let the water run while we brush. My electric brush has a two minute timer and in this time I could be wasting between 15 to 25 litres of water depending on flow. It is infinitely better to apply your toothpaste to a slightly damp brush and only run the water briefly after clearing your mouth.
The same philosophy and practice can be applied to those of us who wet shave. Turning the tap off while shaving, filling a small basin of warm water to heat and clean the razor prior to and after shaving, can limit overall consumption.
Equally, when rinsing your vegetables, do so in a bowl not under a running tap – the savings will be huge.
4. Bathe with a Friend – a shallow bath comprises around 85 to 100 litres of water compared to a full bath circa 150 to 200 litres. Sharing a shallow bath, and I guess this means that you can both enjoy a bath together or one could follow the other, clearly saves on the average use of water and, as we’ll see below, the cumulative effect is slightly less than the water consumed in a five minute shower. Rinsing shampoo from hair with the hand-held bath shower will exponentially increase consumption – so be quick!
5. Shower with Praise – A five minute shower uses around 75 litres of water. However, this consumption can be hugely improved by a shorter duration shower and applying soap prior to turning on the shower. Rinsing already applied soap will reduce the total time of your shower and the amount of water used.
You’ll probably have seen in agricultural stores, variety stores or garden centers large plastic buckets with integrated carrying handles. These are a perfect partner for your shower to collect your shower residue which can then be used to irrigate garden plants or window boxes. This is a perfect solution even if your shower (or bath) is on the ground floor where the I use of a suction pump, that needs gravity to operate, would be ineffective.
One issue we have with the showers in our house is the time it takes to warm the shower up before it’s comfortable to use. This is primarily because of the distance the already hot water needs to travel before it gets to the shower head. Smart shower units with instant heating should be fitted if you are renovating or completing a new build.
6. Don’t Half Load – whether it’s your dishwasher or washing machine always try to maximize on its load. Modern machines have more economical cycles which should be selected.
Typically an energy certified dishwasher uses 11 litres per washing cycle – older appliances use a much greater quantity of water. This should be compared to washing the same quantity of dishes by hand in a sink which can use up to a staggering 100 litres of water. If you do wash by hand, use a bowl or fill one side of a double sink to wash and then rinse under the tap, quickly.
A modern front loading washing machine typically uses 50 litres on a normal cycle.
7. Chill Your Water – I recently saw a comedy sketch where the Comedian was transporting his audience to the year 2100 where he was questioned by a resident of then World as to what water was! He explained that in the process of preparing a glass of drinking water we would, ridiculously, be in the habit of running the water until it achieved the right level of cold, sufficient for us to enjoy a cooling drink.
The simplest way to resolve this is to take some empty mineral water bottles and refill them with tap water that is then placed in the fridge for later consumption at the right chilled temperature.
You may also be familiar with the products of Brita the water filter specialist who have in-jug water filters that remove any detected impurities.
8. Plant Drought-Resistant Plants – quite a quantity of our typical water usage is the irrigation of plants, shrubs and lawns. Planting those varieties that require less water is a longer term but viable option particularly if you are planning a yet to be built garden.
So what are drought resistant plants? These include the herbs lavender and rosemary, an aromatic red fruited bush called “Mastic”, a decorative shrub called “Pink Rockrose” with silver-green foliage, a self-seeding biennial, Giant Fennel and the familiar Purple Milk Thistle. In our experience, once plants such a Oleander and Bougainvillea are more than a little established, they need very little water and have a sort of sixth sense as to where to send a deep root to find some moisture.
If you do water your plants – it being permitted by local bye-laws to do so – use a watering can. Whatever you do, don’t just set the sprinkler to a timed cycle as a domestic watering system could use up to 40 litres per minute!
Above all, don’t use a sprinkler when it’s very hot as the water will simply evapourate. In fact, as and when we are allowed to water our gardens, do it at the coolest part of the day, at night, as much less will evaporate.
9. Get On Your Re-Cycling – whether it’s re-using bath, pasta cooking water or collecting rain water, water re-cycling is vital for the conservation effort. Install a rain-water capturing barrel or tank so as and when we do see a cloud burst we are confident that some of that clean water can be saved to be used to irrigate our garden.
I have mentioned before, my one-man contribution to abate – a little – the current water crisis. We have a number of plants that require light irrigation and Mrs W likes a bath. So I have devised a simple device with a hand pump and length of clear hose to use basic physics to empty her bath from an upstairs bathroom – which varies from around 50 to 75 liters a time – to then irrigated our plants with this source of “grey” water.
Called “Archimedes”, I have been asked by a couple of interested neighbours if I plan to commercially market the device, which is largely built from the resources obtained at our local hard-ware store, but it has proved quite effective and above all, environmentally compelling. It’s not the answer but all helps!
We’ve all left a half finished litre of mineral water in the floor well of our car and returned to find it very warm, even hot. You are unlikely to want to drink it but please wait until it cools a little before pouring it onto a pot plant, for instance.
10. More Gardening Tips – here’s a tip I’d not heard before. When cutting your lawn adjust the cutting depth of your lawn mower to a height of between 3.75 cms (1.5 inches) and 5.00 cms (2 inches). Grass that is kept longer will offer greater shade to the roots and will hold soil moisture better than shorter grass. Who knew!
11. Oh and another thing…..Since first writing the above piece our tumble dryer, that was previously out of order, has now been fixed. I realized that one pass of the tumble dryer, drying our towels to maximum softness, as that is really all we use it for, delivers nearly two liters of waste water into the condenser reservoir. Using this valuable resource as yet another supply of “free” water can be used to irrigate a window box or various pot plants.
Many fertilizers used on gardens tend to increase water consumption, so they should be avoided, where possible.
Cut down on hosing water directly onto driveways, whether by way of a pressure washer or similar, their consumption is vast. If absolutely necessary use a bucket of recycled water, for sluicing drives or pathways or cleaning the windows of your car.
…..And if, like me, you drink tea or coffee make sure the precious water you are using is for a great cuppa or wonderfully rich Cortado. There is no excuse for using such a valuable commodity on inferior products. So part fill a kettle for a water and electricity saving and use any unused water when cooled to top up your driest house plants
If we return to a time of more abundant water, I would encourage you to use the above as a template to reduce our overall consumption and to preserve what we can for those times when less water is available.
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