Water – It’s a Turn Off

By Kate McGhie

For many of us milk comes from cartons and water from taps. But water is our most precious commodity and the lack of it wrecks havoc on our lives, our farmers and our food system.

This fact is being brought home to us every day as we experience water restrictions in the city, read about the devastating drought in rural Australia and hear the farmers accounts of killing cattle and livestock because the land can no longer sustain them.

The effect of this disaster is already evident in supermarkets with increased prices but this is only the beginning. Take warning and expect hikes in other commodities where production relies on an available safe water source.

If we are really serious about saving water, there are a few conservation tips everyone should follow. Here are a few simple practices to live by:

- For starters, wash dishes in the sink instead of using the dishwasher. Or take up the European custom of placing a low level plastic bucket (smaller than the size of your sink) in the basin, fill with water and wash up your dishes.(make sure you use a dish washing liquid that does not contain phosphates and other chemicals that will affect the garden and plants)

- This bucket can also be left partly filled during the day for washing and rinsing hands. At the end of the day, water your plants with the left over water.

- Use the smallest saucepan possible to boil an egg. And when cooking vegetables, consider steaming them. Steaming vegetables uses less water than boiling and the leftover water makes a nutritious and flavorsome stock.

- When boiling the kettle fill it only with the amount of water needed. This saves power and water wastage. Now you can reduce your power bill and conserve water at the same time.

- If making boiled puddings try reusing the steaming water if making more than one pudding.

- For that matter, cool any water used for cooking and recycle it in the garden or use it to water pot plants around the house. Also, keep lids on saucepans and boilers to prevent evaporation.

- When rinsing fruit and vegetable place a colander or strainer over a plastic tub and reuse the collected water.

- Small plastic bottles filled with washing or bath water can be upturned without tops on, into the kitchen garden to keep plants watered.

- The kitchen is not the only place to be water-wise. Follow these water conservation tips for the other rooms in your house:

- In the bathroom, use a glass of water when brushing teeth and never let the tap run.

- Obviously, spending less time in the shower will help conserve your water usage. Consider this -- two thirds of all people on earth use less than 60 litres of water a day while the average Australian uses more than twice that amount during a single shower. So, set yourself a challenge and time yourself in the shower.

- Place a brick in the toilet cistern. This will reduce the amount of water needed to flush and refill your system. Also, using the half flush button can save up to 6 litres of water.

- In the laundry, save washing and rinse-spin cycle water from washing machines and recycle onto the garden. The rinse-spin cycle water can also be used for another load of washing.

- An average family using a washing machine 3 times a week and a dishwasher 4 times a week will use the amount of water it takes to fill a bulk petrol tanker each year.

- There is no doubt that water is an important and valuable natural commodity in the home. Yet, there are ways we can use it more efficiently. This year's drought has already dished out serious consequences for all Australian's and with the summer season approaching there seems to be no end to the water shortage issues. Now, more than ever, we need to conserve our overall water consumption and act responsibly with the water that we do use.

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