WATERWISE TIPS

An effective way of saving water in the garden is to group your shrubs according to their water needs – water the roots, not the leaves and if possible install a drip system. Use a good mulch as this can prevent up to 73% evaporation loss. Water your plants every fourth day in summer, but for longer periods as this encourages the roots to grow deeper into the soil to seek out moisture.

For a WaterWise garden contact your local turf suppliers and find out about more water efficient turf that is now available. Remember, with smaller lawn areas, clever use of mulching and landscaping and a well designed irrigation system, WaterWise gardens are a lot less work than conventional gardens. Do not forget to contact your local nurseries to find out which species are native to your local area as these will tend to use the least water.

Water your lawn in the evening as for every hour of watering during the day, 700 litres are lost to the air and only 300 litres are lost to the air by watering at night. You will then only have to use 60% of the water you would normally use watering your lawn during the day by watering your lawn at night.

Save water and power by having shorter showers; a 5 minute shower gives you plenty of time to soap up, wash and rinse. Long showers can use over 200 litres of water!

By washing your car with a bucket of soapy water, then giving it a quick rinse with the hose will save approximately 20 litres of water! Imagine the weekly savings if all car owners in Livingstone Shire adopted this practice!

Did you know that less than 1% of the treated drinking water produced by Local Governments is actually consumed by people? Most is used for lawns, showers, laundry, pools etc.

A normal shower head can use much more than AAA rated shower head - approximately 117,000 litres / year for a family of 4. Installing a water-efficient shower rose saves you money by reducing your water and heating costs.

A tap left running while you clean your teeth can waste up to 6,000 litres/year. Ask your primary school children to show you how to brush your teeth using 1 cup of water.

When its time to replace your washing machine install a 4 star rated machine Click here for policy – they use less water, detergent and energy and Council offers a $150 rebate!

Did you know that the older style toilets use 12 litres of water every time you flush, whereas a dual-flush toilet uses 6 litres of water or less per flush and that the half flush will do the job most of the time?
   
WARNING! - a sprinkler left running can waste 1,000 litres of water per hour. Remember, restrictions still apply.
   
Did you know a continuously dripping tap wastes 600 litres of water per day – repairing leaking taps immediately can save a lot of water and money.