Ways to save water in the bathroom
Around 40% of household water is used and wasted in the bathroom. Just by changing our behaviours and using water efficient appliances we can make this one of the easiest places to save lots of water.
Did you know every minute in the shower with a standard showerhead uses around 9 litres of water? That’s one full bucket per minute. If everyone spent one less minute in the shower, we could save millions of litres of water every day.
Quick tips
- Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth and use a cup for rinsing. A running tap can use about 5 litres of water per minute.
- Use a plug to keep water in the sink for rinsing your razor or washing your face. A small amount of water in the basin rather than running a tap can save litres of water.
- Fix a leak. If your tap is dripping it can waste as much as 200 litres a day
- Install flow-controlled aerators for taps. They’re inexpensive and can reduce water flow by 50%.
- Take shorter showers. Every minute less saves one bucket of water Try a 4 minute shower timer or choose your favourite 4-minute song from this playlist.
- Use a bucket to collect water while waiting for the shower to get hot. Use the excess water to shave or water your plants.
- Install a WELS 4-star rated showerhead to save water and energy. . Older showerheads use 15-25 litres of water per minute, but efficient showerheads use 6-7 litres per minute.
- Consider an instantaneous water heater if your existing water heater is a long way from the bathroom. Talk to a plumber first to make sure it will work with your showerhead.
- Set your hot water heater thermostat no higher than 600 C. Adding cold water to cool hot water is a waste of energy and water.
- Use the half flush button on your toilet instead of the full flush when you can. Full flush uses 4.5 litres per flush and 3 litres per half flush.
- Replace your old toilet with a dual flush. A single flush uses between 11 and 18 litres per flush. Can’t replace the toilet? Place a water-filled plastic bottle or brick into your cistern to reduce the water use.
- Fix a leak. A leaking toilet can waste up to 60,000 litres of water per year. Check for leaks by putting a few drops of food dye in the cistern. If you have a leak, coloured water will trickle down the back of the bowl.
- Only flush poo, pee and toilet paper down the toilet. Flushing other items can cause blockages and overflows wasting valuable water and creates a costly mess.
- Set your hot water heater thermostat no higher than 600 C. Adding cold water to cool hot water is a waste of energy and water.
- Only fill the tub with as much water as needed.
- Use your used bath water on your garden.
Before buying a new toilet or showerhead, check the manufacturer’s water efficiency labels. Australia’s Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme allows consumers to compare the water efficiency of different products using a star rating system. By buying more water efficient products you can save money on water and electricity bills and help the environment.