The story behind the headlines...
Shower: The biggest savings came from reducing the time they are in the shower and for the kids, how much water they use in the bath. The family has two showers. The one they use most is a walk in shower which has a large shower head. Luckily it is flow regulated and the flow is only 8 litres/minute. However ten minutes at 8 litres a minute is 80 litres a day; over half the UK average water consumption used every morning in the shower. By reducing their shower time down from ten minutes to four minutes Marie and Jamie each save 48 litres of water a day.
Bath: I love the idea that the children have cut their bath use down to four minutes as well in so far as they fill the bath up for four minutes using the timer. Jamie says it fills to about 10 cm deep. That’s probably about 60 - 80 litres of water in the bath, which is a saving of between 80 - 100 litres per bath.
Toilet: The family has a 6/4 litre dual flush toilet. If the family use their toilet at the UK average rate of 5 times a day at home, by ensuring they always use the short flush when they have just had a wee, the family will save 32 litres of water per day.
Dishwasher: Most people who have a dishwasher don’t use it as efficiently as they could. The family’s dishwasher uses 14 litres of water each time they use it. They halved their dishwasher use.
Can they keep the savings up? I think it may prove difficult as the kids get older and start to want to spend hours in the shower, but I certainly think they will continue to use less than 130 litres per person per day.
Can behaviour change help save the Kennet? Cath analyses the Mcrobie family’s water consumption in more detail - Read more