Saving big on your water bills is easier than you think. Here’s what you can do.
It may be the season of mangoes but summer is a problem for many of us. Acute water shortage and load shedding add to the miserable heat and the discomfort. If you are getting ready to enjoy a cool bath and your water runs out, it is absolutely dreadful to make frantic phone calls to the tanker water supplier and to wait for hours for them to turn up. When they do turn up, the soaring tanker water rates will shock you.
The truth is that you can put an end to your summer woes with one-off, easy steps to scale back on water usage and reduce the money you spend every month.
LET THESE DEVICES DO YOUR WORK FOR YOU
On an average, your needs are pretty simple. You use about 135 litres per day; 55 litres for bathing, another 30 litres towards toilet flushing, 40 litres for washing and cleaning clothes and utensils, and another 5 litres each towards cooking and drinking.
You can actually save up to 80 litres of water a day if you are a family of four, according to A B Selvakumar, Associate Director, WEGOT Utility Solutions, a company that makes intelligent water-saving solutions.
If you are using more water than you need, there are simple ways to cut down on your usage and save big every month. Install water saving devices like faucet heads, aerators, pressure regulators, low-flow shower heads and restrictors.
These are quick, one-step solutions to get rid of your water problems and to cut down on those bills. An aerator costs only Rs. 100 to Rs. 500 and you just have to install it in the kitchen tap and forget about it. The water gets mixed with the air in the aerator and gives a soft bubbly flow, reducing usage. It’s that easy!
If your biggest water consumption is in the utility area, then run full loads in your washing machine instead of half loads. Replace a top load washing machine with a front load. If you are forced to do laundry every day or frequently, invest in a larger capacity machine to reduce the number of loads.
Wouldn’t we all like to do less laundry?
Another way to bring down water usage is to let a few smart devices do it all for you while you sit back, relax and save money. We are talking about water meters and sensors!
These devices automate your water saving effort for you and remove all your headaches. Water meters use sensors to detect leaks. They notify the facility head in an apartment complex to shut off the water if a tap is left on in a locked apartment.
If your apartment complex does not use a water meter and you don’t pay per usage, you may think you are out of the woods. Think again! You still get hit with a huge bill. Spending tons of money on water tankers will land on your monthly maintenance bills and increase them significantly.
An apartment complex in Chennai with 136 apartments reduced monthly water usage from 28 lakh litres to 17 lakh litres in two months. Imagine the amount of money they saved!
All they did was install water meters that billed users for their usage. There was less water wastage because alerts were issued when there were leaks or open taps. Minute by minute consumption and comparison with the neighbors also helped raise awareness. People used only what they needed and they did not have to go rushing to call for tanker supply. Everyone was happy!
Water shortage is a big struggle and robs you of your peace of mind, not to mention the expenses it adds to your household every month. Use these devices to reclaim your peace of mind and to make big savings every month by cutting down on your water expenses.
