Water-saving devices a 'must have'

Outdoor water use in the summer puts real demands on the water system for treatment and supply. As a result, Taupo District Council is encouraging residents to use less water and to make sure they don’t waste it.

One simple way of minimising your usage is to pull the trigger! Attaching a trigger gun to your hose is quick, easy, cheap and it means you can stop and start the flow as you wish. This is ideal while washing the car or boat as a running hose can waste 15 litres or one and a half buckets every minute.

Another useful hose attachment is a tap timer, particularly to control your garden watering. That way, if you go off to the movies and forget about it, water won’t run to waste.

Taupo’s water-saving initiative has the support of a region-wide WaterSmart campaign in which councils throughout Waikato have joined together to remind the public that water is precious. Council is also reminding residents that the process of treating water and pumping it to your house costs.

Some of the key tips being promoted as part of the campaign include watering gardens only in the morning or evening, mulching around plants, fixing leaks and installing low flow devices on taps and showers, turning off the tap when brushing teeth or shaving, washing cars and boats with a bucket and sponge not the hose and keeping daily showers to four minutes.

To further encourage sensible water use, Taupo residents will be receiving discount vouchers for some great outdoor water-saving products in the next issue of Envirocare (Environment Waikato’s regional newsletter). It’ll be in your post box the first week of February and will enable residents to receive 20 percent discount on five Nylex water-saving products.