How to Reduce Your Daily Water Consumption: Habits and Equipment

The water consumption of a French household averages around 150 litres per person per day. Multiplied by four occupants over a year, that represents a considerable volume that shows up directly on the bill, not to mention the energy needed to heat it. The good news: the biggest consumption points are easily reduced with a few inexpensive pieces of equipment and simple habits. Here is how to cut your daily water consumption by several dozen litres a day, without losing comfort.

The big consumption points

• The shower: around 60 to 80 litres for a 5-minute shower with a standard shower head
• The bath: around 150 to 200 litres every use, the equivalent of three showers
• The toilet flush: 6 to 9 litres per use depending on the age of the toilet
• The washing machine and dishwasher: 40 to 60 litres per cycle for the oldest, far less for recent models
• The taps: hand washing, teeth brushing and cooking account for several dozen litres a day

Reducing your consumption in the shower

The shower is the first consumption point in most households. Cutting it by two minutes can save around 20 to 30 litres per shower, i.e. several thousand litres a year for one person. Installing a water-saving shower head, which mixes water and air to keep a pleasant flow of about 6 to 8 litres per minute instead of 10 to 12, keeps the comfort while reducing the volume used. Turning the water off while soaping up and limiting the time spent under the water are the two most effective habits, and they cost nothing.

Water-saving equipment

• Aerators (or flow restrictors) to fit on the taps: a few euros each, they reduce the flow by 30 to 50 % without a felt loss of pressure
• Water-saving shower heads: from 10 to 25 €, they keep a comfortable spray while halving the flow
• Dual-flush toilets (3/6 litres or 2/4 litres depending on the model): the small flush is enough for urine
• Gaskets and hoses in good condition: a worn gasket makes a tap run continuously, several cubic metres a year
• Flush displacement devices or bricks in the cistern: a temporary trick when the flush cannot be adjusted

Hunting down leaks: the invisible waste

A leak, even a tiny one, represents continuous waste. A dripping tap can let several cubic metres of water escape a year, and a toilet that silently leaks into the cistern wastes even more. To check the watertightness of your installation, a simple test: close all the taps and appliances, note the meter reading, then come back two hours later. If the meter has moved when nobody has used any water, a leak is certain. Most often, a tap gasket or a flush valve is enough to stop everything, at a cost of a few euros and an hour's work.

Changing your daily habits

• Only run the washing machine and dishwasher full, and favour the eco programmes
• Turn the tap off while brushing your teeth and soaping your hands
• Prefer the shower to the bath, and fill a jug or bucket to catch the cold start-up water
• Do not flush a cigarette butt away: throw it in the bin
• Collect rainwater for watering the garden or washing the car, if your installation allows it

The mistakes to avoid

• Believing you must renovate your plumbing to save water: the habits and small pieces of equipment are often enough
• Leaving a trickle of water running "for freshness" at the tap in summer: dozens of litres go down the drain every day
• Setting the hot water tank too hot to "compensate": the mixer tap does the rest
• Ignoring toilet flush leaks: silent but very costly over the year
• Watering the garden with drinking water at the hottest times, when evaporation is at its maximum

Reducing your water consumption comes down to a combination of simple equipment, like aerators and water-saving shower heads, and daily habits that require no particular effort. The potential savings vary from household to household, but a 20 to 30 % reduction in hot water consumption is realistic by combining these actions. On top of the water bill, every litre of hot water saved reduces the energy used to heat the water, and therefore the overall bill for the home: a virtuous circle to put into action today.