How to save water at home

Why this matters in Witchford

The East of England, covered by Anglian Water, receives less rainfall per person than almost anywhere else in the UK — comparable to parts of the Mediterranean — while supporting one of the country’s fastest-growing populations. Cambridgeshire has been affected by hosepipe bans in several recent dry summers, and the pressure on local water supplies is only expected to grow.

It’s not just about taps and bills. The Fens around Witchford, including Wicken Fen, depend on water levels in the surrounding chalk streams and groundwater. Using less water at home eases the pressure on the rivers, wetlands and abstraction sites that supply us, as well as saving money.

In the bathroom

Bathing and showering account for a large share of household water use.

• A standard bath uses around 80 litres; a power shower can use even more.
• A standard shower head uses 10–15 litres a minute; a low-flow or aerated shower head uses around 6 litres a minute, mixing in air to keep the pressure up. Over a 10-minute shower, that’s a saving of up to 90 litres — try one and see if you notice the difference.
• Cutting a shower from 10 minutes to 4 saves water and energy on every wash — a shower timer is a cheap way to keep track.

Toilets use drinking-quality water for something that doesn’t need it, and account for roughly a quarter of what a household uses.

• A dual-flush toilet uses 4–6 litres per flush, against up to 13 litres for an older single-flush model.
• If you have an older toilet, a free Cistern Displacement Device (a “save-a-flush” bag) saves at least a litre on every flush without needing a plumber.
• Stick to the “3 Ps” — pee, paper and poo — down the toilet. Wipes, cotton buds and other items block pipes and pollute local watercourses.
• A leaking toilet can waste up to 400 litres a day — more than a whole household normally uses. Drop food colouring into the cistern and check the bowl after 20 minutes without flushing; if colour appears, it’s leaking.

Anglian Water sends Witchford households a free bathroom kit on request — a digital shower timer, a save-a-flush bag and a leaky-loo dye tablet — via the free products page (enter your postcode to check eligibility).

In the kitchen

• A dishwasher on an eco setting, run full, generally uses less water than washing the same load by hand under a running tap.
• If you do wash up by hand, use a bowl rather than a running tap — it can cut water use by up to half.
• Scrape plates instead of rinsing them before they go in the dishwasher.
• Modern washing machines use as little as 6–7.5 litres per kilogram of laundry; check the label when replacing one, and always run full loads.

In the garden

Fenland gardens can dry out fast in summer, but a well-established lawn is tougher than it looks.

• Lawns naturally go brown and dormant in dry spells and green up again after rain — there’s usually no need to water one at all.
• Mulch borders and beds with compost or woodchip to lock in moisture and cut down on watering.
• Choose drought-tolerant plants and group plants with similar watering needs together, so you’re not over-watering the whole bed for the sake of one thirsty plant.
• Water in the early morning or evening, when less is lost to evaporation, and aim the water at the roots rather than the leaves.
• A water butt on a downpipe captures free rainwater for the garden — useful given how little rain the Fens get compared with the rest of the UK. Anglian Water’s free garden kit includes water-saving gadgets and a supply of wildflower seeds; check eligibility on the free products page.
• Fit a trigger nozzle to any hosepipe — it can cut the water used by half.
• Check garden taps and hoses for drips. A tap dripping once a second wastes over 12,000 litres a year — enough to fill a garden pond many times over.

Leaks

A dripping tap or hidden pipe leak can waste huge amounts of water without anyone noticing. Get to know where your stopcock is, and if your usage looks unusually high, ask Anglian Water for a free leak check.

Food and clothing choices

Water use isn’t only about what comes out of the tap — a lot is used to grow and make what we buy.

• Producing food accounts for around 70% of global freshwater use. A kilogram of beef takes roughly 15,400 litres of water to produce; pork around 5,990 litres. Cutting back on meat, and buying local, seasonal produce where you can, reduces this “hidden” water footprint.
• Making a pair of jeans and a t-shirt uses around 13,570 litres of water between them. Buying second-hand clothing, or simply making what you own last longer, avoids that water cost entirely.

Washing jeans well — and less. The single biggest water saving for a pair of jeans is simply washing them less often. A University of Alberta study found that jeans laundered less frequently kept their colour and tensile strength much better than ones washed after every wear or two, so washing less isn’t a trade-off against durability — it helps jeans last longer (McQueen et al., 2017). Welsh jeans maker Hiut Denim put this into practice, telling customers to wash as infrequently as they can bear to. When a wash is due, they recommend turning jeans inside out (it protects the colour and fade, and gets the dirtier inner layer against the detergent), using a denim-friendly detergent or a cup of vinegar with a tablespoon of salt, and running the gentlest, coldest cycle your machine has — no hotter than 30°C, skipping the spin if you can to avoid crease lines. Lift jeans out straight after the cycle and roll rather than twist them to remove excess water. Fewer, gentler washes save water and energy, and are kinder to the denim too.

Further resources

• Waterwise: How to Save Water — the full guide this page is adapted from, with more detail on workplaces and schools.
• Anglian Water: free water-saving products — order a free bathroom or garden kit for your Witchford home.
• Anglian Water: water efficiency advice — leak reporting, meter readings and current hosepipe ban status for our area.