January 2007
What you think about saving the rain
WATER-SAVING UK homeowners strongly back collecting and recycling the rain to save up to 50% of their mains water demand and ease UK water shortages - according to an independent national survey commissioned by the Save the Rain™ campaign in association with British Water.
Nine out of 10 of homeowners believe it’s a good idea to use Rainwater Harvesting to provide ‘free’ water for flushing toilets, watering gardens and washing cars. Nearly a third said you would be more likely to buy a house with a rainwater harvesting system already installed.
However, most said that financial incentives – grants to offset installation costs or saving money on water bills - would be the greatest motivator for installing rainwater harvesting.
A high proportion of those questioned made water saving in the home a matter of course - especially those people in the most drought-affected UK regions. Overall saving water was rated as the second most important environmental measure people could take, behind recycling paper and glass - but more important than improving insulation or switching off the light
But people in drought-stricken London and the South East ranked ‘top of the league’ of the water savers, where the highest number (39%) of people cited water efficiencies as the most important environmental measure they could take in the home.
65% of people said they never leave the tap running when brushing their teeth; 55% recycle water e.g. for watering plants; 52% keep a jug of water in their fridge to save running the cold tap and 48% take measures to reduce the amount of water used to flush the toilet.
While 90% of those questioned considered themselves environmentally conscious, a desire to help the environmental and even worsening water shortages on their own would be unlikely to make them install a system. The majority of people (63%) said that financial incentives – grants or saving money on water bills - would be the greatest motivator for installing rainwater harvesting.
Prompted by the UK’s continuing drought conditions, the survey was undertaken by research specialists BRMB who questioned 1,000 members of the British public to find out how water-conscious UK homeowners are.
Says Chris Williams spokesman for Save the RainTM: “If enough UK homes had Rainwater Harvesting systems, it could take the strain off demand for mains supplies and ease the UK’s water shortages. However, the survey shows that regulation and financial incentives are urgently needed if we are to achieve mainstream take-up.”
“Save the Rain is campaigning for Rainwater Harvesting to be compulsory on all new build properties within three years. It is also lobbying the Government for grants to be made available to encourage wider take up of the technology,” says Chris Williams who is managing director of the campaign’s sponsors Hydro International.
Download full details of the survey report (pdf)
See also:
Water saving scores with the Code for Sustainable Homes,
1 in 3 people more likely to buy a house with rainwater harvesting,
Drought - busting garden saves the rain,