Did You Know?
The average personal treated mains drinking water usage in England and Wales is 150 litres a day - rainwater could be used for nearly half of this. For a household of 4 people this equates to savings of 275 litres a day or 100 cu.m. a year.
- The demand for water has been growing by 1% per year for the past 75 years - on average, you use 150 litres of water a day.
- 30% of treated mains water is used to flush toilets - a properly installed rainwater collection system could save all this water.
- The roof on a 'typical' four bed family home captures more than 100,000 litres (100 cu.m) of rainwater a year.
- A typical family uses 70,000 litres year on toilet flushing, clothes washing, and outside use.
- Consider the flow rate before taking a shower - a 10 litre/min power shower for 15 minutes will use 150 litres water, equivalent to 2 baths. Shower flow rates vary from 1.5 l/min (ultra low) to 12+ l/min (power shower). A typical 5 l/min domestic shower for 5 minutes is the same as one third of a bath.
- Approx 20% of UK domestic water is used for bathing and showering.
- Washing machines use approximately 14% of domestic water. In the last 25 years, their water requirements per load have reduced by approximately two thirds.
- Dishwashers are more water efficient and effective than hand washing.
- In the UK, the proportion of water used for gardening can approach 50% during the driest months.
- There is less water for each person in the UK than most European and some Middle Eastern countries.
- Water is scarce in many parts of the UK – but demand for water is growing steadily at a rate of 1% per year.
- Enough rainwater falls in the UK to more than meet the needs of everyone.
- Rainwater Harvesting is already common in Europe – about 100,000 systems were installed during 2005/2006.
- If half of the 60 million plus people living in the UK saved rainwater (e.g. half of all dwellings fitted with rainwater harvesting systems), this would save over 750 million cu.m. of treated mains water a year.