With the right systems and habits in place, it is easy to get by on a small amount of water which not only saves more money but helps to build a buffer for your household against a severe drought.
During the Cape Town water crisis in South Africa water was restricted to 50 litres per person per day [1].
Naturally, this created discomfort for the residents because their water infrastructure was set up to use a lot more water to meet their needs [2]. This is the case in many modernised countries including Australia.
We comfortably use 50 litres per person per day on average and even grow 15% of our total veggies with this. Here’s how:
- Using the Solar hot water for renters system cuts 30 litres per person per day off our total water use.
- Learning how to maintain good hygiene, better skin and scalp health by showering every second day cuts another 12 litres per person per day.
- Following the rule “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down” saves another 15 litres per person per day. This is handy to know in a severe water shortage as urine is sterile (therefore, it does not transmit disease to humans) so it presents no health risk if it is not flushed immediately (not to mention, it has to stand for a while before it starts to smell).
- Using the above habit, water can be conserved for faeces which should be flushed immediately.
- Overall, our water use consists of drinking water (5 litres), washing dishes (10 litres), cooking and food preparation (5 litres), washing clothes (20 litres), other bathroom tasks (5 litres), showering (15 litres), toilet (20 litres), garden (20 litres).
- Capturing washing machine greywater allows us to increase the amount of produce we can grow without increasing our water use.
- In a severe drought, washing machine water can also be used to bucket flush a toilet, saving drinking water for more essential uses.
Adjusting to an ultra-low amount of water should cost a rental household around $130 a year which is an $870 saving over what the average Australian household pays and should provide you with a good buffer for a severe drought which is probable given how climate change is affecting seasonal rainfall patterns in Australia.
Further Reading:
[1] https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/cape-residents-limited-50-litres-water [2] https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/cape-town-water-crisis-drought-disease/