UK households issued 'five' instructions to save £700 on water bills

Yahoo

15-04-2025

Water bills have risen by an average of £10 per month, as Brits were slapped with another cost increase amid rises in energy bills, council tax, broadband costs and more.
The amount of water you use directly impacts teh amount you spend on it, so in order to save month you need to incorporate a number of new habits into your daily rountine.
While we all enjoy spending that extra few seconds in the shower each morning, those seconds turn into minutes and those minutes into money.
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Danielle Michalska-Morris, Technical Innovation Manager at housebuilder Barratt Redrow, has shared some simple home changes to help reduce water usage and lower costs.
From the survey, almost half of Brits (47%) try to fix leaks or drips quickly in a bid to reduce water wastage.
Major leaks such as a burst pipe can be easy to notice and rectify; however, slow leaks such as a dripping tap or leaky loo can waste between 200 and 400 litres of water a day if left unchecked. This wastage of 300 litres a day can add up to £519 extra to annual water bills.
Leaving a tap running typically wastes approximately 6 litres of water per minute, with the survey finding that more than half of Brits (53%) are guilty of doing so when brushing their teeth.
This habit could be adding up to £41 onto annual water bills per person. In a home of three people, this equals £123 extra.
An average-length shower (8 minutes) with a standard mixer showerhead (approximately eight litres/min) uses up to 64 litres of water each time. For three people, this totals to 192 litres per day.
However, if each person showered one minute less each time for every day of the year, this would save £42 on water bills.
A less common practice is to only run appliances with full loads, with 87% of Brits not currently doing this.
The average UK washing machine typically uses between 35 and 50 litres per cycle on an eco-wash, whereas a dishwasher uses 10 litres per eco cycle. Using each of these appliances an extra time each week could add up to £15 onto an annual water bill.
Outdoor tasks such as washing the car and watering the garden can use up to 2,500 litres of water each year, which could cost homeowners up to £12 on their water bills annually.
Another option is to use leftover water from other tasks to water the garden, a practice that almost a quarter of Brits (23%) have now adopted.