Water costs money and will soon be costing a lot more when the cost of flood defences are loaded onto water bills. We each use 150 litres a day, 60 being used for toilet flushing alone. The flushing toilet is by far the biggest user so this is where the greatest savings can be made.
DO NOT buy a dual-flush, 'push-button' operated toilet, these are the biggest 'Trojan-Horse' of water saving ever because they ALL have 'DROP-VALVES' in the cistern, which have been KNOWN to leak for 160 years. The leakage rate in the USA is 15-30 litres per person per day and has been in textbooks for decades. At any one time in the USA, one in five valve toilets leak at over 20,000 US gallons per year. Do NOT fall for the 'lure' of simple 'Push-Button' operation, it will cost you plenty in leakage.
Stay with siphon toilets, characterised with their handle operation, these NEVER leak, the siphons proper name is the 'Water Waste Preventor' on account of it being invented in 1863 to replace leaky valves back then.
For 150 years we have 'pressed and let go', releasing the full cistern every time, a complete waste of water and money, literally down the pan.
For cisterns with FRONT handles, fit the INTERFLUSH, a DIY retrofit kit from www.interflush.co.uk, which converts the siphon to INTERRUPTIBLE flushing, just stop it when you like. Operation now becomes: 'Press, HOLD DOWN to flush, let go to stop the flush, as soon as pan is clear. Uses only what is needed, wasting none at all, saving on average HALF the flushing water, 30 litres per person per day. Costs under £20, saves thousands over the years, payback time of weeks not years. Norwich Union and Barclays bank are installing it. It cut Norwich Union's water bill by over 20%.
The above two measures can save UK consumers almost £3Bn a year and half a million tonnes of carbon emissions from reduced pumping and treatment.
Source: Ethical Junction
Green (Living) Review comment: In addition to the installation of such a device if the guys could leave their hands off the lever if it is just a wee then we also would save a lot more water. As the Mayor of London's Office suggested last year “don't rush to flush, if it is only a pee”. Also a suggestion, methinks.
M Smith (Veshengro), June 2008
Water and Money down the pan - £3bn a year!!
