WISE USE OF WATER

With some areas of England experiencing restricted water resources over recent years, the Water for Wildlife partnership is keen to raise awareness of how our everyday use of water impacts on wetlands and the plants and animals that live in them. In times of high water demand and low water availability, simple changes in how we use water can have a dramatic benefit to wildlife.

Our water comes from two sources; rivers, or aquifers (natural underground stores of water). Taking water from aquifers and rivers during drought periods can exacerbate low water levels. In dry years, many smaller rivers, ponds and wetlands dry up completely, killing many plants and animals dependent on them.

Tips for saving water
Using a hose in the garden gets through a staggering 540 litres of water in an hour – the same amount as a family of four use in a day. Just turning the tap off whilst brushing our teeth saves 5 litres of water a minute.

- Taking a 5 minute shower uses less than half the water of running a bath (not a power shower, which can use twice as much as a bath)
- Use a bowl to wash up or prepare vegetables
- If you have a leaking tap or pipe, fix it as soon as you can.
- Make sure you wait till you have a full load of washing before you use your washing machine
- Use cool washing-up or bath water (if it isn’t too greasy or dirty) to water your non-edible garden plants.
- Get a water butt fixed to a drainpipe to store water when it rains.
- Make a garden pond for wildlife
- Water your plants during the cool of the evening or early morning to stop evaporation; use a watering can not a hose if you can. Your lawn is robust enough to recover quickly even after going brown, you don’t need to water it.