Tips for water use

I have friends who never let their bath water drain.

They take a bucket, scoop water out of the bath and use that water to flush their toilet. First of all, it sometimes creates a bit of a mess in their bathroom. Secondly, you can only do this if your shower is not over the bath, although my friends have recently relocated and found a solution to that, too. They have placed a container in the bath water and step into the container to shower.

I figured there had to be easier ways to do this. Below are some 6 really easy tips for how to use water wisely, even when you rent an apartment. After I started applying these tips, I found that myself sometimes using the cold water that I catch before the hot water gets to the bathroom twice, when I am able to combine two of these six tips.

Tip number 1.

You can use this water as follows:

• Use it to water plants.
• Pour it into the toilet to flush. I find that this has less flushing power, but it may depend on your toilet and its plumbing.

  I find that placing a bucket with a pouring lip under the tap works well, and it is much less of a hassle than I thought it would be. I don't want to have to deal with a water mess every time. Also, it needs to be as easy as possible to do.

• This is DRINKING WATER, however, so you can also use it for tea, coffee and cooking. This would require, say, a large water bottle with a screw cap, as opposed to a bucket. Below on the right is a suitable container available in the UK, but it would have to fit under the tap.

  The one on the left is available in the US and looks like it might fit easily, but I find the price a bit high. Simply buying a gallon of water at the supermarket might get you a suitable container too.

  You may have to hold the container; it depends on your bath tub. Only a bucket with a pouring lid will catch water on its own, in my bath. So I will have to keep pouring this drinking water down the toilet, unless I actually hold a food container under the tap so that the water runs into it. I think that is doable!

• Note: Water from warm-water pipes can have more sediment in it so you may have to filter it. These characteristics differ between countries.

Tip number 2.

These pumps below (UK on the right, US on the left) are not too expensive, and appear extremely simple and easy to use, when used with water. Tip: Consider using some duct tape on connections, so that the tubing doesn't come loose.

The lower pump - available in the UK - comes with a drum, but it may be too small to collect the bathwater in. Get a rain water collection barrel (called a water butt in the UK) or similar, transfer the water from the bath into the barrel and then you can also use the pump to suction up water for flushing your toilet.

However, rain water collection barrels are very expensive. The cheapest alternative, says David Bradley, if you know someone in a hospital, is to get hold of an empty barrel that used to contain water-soluble lubricant.

You can use this water as follows:

• Use it to water your garden plants, if you have one.
• Use it to flush your toilet by pouring it into your toilet bowl directly.

Tip number 3.

You can use this water as follows:

• Use it to water your garden, if you have one.
• Use it to flush your toilet by pouring it into your toilet bowl directly.

Tip number 4.

You can use this water as follows:

• It can serve as a good basis for a soup or sauce.

Tip number 5.

Tip number 6.

You can use this water as follows:

• Pour it in a bucket or drum (barrel) that you keep in your bathroom and use the water to flush your toilet.

Remember that the water that streams from our taps is usually potable water, made for consumption by humans. It's a shame to waste it, certainly if it's undergone a lot of treatment to make it drinkable.

I wrote the above on January 25, 26 and 27, 2012. In some cases, you could also pour water into your toilet's reservoir, but the lids tend to be very heavy, you may upset the balance of the float, and you can only do it when you've just flushed the toilet. That's three reasons that work against it, which means that you won't do it in practice.

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