Great water saving tip - shower with buckets, then

Page 1 / 2
matthews4, Mar 6, 6:01am
put the water on the garden.We get about 3 buckets of water from the 2 of us showering.Have a square basin, we put under taps, and 2 buckets we move around to suit.Every bit of water saved in this drought helps.Roses got a treat tonight.Also, have water butts on couple of our downpipes, and bucket that water out to garden in area.had a shower this morning, but didn't do much to help plants.
floss34, Mar 6, 6:10am
We do this too, have you tried catching washing machine water, we get nearly 300ltrs! crazy, new machine too!
pettal, Mar 6, 7:30am
do you stand in the bucket while having a shower, != sounds dangerous
thyme49, Mar 6, 7:52am
Put the bucket in the showe with you and where you see the most water coming off you to catch it. For me its in front of me and I catch a bucket of water every 3rd shower.We have brief showers. I caught all my washing machine water last year and put an old fishpond pump in the barrell that had the hose attatched to the outlet and watered all my gardens that way. Moved house this year and havent got the barrell set up yet.Im so surprised how much water we can recycle when we put our mind to it. Hope there are more people tryingout some ways and will share them. Just thought of the dishwasher. Either I will come up with a plan or wash by hand. Nowthats a thought.
floss34, Mar 6, 7:56am
i stand in two buckets, a foot in each :) i collect 20 litres per shower, very quick shower too :) hubby feet are too big so he stands beside
1rad8, Mar 6, 7:57am
Got a new washing machine and plan to do that too.however since it's just me,I just handwash clothes and use the water on plants.
Good way to not waste water!

Any other tips.
kaddiew, Mar 6, 7:58am
Does the soap in the water not damage plants!Or is it so diluted that it doesn't matter!
bugin, Mar 6, 8:11am
Dont forget to pee in the bucket too ,saving loo time and flushing water.
floss34, Mar 6, 8:12am
not so far, i dont water directly on things ill eat though, just water around the base
edenrose, Mar 6, 8:54am
I'm washing my hands in a bucket in the laundry tub, when nearly full I put it on the garden.
Have considered washing up in a bowl but haven't done so yet.Hand washed underwear,I thread on a plastic coated stake, to dry, over plants in garden.
Flush toilet every 3rd visit, if possible.Males are weeing on citrus trees, heard it's good for other plants too, some shrubs are looking good.
destiny6nz, Mar 6, 8:06pm
yes I think I will be buying biocompatible soaps until this drought is over

thanks for the tips everyone. Will be more vigilant with water use from now on.
kaddiew, Mar 6, 9:36pm
Me too, also especially as we're shortly going onto metered water.
I currently use "plant based" Earthwise Ultra Concentrate Laundry Liquid, which says it's grey water and septic tank safe with biodegradable surfactants. No phosphates, nitrates, chlorine or ammonia. Can only assume it's friendlier for the garden than some others.
matthews4, Mar 7, 6:14am
Soap will not hurt your plants - can use to spray some bugs.I mostly tip water on soil, anyway, so no problems.Good to hear others ideas.We live in the country, onlifestyle block, and have our own spring.Have always had Rain Butt tanks, on spouting, where we can.Use this for all sorts, and have a great garden, even in this drought.Don't always use buckets in the shower, but great to do at present.Hopefully others will read the post, and learn a bit about conserving and reusing water.Good on us all, and keep the post going.
timbo69, Mar 7, 6:43am
there is something wrong with your machine.
floss34, Mar 7, 6:53am
I thought this too but i guess its because it does one wash and two rinse cycles and its fairly big, 7.5kg i think. If i use the water saving cycle it takes twice as long so double the power, no real point really
timbo69, Mar 7, 7:07am
The capacity is irrelevant, it should only use enough water for the load in it . I cant remember exactly but (worked a F&P laundry R&D for 10 years) would think the wash would use 30-60l and the rise (which water usageisnt load specific) around 40l. F&P machines are designed to be frugal on water because most are sold in Australia where they have real water issues.
ira78, Mar 7, 7:23pm
That reminds me, this afternoon I need to set my irrigation system to run a bit longer and add some more pipes to it so I can WATER ALL THE THINGS.
donnabeth, Mar 7, 9:24pm
When I rinse out bottles and cans before recycling, the water is tipped out onto pots and plants near the door (tomatoes are supposed to like the rinse of the milk bottles, but they are the worst I've ever had them). Dishes and vegetables are rinsed in a bucket and the water tipped on the garden. Once we made a conscious effort to save water I'm aware of every drop that disappears down the drain.
hanmer, Mar 8, 9:40am
they advertise something on TV where you can put this plate into your downpipe and the water will flow into drums.we have a tap coming out of the one downpipe and a quick connector out of the other so that water can flow into two big drums.hubby has cut the downpipes in half and put a smaller pipe in . something like that.it's great because i have water for ever in them (except now, of course).one drum has a plastic tap about 6" from the base for filling the buckeet.
washing rinse water gets used, too.small 4ltr s/s bowl in sink to catch any water for the pot plants.fort, i am fit enough to walk a hundred miles a day;) keeping their soil damp.
never thought we would go cap-in-hand to australia for a bucket of O2;);)
cameron-albany, Mar 8, 9:57am
Yep I do all of the above.

Plus don't forget that if you wash dishes the old-fashioned way then use a bowl or bucket and save the water from that.If you frugally use a decent washing-up liquid then it won't affect your plants.I do that for all my plants on my deck (herbs, a few flowers and some tomatoes etc).

If you have a garden-shed then rig it up to catch roof-water (when it finally does rain again!)My big shed is fitted with guttering and a down-pipe on one side and I have a large (400 litre!) barrel that it drains into.This is so useful for the garden.You can either leave it without a lid (attracts mozzies and leaf-fall) or put a lid on and fit it with a tap for filling your watering cans.

I agree with washing machine waste.I absolutely HATE the sound of all that water gurgling down uselessly into my septic tank.I divert as much as possible via an alcathene pipe into another barrel that I have (for the garden and occasionally use it to fill toilet cistern).

And in regards to the toilet.remember the rule :"if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down!"

Ok and last tip - any left-over drinking water in glasses or in the kettle etc, use on your house-plants or take it out to top up bird-baths.Poor birds are really thirsty at the moment - don't forget about them !
stevie1, Mar 8, 10:03am
Wtf .is this a wind up or what
hanmer, Mar 8, 9:02pm
i also use left-over water fm the boiling veges and don't forget the dehumidifier. (hubby has it on all the time).that's abt 10ltrs.
lythande1, Mar 9, 12:41am
My Hoover washing machine uses around100 litres on medium full.
ozz1, Mar 9, 1:55am
No its not a wind up. stevie. if six billion people on this planet save one litre of water a day.thats6 billion litres of water saved.or recycled. each day.
punkinthefirst, Mar 9, 2:33am
No. We really do have a real drought on in the North Island. Top to bottom. The rivers here in Hawkes Bay are down to a trickle, and where there is no irrigation, there is no feed. We haven't had rain since early December, and it's been a hot summer. I just hope the grape-growers get something out of it, because no other farmers have.
Edited to say that I drove up to the King Country last week. The pumice country round Taupo is sand and weeds, unless it has been irrigated. King Country looks like Hawkes Bay normally does in summer.