We Love Water.
We Thank Water.
We Respect Water.
We Are All Water.
We Are All One.
by Masaru Emoto, Messages from Water
Water is precious and essential. We respect and save water as part of our thanks.
Posted: December 4th, 2007 under general, nature's gift.
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One of the most obvious ways of saving water is to make sure you are not loosing water through any leaks. But we often forget these little tasks and focus on bigger ones.
So, how can you check for leaks? Here are some simple tests you can use:
So we challenge you to find any and all leaks in your house over the next week. Share how you found the leaks, too.
For the sake of comparison, record your water meter readings today and just before you fix any leaks. Then do it again a week or so later. How much water did you save by fixing those leaks?
Posted: December 1st, 2007 under challenges, general, saving water.
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Stage 3a restrictions came into force on 1 August 2007 for all of
You can find the complete list of restrictions at www.ourwater.vic.gov.au
Posted: November 27th, 2007 under general, saving water.
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Yesterday, we talked about choosing a tank big enough to last until the next rain. But we deliberately didn’t worry about space of costs, just how much water you needed.
Costs obviously become a factor in choosing a tank for your home. And it is worth looking around at different types of tanks and suppliers before buying one - the first deal it not always the best.
What costs are involved in buying a tank?
You will need to allow for:
There are government rebates to assist in putting a tank into your home - they vary between states and tank sizes. But the rebates generally won’t apply if you do it yourself instead of paying a plumber.
Is it worth the expense?
Well, apart from helping the environment, giving yourself fresh, unadulterated water, reducing the impact of water restrictions on your lifestyle and reducing the strain on our water catchments, having a water tank can save you money as well.
Once you have decided how much water you could use form a tank, subtract that much from your last water bill. Multiply that over 3 or 4 bills a year for the next 10 years, and the cost of a tank may not seem so large.
And that doesn’t even include the possibility (some would say likelihood) of increased water supply costs resulting from the current crisis.
We consider a tank a short term expense for long term gain - the more water we all collect, the better for us all.
Posted: November 17th, 2007 under collecting water, general.
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Thinking of getting a rainwater tank? One of the first questions you will need to answer is “how much water should we store?” Next is “how long do we need to store it?”
Excluding space and finances, you need to consider what you need the water for and therefore how much you need. For instance, if you are watering a small garden you will need less water than someone who is using a tank for a large garden and weekly washing three cars.
Let’s say you need 2,000L a month. Does that mean you should get a 2,000L tank? Maybe. If you get regular rain that will constantly fill up your tank so there is 2,000L available every month, then that size tank may be perfect for you. However, if your annual rainfall is not evenly distributed across the year, a 2,000L tank may be too small. In many parts of Australia, we don’t tend to get a lot of rainy days during February and March, and they are hot so our gardens need more water. In that situation, a full 2,000 L tank at the beginning of February may not hold enough water to last until the next rain - a 4,000L tank would be much better.
You can use personal experience or check out the meteorology websiteto check average rainfalls for each month to decide how big your tank will ideally be to last your needs.
Many people are surprised at the fact they need much larger tanks than they suspected. It’s much better to figure it out before you buy one than next March when your tank is dry, restrictions are in place and there is no rain…
Posted: November 16th, 2007 under collecting water, general.
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Yes, even first aid is being affected by the drought!
The first thing you woud do for a burn or a cut is put it under running cold water to take out the heat and clean the area.
Of course, when we’re all trying to cut back on the amount of water we use, running water for first aid doesn’t seem so good.
For a small cut, the amount of water required to clean it is probably pretty small so this isn’t an issue. But a burn should be held under water for at least a few minutes, and that can add up to being a lot of water down the drain.
The simple solution is to run water over the burn and collect the water in a bowl underneath. The bowl of water can then be used on the garden, to wash clothes or whatever.
If water is really limited, use two bowls and pour the water from one bowl over the burn into the second bowl and keep swapping. This water will eventually warm up and be less useful for the burn, but this is better first aid than not applying cold water at all or for too short a time.
Posted: November 15th, 2007 under general, saving water.
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If you are harvesting rain water then your gutters are very important - of course, they are also important if you want to keep water out of your house during rain but that’s another story!
If your gutters are leaking or sagging, then you will not be collecting all of the water falling on your roof.
It’s not hard to check your gutters are sound. Walk around your house and look up at the gutters. Can you see any places where the gutters sag down or have holes? After the next rain, look at the gutters again and watch for any obvious leaks.
If you only find a small problem, get it repaired! If you find a big problem or lots of little ones, it may be worth considering getting some new gutters.
Posted: November 11th, 2007 under collecting water, general.
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Well, it certainly felt like the drought broke in Melbourne and Victoria over the weekend! It poured for hours and hours, which was wonderful to see and hear. Not so wonderful to see the floods in Gippsland, though.
Hopefully, a lot of people were collecting some of that rain water to use over summer.
And now is the time to put down some new mulch to keep as much of that moisture in the garden beds as possible.
But back to the rain! Melbourne received over 27mm of rain which is incredible after the last 10 years. For everyone who planted tomato plants over the weekend (Cup Day being the tradiaional time to plant them), it is a great start to your vegetable crop!
What did you do to celebrate the rain if you got rain over the weekend?
Posted: November 7th, 2007 under general, nature's gift.
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What more can we say - water is precious and we need to value it.
It is amazing that Austraia is one of the driest places on Earth, yet we are the highest dosmestic consumer of water. You’d think we’d be leading the world in how to conserve and save water.
There are many ways we can save water, and it’s great to see people doing their bit around the country - pity it took a serious drought to wake us though.
We have started this blog to share some tips and ideas about saving water, as well as explaining some of the science behind water conservation (see, those science degrees have come in handy after all!) and sharing some of our water experiences.
Posted: October 23rd, 2007 under general.
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