16 smart tips to save water at home

Reservoir levels in the city of São Paulo have never been so low. Concern about a possible lack of water in the fourth largest metropolis in the world has been keeping many people awake at night. And rightly so. Knowing this, what are you doing to help reduce water consumption? Even if there is plenty of water in your region, it is your responsibility to also take measures to preserve this resource.

“It is possible to save water by changing small habits at home”, explains Marco Aurélio Teixeira, business manager at CAS Tecnologia. The company is responsible for implementing individual water meters in São Paulo and has noticed a 20% increase in demand for the system in recent months, since discussions about the city’s water supply crisis began.

The latest survey by the National Sanitation Information System (SNIS) showed that the average water consumption per inhabitant is 163 liters per day in Brazil, 48% above the 110 liters indicated by the UN as a basic human need for consumption and hygiene. .

Although our daily average is not as high as that of countries like the United States (500 liters) and Canada (613 liters), we have a long way to go in terms of water savings.

Check out 16 tips below to do your part and reduce the consumption of water used in your home.

to do now

1. Reuse the water released by the washing machine. Just put a bucket in the water outlet and reuse it to wash the sidewalk or car, for example.

2. Stop using the hose to wash outside areas and the car. When washing the car with a bucket, for example, you use only 60 liters of water and not the 560 liters that would be spent with the hose on for 30 minutes, highlights Marco Aurélio. To clean the sidewalk, prefer the broom.

3. Decrease bath time. A 15-minute bath with the valve half open leads to a consumption of 135 liters. The same bath for five minutes, closing the register when soaping, consumes 15 liters, explains the specialist.

4. Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth for five minutes with the tap running consumes 12 liters of water, while if you wet the toothbrush, turn off the tap and rinse with a glass of water, you will spend only 0.5 liters.

5. Collect rainwater. Place buckets of water in the yard to collect rainwater and use it to water plants or wash the floor.

6. Turn off the faucet while soaping the dishes. Organizing the dishes before washing and only turning on the faucet to rinse helps save a lot of running water.

7. Fill washing machines and dishwashers. Washing everything at once, using the full capacity of the machines, is the best way to make use of the used water. No washing little by little.

8. Defrost food in the refrigerator. No using the faucet. Take the food out of the freezer the day before and thaw it in the fridge.

9. Leave a bucket under the shower while the water heats up. If you have the habit of waiting for the water to heat up before taking the shower, leave a bucket under the shower to reuse the water later to water plants, fill the pet’s water pot or wash the sidewalk, for example.

10. Use less water when cooking. Do you need to fill the pot so much to cook the potatoes? And, to wash vegetables, instead of leaving them directly in running water, it is worth leaving them soaking in a pot with water and a chlorine-based solution (product found in any supermarket).

11. Take advantage of bath time to pee. No, that’s not disgusting at all! 95% of pee is water and the remaining 5% is mostly urea and salts. There is even a campaign to encourage people to join this habit. Meet here.

To do as soon as possible

12. Call a plumber to check for leaks. To give you an idea of ​​the impact of leaks, a dripping faucet can waste up to 46 liters of water in a day. There are 16,000 liters a year (about 64,000 cups of requeijão).

13. Install water flow reducers on faucets and showers. These devices reduce the flow of water and provide greater savings, says Marcos.

14. Preserve your pool water. If your pool still doesn’t have a pump and filter, it’s time to call a professional to install these features, essential to keep the water clean for longer. In addition, it is important to perform periodic maintenance to monitor any leaks and buy a cover to cover the pool when it is not in use to prevent evaporation.

to do in the future

15. Install green roofs with a cistern for water storage. Green roofs are already a reality and there are even companies specializing in installing this technology in homes. “All rainwater can be captured and reused internally for use in flushing, for example”, explains João Manuel Feijó, agronomist and director of Ecotelhado.

16. Replace home discharges with smart models. Double flushes, for example, which release three or six liters of water per activation, are a good option, recommends Marcus Saussey, a specialist in Environmental Management.

Water footprint: how to calculate?

Do you know what your water footprint is? The water footprint of a home is the calculation that shows how much water your daily habits consume. To find yours, click on the link, see how much you are spending and adopt the 16 measures mentioned above to do your part. As the page is in English, open the link in the Google Chrome browser and right-click on the page, selecting “translate to Portuguese”.

In addition to adopting these new habits in your home, spread these tips and ideas among those you know. Collaborate with the environment, do your part.