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I received something of a shock a week ago, when the water
bill arrived. It was far, far higher than I expected. I wondered if the meter
was broken, as I didn’t think I had been so profligate or irresponsible in
terms of water consumption. I asked the
neighbours to let me know how much water they consumed, on average. I must
admit that, subconsciously, I still thought of water as a low-cost (if not
virtually free) resource. I took it for granted. I’d never bothered to check
the water meter, but neither, it seems, had the water company.
I telephoned the company, to query the amount they wanted to
charge, and the excessive consumption, in terms of cubic metres, that they had
estimated. It turned out that the meter was working properly, but that it had
been “mis-read”, by a large amount (about a third). The official who came to
check the situation expressed surprise.
A few days later I recalled a project that my grandson had
carried out for his school, on sustainable water resources and supplies around
the world, and on typical household consumption in the USA . I had
quite forgotten some of the findings from his research – that the average North
American apparently uses from 150-250 gallons of water daily, the average
European more than 60 gallons. A five-minute shower uses about 35 gallons,
about 17% of the daily water consumed. The biggest culprit is the lavatory
flush - about 27% of daily consumption. The washing-machine uses about 22%
(about 40 gallons of water for each full load).
I don’t know if these statistics are accurate, either for
the USA or for all parts of Europe . In other parts of the world (eg Africa),
household water consumption is a fraction of the US consumption.
I wonder how long I will keep in mind the online and common-sense
tips: don’t leave taps running; keep
showers shorter; where possible, press the small button on the flush; don’t
start the dishwasher until it’s fully loaded.
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