1 million litres of water showered away every day!

09 July 2013 10:40

Did you know that people in Northern Ireland ‘shower away’ about 1 million litres of water every single day, with all of us using nearly 40 litres each in our daily wash?  That’s just one thought-provoking statistic gleaned by NI Water from a new report published by the Energy Saving Trust which gives an indication of water use across the UK.   As the most ‘water-focused’ room in the house, the bathroom is where we can all cut down on water usage.  

For example,

•    68% of all UK water consumption is within the bathroom, with the shower alone accounting for a quarter of our daily use.  That’s 37.5 litres for everyone every day!

•    2 billion litres of water are ‘showered’ away across the UK every single day.  Of this, Northern Ireland’s proportionate share is over 1 million litres!

•    423 million litres of water are flushed down Northern Ireland’s toilets every year.  Across the UK, that’s 740 billion litres of water – enough to fill 300,000 Olympic sized swimming pools!

•    Up to 5 litres of water can be washed down the sink every minute if you leave the tap on when brushing your teeth.  


The average person in Northern Ireland uses approximately 20 litres of water more than the average person in Great Britain, so the figures above give significant pause for thought.  

Alan Crilly, Water Strategy Manager at NI Water, said: ‘‘Northern Ireland has a considerable amount of rainfall, but we still need to be water wise and realise the importance of conserving our water supply. Everyone in Northern Ireland uses approximately 150 litres of water every day, more on average than people in Great Britain use.  The evidence is clear; the bathroom is where we use most of our water, over two thirds of our total consumption, and this is where we can start to reduce our use.’’
Simple tips to save water in your bathroom include:
•    Take a 5 minute shower instead of a bath.
•    Fit a low-flow shower head.
•    Only flush the toilet when needed.
•    In older cisterns (pre-1990) place an NI Water HIPPO bag to reduce water use.  
•    Not leaving taps running while brushing your teeth or shaving.
•    Fix any dripping taps; a dripping tap can waste 5,500 litres per year!
Using only the water you need not only conserves our most precious resource, but saves you energy and money as well.  Taking action now to reduce how much water we use will help us all in the future.
You can find out more information from NI Water on how you can save water around the house by downloading our ‘How Water Wise Are You?’ leaflet by accessing: http://www.niwater.com/information-leaflets/