In the Kitchen

There are many small steps you can take that add up to big water savings in the kitchen. These range from how you cook to how you clean up.

Reduce

• Take foods out of the freezer early to allow plenty of time to thaw. Thawing frozen goods under a running tap wastes water.
• Clean fruits and vegetables in a partially filled sink and rinse them quickly.
• When boiling vegetables, use only enough water to cover the foods. Steaming uses even less water while conserving more nutrients.
• Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. That way, you don't have to let your tap run to get cold water when you want a drink.
• Fill the dishwasher before you turn it on. It can use from 30 to 45 litres per cycle. Washing by hand uses about the same, each time you wash, so use the dishwasher once a day and save.
• Turn your taps off tightly but gently so they don't drip. And repair any leaks in and around your taps and faucets without delay.

Retrofit

Water efficient faucet aerators are a good idea in the kitchen because they reduce water flow. They can, however, cause problems with some dishwashers that hook up to the faucet and require an unrestricted flow.

Home water treatment systems are a necessity in some parts of the country, but their water consumption can be considerable.

Water treatment/softening systems are designed to remove calcium and magnesium – the minerals that cause scaly deposits on faucets and shower heads, spots on dishes, and rings around the bathtub.

But, a mid-sized system can use about 350 litres of water every time it regenerates the softening agent. If this backflushing happens several times a months, it can add up to 10 000 litres of water flushed down the drain each year.

If you must use a water conditioning system, make sure it is the type that regenerates only when necessary, not a fixed time or water volume basis.

Home water filtration systems are designed to take impurities out of your water and make it safer to drink. They too, can waste a lot of water doing their job. Reverse osmosis systems, for example, return only 10% to 20% of the water that flows through them. The rest goes down the drain. Some filters cause more problems than they solve, increasing the bacteria count of the water that flows through them. Remember to change filters as recommended by the manufacturer.

Sink garbage disposal systems are water wasters as well. In order for them to work properly, you must run the tap. Depending on how often the unit is used, it may consume hundreds of litres of water each week. Consider composting your kitchen wastes instead.

[Making water safe to drink]

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