Be “water wise” urges NI Water

This week’s weather forecast also comes with a request from NI water to be “water wise".

With temperatures set to soar and with more people spending time in their gardens the organisation has called on the public to watch their daily usage.

Figures show it has increased by 12 litres per person per day, which over a year amounts to 4,000 litres per person.

That is enough water for 80 baths.

The organisation has said the increase is because more people are at home for longer periods of time.

This means each person is now using 170 litres per day rather than 158.

NI Water’s Environmental Outreach & Learning Officer, Anna Killen, said there are simple steps everyone can take to reduce their water usage.

She said: “Northern Ireland was already among one of the highest regions of water users in the UK before the pandemic, with an average of 158 per person versus the 142 UK average.

"With working from home becoming the norm and the school holidays upon us, we need to take stock of how our water usage has changed and examine how much we are actually wasting.

“I know there is a massive willingness among the public to conserve water, it can often be the case people simply don’t realise that little changes can make a big difference.

“It is estimated that a running tap can waste 6 litres of water per minute, couple this with the recommended teeth brushing time of 2 mins, that equates to 12 litres of water wasted per brush.”

Anna said a simple habit that everyone can adopt is to turn the tap off while brushing your teeth.

She added: “If we all turned the tap off while we brushed our teeth, we are helping save some of those 12 litres we are currently overusing.

“NI Water’s water audits also show the average time spent in the shower is 10 minutes.

“A shower can use up to 7 litres per minute, more for a power shower, which means what we think is a quick 10min shower, is actually 70 litres of water.

“Now, this is not an excuse to avoid getting washed, rather, be mindful of your length of time in there.”

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