Thanks to a free home water check, Angela Caltaux has fixed her leaking hot water system – and made big savings on her utility bills.
The repair saved Angela around $80 a month on her electricity and water bills. Those savings were more than doubled, to around $165 a month, when she installed a simple flow restrictor on her shower.
The checks, on homes in Waitakere, give detailed information on how homes are using water – and how they can save it. They are carried out by EcoMatters Environment Trust on behalf of Waitakere City Council.
“I’d received a big electricity bill just before the check was done. I didn’t realise it was my hot water that was causing it. It’s made a big difference,” Angela said.
A water meter check showed the Caltaux home was still using more than 200ml of water a minute when everything that uses water was turned off.
“That adds up to around 300 litres per day. That will affect both water and electricity costs,” said Jacob Rawls, from EcoMatters Environment Trust.
The flow rate of Angela’s home shower was a thirsty 25 litres a minute until Ecomatters provided a simple flow restrictor, which cut the rate down to nine litres per minute. This still provides a good quality shower, and saves a small fortune.
“There are four of us here, and each of us takes a ten minute shower. So it’s saved us over 500 litres per day. I couldn’t believe it,” said Angela.
Waitakere City is providing and paying for installation of free flow restrictors, or for replacement shower heads for older showers that won’t take the restrictors. It’s also funding other items like flush limiters or ‘gizmos’ for the toilet.
Check out the Ecomatters website for more water saving measures.
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