Save Water & Be Water Wise

Cut off the top of a large cooldrinks bottle, punch holes in the bottom and sink it next to the plant. use a watering can to fill the bottle and water will seep through to the roots.

Use your borehole more. If you’re lucky enough to have a borehole and a pool ask you pool shop to test the borehole water to see if it is suitable for topping up the pool.

Key’s in the leaves. Plants that need less water have grey, waxy or hairy leaves and have lots of oil in their leaves. Plants that have small needle-like leaves also need less water.

Limit your household water consumption to a set amount per day – try 20 kilolitres a month of 600 litres a day

Fit a length of 19mm hose to your washing machine waste outlet and use the water on your garden.

Playing under a sprinkler or with a hose is fun for the kids in summer but it wastes up to 1 000 litres of water an hour.

Don’t cut your lawn shorter than 3cm to 4cm, so the blades of grass can shade each other, reducing water loss.

Water plants sparingly. Water plants only when necessary. More plants die from over-watering than from under-watering.

Soaking saves. Soak pots and pans rather than let them sit under running water while you scrape them clean.

Saving saves. The council is about to get tough on people flouting restrictions. Spot fines can reach R10 000. An water is expensive. Economising can save you money.

Bath simply. Stop using additives such as bubble bath and lotions as finally washing away the suds uses a lot of water.

Go high-tech on washing day. Consider buying high efficiency washing machines which use an average of 30% less water and 40 – 50 % less energy.

Rinse – then reuse. Reuse the water you use for rinsing vegetables to water house plants or for cleaning.

Keep cool. Instead of waiting for the tap to run cold enough for a cool drink, keep a bottle of water in the refrigerator.

Curb your dishwasher. Only run your dishwasher when it is full – and cut down on the amount of rising you do before loading your machine.

Get a new shower head. Replace your shower head with a water-efficient model that delivers a maximum of 10 litres of water per minute. This can reduce water use by 50%.

Take shorter showers. If every member of a four strong family takes a five minute shower every day collectively they use more than 100 000 litres of water per year.

Use rain water. Try to channel rain water from gutters to fill the swimming pool.Bathe with less. Avoid filling your bath to a depth greater than 100mm. Mark the depth on the side with a piece of tape.

Cover your pool. Fit a swimming pool cover to restrict water loss through evaporation, especially during summer.

Make your own compost. Compost organic waste to reduce reliance on water for gardening purposes.

Go indigenous. Plant indigenous plants and shrubs – they are generally much less thirsty than alien plants. But remember indigenous and water wise are not necessarily the same.