Facing Drought or not?

Want to know how to conserve water-wise from an experienced couple?

Pretty much simple solution ways of saving water for a household of two people plus three dogs in the rural area and less paying the water meter rate bills. We paid under $350.00 a year.

Summer here and it always scorcher times but lovely to have a bbq with a group of friends, go for a swim in the swimming pool in your backyard, watering large gardens including vegetable garden even to wash more than two cars on the concrete ground.

Auckland declared the drought for the first time in seven years a few days ago on the media news. Waikato including Waipa have not declared yet BUT in the Waipa area, people have been warned to not use all the water from the Waikato river because it is running low while their council Reservior tanks are almost low for all the local people. The ‘Jaffa’ people of Auckland have been using our Waikato river while they pay water rates to their Auckland City Council, not to us – unfair.

Have you been using water-wise or not? Are you paying too much on water rates in your area?

There are really simple solutions to save water daily.

have two people (partners) in a shower together and probably three times a week if you are working five days a week. If not, then shower twice a week when you are not working more than five days a week and not going out somewhere. First run the shower by having a bucket to allow cold water first into medium temperature water for two of you, then move the bucket aside and have a shower together.
brushing your teeth – just turn on the tap and rinse the toothbrush and turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
Washing the dishes, no need to wash the dishes daily even three times a day. NO dishwasher because of the dishwasher use heap of waters just like flushing the toilet. For us, it is only two of us plus three dog’s bowl and we wash three times a week or less than three times a week. You can wash the dishes in the large bowl or bucket over the sink then tip the water into the garden.p
When toilet. mm, it is a hard one. Best to flush the half-tank button (urine only depending on how time two of us use the toilet – twice a day with the lid closed during the day). If there are any faeces there, then flush it out for safety hygiene.
Washing the car/s in the grassy area in the shade or early evening by hand bucket and hand hose watering if your devices have a switch off/on so the water runs off into the grass areas. Not in the sun.
Hand hose in the vegetable and flower garden every two or three days. NO sprinkler if there is a ban warning around your area. If it is okay, then use the sprinkler on a timer in each plot of the vegetable garden. I did not use a sprinkler, only hand hose every two or three days depending on vegetables. Any other days, I use a hand watering can for the seedlings and in the greenhouse during the evening. It is a best time to do watering the garden in the evening so plants take water overnight slowly.
Washing clothes in the washing machine by a half tub or in a full tub twice a week. if you have a large family. We wash our clothes once a week as it is only two of us.
Prepare to make collecting rainwater in a large drum or in the large rubbish bin by the PVC pipe from the sprouting/downpipe via gutter pipe before the winter hits. We have two huge rainwater tanks plus two blue food-grade drums last year. But we did not receive lots of rainwater last Winter.
Note our white large water tank was messy when I took this photo and I tidy it up several weeks ago.
The most important of all is to have a regular check with your largest water storage tank once a week. Otherwise, you will end up paying a huge bill for getting a water delivery from the supplier.
Turn your garden into mulches and it save watering less a week, but still need to check the moisture of the mulches and the soil by testing your finger into the soil. See how much wet moisture in the ground or too dry. Beware to not put mulches up to the trunks of the plants and trees as it will dry up the trees and plants like suffocating the air and foods.