Recycling Water
Recycling in the home is one of my passions, so before disposing of anything from egg boxes and string to plastic bottles and containers I now ask myself “How can I reuse this item – either in its current form or in an alternative way?” It’s amazing how creative one can be!
Recycling and conserving water is my latest crusade.
Saving the planet aside, it’s surprising when you focus the mind just how much water you can actually recycle.
5 ways we recycle water
1. Recycle the backwash from the pool. At least 250 litres every 1-2 weeks. (Update: this is a chlorine pool, not salt water)
2. Run the first 5L of cold water from the hot water tap into a container. In our household we usually run off about 5L of water before the water is hot. This saves around 30L per week.
3. Recycle bath water to use on established trees and bushes (I only use natural soaps) 250L minimum per week.
4. Recycle water from washing vegetables prior to cooking. I use this on my herb garden 30L per week.
5. Recycle water from the dehumidifiers to water plants. These produce at least 10L per week!
I’d always recycled tap water, but recently while on a cost cutting and recycling mission it suddenly occurred to me, like a light bulb moment, that the backwash from the swimming pool could possibly be recycled to water my plants.
Research on the net revealed that when backwash is stored in a plastic storage tank or bottles the chlorine levels dissipate over a few days. We bottled and tested the backwash and no sign of any chlorine!
How do you recycle water?
Check out the “The National Geographic” Water Conservation Tips
This topic was inspired by Jake’s Sunday Post. This week’s theme is H20
