Five ways to be water wise

Turn the water off while brushing your teeth

Did you know turning the tap off while brushing your teeth can save five litres of water per minute?

That is just one of five tips shared by Central Coast Council on how to be water wise.

Council has launched its Strive for Five campaign as World Water Day approaches on March 22.

A spokesperson said World Water Day was the perfect opportunity for residents to revisit how they’re using water.

“We’re committed to ensuring there’s plenty of water for the future and to help with this, we are encouraging our community to learn water wise habits,” the spokesperson said.

The aim is to limit water usage in the region to 150 litres a day or 15 buckets of water per person per day.

“On average, Central Coast residents use approximately 180 litres of water each day,” the spokesperson said.

“If we each reduce our use by the equivalent of three buckets of water each day, then we’ll easily meet the 150-litre target.”

The second tip is to ensure you have a full load when turning on your washing machine or dishwasher.

Thirdly, keep your shower time between three and five minutes.

The fourth tip is to fill a bucket or container while you wait for the water to heat up and use it in your garden later.

And finally – be sure to fix dripping taps as soon as possible.

A drip a second wastes 12,000 litres of water a year.

To calculate your water usage go to lovewater.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au