WATER SAVING MEASURES

1. Rainwater Butts

Capturing rain water in a water butt can significantly reduce water consumption. Installing a water butt in your garden and connecting it to a guttering downpipe via a diverter could enable you to collect up to 5,000 litres of rainwater a year. To avoid running out or overflowing, a number of water butts can be connected together.

These 220 litre rainwater butts come complete with a stand and a diverter kit to attach to a guttering downpipe. Installing a water butt to a plastic downpipes is a simple DIY procedure but even if you have metal downpipes it is a relatively straightforward job for a builder.

Dimensions: Overall height = 127cm, Overall diameter = 66cm

2. Vary-Flow Toilet Flush System

Toilets are by far the biggest water consuming appliances in most house. Most new toilets come with a dual flush system but if you have traditional toilets with a plastic siphon and front mounted flush handle you could install the Vary-Flow Toilet Flush System.

This ingenious product enables you to determine the length of the flush required, dependent on when you release the handle, so you can stop flushing as soon as the pan is clear. This system can significantly reduce the need for double flushing that can be encountered with other less efficient methods of reducing the flush cycle in existing toilets.

Installing a Variable Flow Toilet Flush System is a relatively straightforward procedure and someone competent in DIY should be able to fit one in about half an hour. Once fitted, the toilet will operate in the normal manner but instead of the usual "press and let go" action that emptied the whole cistern you now "press, hold down and let go" and only use the amount of water required.