With drought being a national problem currently, it is as good a time as ever to consider how you can save water! And, if you're building a new transportable home in WA, it is worth considering what water-saving inclusions would work in your new home.
So we have put together four practical ways of saving water in your new modular home.
SAVE THE RAIN! A TANK IS A MUST-HAVE.
So when you consider how to save water, the most important step is to include a water tank with your home! The second part of it is to ensure you get a water tank that is the right size for your home. Not only do you want to save water, you want to gather the maximum amount possible.
As a general rule, 1mm of rain on 1m2 of the roof will collect approximately 1.0L of pure valuable rainwater! You do the math, but if you have a 150m2 home and received 10mm of rain, you could expect to collect around 1500L of water. And if you receive 500mm of rain a year, you will get around 75,000L of rainwater run-off a year!
As a rule, for a small home and shed you could work on getting a 1 x 20,000L water tank. For a mid-sized house, you might consider two 20,000L tanks and for large, 200m2 plus, homes you could put at least 2 or 4 water tank tanks to collect water from your house and sheds. And remember – having more storage than not enough is far better!
WATER-SAVING SHOWERS AND TAPS
Now you’re storing that precious rainwater; you need to start minimising water use in your household. The first step is to ensure you put water-saving showers and tapware throughout your home. By ensuring all your plumbing fixtures have a WELS rating of 6 stars or more, you are setting yourself up to make your water go as far as possible!
APPLIANCES
Another high water usage part of your home is your washing appliances. If you’ve got a washing machine and dishwasher then you need to make sure that they have the highest affordable rating you can get. Going to reuse the old washing machine? We absolutely recommend that, unless your machine is quite new, you shop around for energy and water-efficient appliances!
HOT WATER RETICULATION
If you want to take your water savings to the next level, than the next most cost-effective option is to install a hot water reticulation system in your new home. Most of us don’t give a second thought as we let that water run down the drain as you wait for your nice hot shower! Well, warm water reticulation solves that problem by capturing the cold water lag in your hot water pipes and re-directing it into your rainwater tank or back into the water heater to be re-used.
OUTDOOR WATER USAGE
The last tip is to consider your external water usage. While basic things like washing your car on the lawn, and using drought-resistant native plants are important, what we want to focus on here is your sewerage.
If your building on an un-sewered site, then installing a wastewater treatment plant with above-ground sprinklers is critical. These handy treatment systems are a great way to allow you to re-use your wastewater by putting it straight into the gardens or into the lawn! And if you want to take it to the extreme, you could put subsurface irrigation in to spread it over a large drought-resistant or your yard!
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