Water is a precious, vital resource that we tend to use as if it was free and in unlimited supply. Instead, the costs to both the environment and the economy of keeping up with the ever-increasing demand for clean mains water are rising relentlessly, and the cost to the consumer is going up fast too.

Saving water makes sense environmentally and for your own pocket - immediately if your mains supply is already metered. In the long term we all have to pay both the running costs and the capital costs of the water industry, directly or indirectly.

One way of saving is to harvest rainwater. Using filtered rainwater for toilet flushing, washing machines, internal cleaning and garden watering will typically save 50% of the average domestic mains water consumption, and an even higher percentage in offices and commercial buildings. We save a lot of mains water this way in the Construction Resources building.

Another very good way of saving water is through the use of low-flush toilets and waterless urinals, which, in the case of waterless urinals, can dramatically cut maintenance costs as well.

On another, simpler level, 30% to 50% of the water used in sinks, basins and showers can be saved without loss of comfort by installing water-saving devices. Fitting low-flow aerators to taps or fitting low-flow shower heads is a quick and simple DIY job.

These simple devices save fuel costs as well as water, since the 30-50% saving is on expensively-heated hot water as well as cold.