10 Easy Water Saving Tips

How can you save water around the house without spending much?

Most household water waste is habit rather than plumbing, and the fixes are cheap. The ten steps below cover outside and inside, and several of them cost nothing at all. The largest single number in the list is worth leading with: a leaky toilet wastes up to 700 litres of water per day. If you fix one thing, fix that.

Outside

1. Reduce outdoor watering

Water between 10pm and 6am, in short bursts. That lets water soak into the ground and roots rather than evaporating in the afternoon sun. Use a sprinkler that delivers big drops close to the ground — smaller drops and mist can evaporate before they land.

2. Check for broken or clogged sprinkler heads

Make sure the nozzle is clear and directed at the garden bed rather than the path. A clogged head wastes water and leaves dry patches you then over-water to compensate for. Soaking the nozzle in a descaling solution clears lime or iron build-up.

3. Use a broom instead of a hose

Patios, footpaths and driveways get hosed far more often than they need to be. A broom or an electric blower vacuum does the same job with no water at all.

4. Wash pets and cars on the lawn

Wash the car — and the dog — on a patch of lawn that needs watering, so the run-off does double duty. Old fish tank water and stale pet bowl water can go on the lawn too, rather than down the drain.

Selleys Polyglaze Wash & Wax only requires one bucket of water to wash an entire car. It cuts through dirt and road grime, cleaning and shining in one step for a streak-free finish.

5. Keep the pool covered

A pool cover keeps the pool clean, reduces chemical use and prevents water loss through evaporation. Also avoid filling the pool to the brim, so less is splashed out during use.

6. Collect rainwater

Install gutters and downpipes to collect water off the roof, and direct it to plants and trees.

Inside

7. Fix leaks in all plumbing fixtures

Check and repair leaks in toilets, taps and shower heads, and do not let minor leaks go unfixed. A leaky toilet wastes up to 700 litres of water per day — which is the entire argument for dealing with it this weekend rather than next year.

Most dripping taps come down to a perished washer or O-ring, which is a straightforward replacement on a standard tap (though not on a mixer tap). See 5 handy home fixes for the sequence.

8. Do the dishes in two sinks

When washing by hand, do not let the water run. Fill one sink with wash water and the other with rinse water.

9. Match the loads

Run the dishwasher and washing machine only with a full load. Matching the water level of your wash to the load being washed can save up to 4,000 litres a month.

10. Buy water efficient appliances

When replacing appliances, look for water efficient models. They may cost more up front but save money on water bills and wastage over their life.

The other half of water saving: stopping leaks you cannot see

Visible drips are the easy part. Water penetrating around a sink, a splashback or a bath does not show up as a puddle — it shows up years later as swollen cabinetry, lifting laminate or mould in a wall cavity.

Getting a proper seal around a sink prevents that penetration. Selleys Wet Area Silicone is the product for it: a waterproof, mould resistant seal for use around showers, baths, spas, plumbing fixtures and sinks, and it works on ceramic, glazed and porcelain fixtures, metal, copper and brass fittings, powder coated aluminium, plastic laminates, rubber, glass, stainless steel and concrete. It cures in 72 hours, and the bead should be tooled with a spatula dipped in detergent water within 5 to 10 minutes of application.

Its limitations: not paintable — complete any painting seven days before sealing; not suitable for polypropylene, polyethylene or PTFE; not for aquariums; not for food or drinking water contact; and not for permanent water immersion.

For a clear seal on glass, windows and showers, Selleys All Clear is a multipurpose sealant that gives a crystal-clear water-tight seal.

See how to seal a sink and how to fix a leaky shower for the step-by-step versions.

Safety: the two sealants at the end of this page are not equivalent

The last section sends you to seal a sink, a shower or a window, and names two products. They do similar jobs and sit on the same shelf, but they are a full rung apart on hazard, and the page does not say so.

Selleys All Clear is classified Danger: H225 (highly flammable liquid and vapour), H315 (causes skin irritation) and H319 (causes serious eye irritation). It is Dangerous Goods Class 3, UN 1133, Packing Group II — the same transport entry and packing group as a solvent-borne contact adhesive. Wet Area Silicone, the product this page leads with, is Warning: H227 (combustible liquid), H317 (may cause an allergic skin reaction) and H319.

Why H225 matters for the jobs described here. Category 2 flammable means the vapour forms an ignitable mixture at ordinary room temperature, and the vapour is denser than air. The places this page sends you — under a sink, inside a shower recess, behind a cabinet, around a hot water connection — are small closed volumes with poor air movement, and several of them are near a gas hot water unit or its pilot. A cartridge of clear sealant does not look like a flammable liquid; the transport classification says it is one. Work with the door and window open, keep the shower screen open rather than shut, and turn off anything with a flame in the room before you start.

The practical rule. Where the joint is a normal sink, basin, shower or plumbing fixture seal — which is what most of this page's water-saving argument is about — Wet Area Silicone is both the recommended product and the lower-hazard one. All Clear earns its place where you need its particular trick of bonding to wet, oily or dirty surfaces and skinning immediately. That is an emergency-leak product, and its hazard profile is the price of that behaviour.

For both: nitrile gloves, safety glasses, and no smoking. H317 on the silicone is worth respecting because it is permanent once acquired and is built by repeatedly smoothing beads with a bare finger.

Poisons Information Centre — 131 126 in Australia, 0800 764 766 in New Zealand.

Common questions about saving water at home

How much water does a leaking toilet waste?

Up to 700 litres per day. It is the single largest avoidable loss on this list.

How much can matching my wash loads save?

Up to 4,000 litres a month, by running the dishwasher and washing machine only when full and matching the water level to the load.

When is the best time to water the garden?

Between 10pm and 6am, in short bursts, so the water soaks in rather than evaporating.

Can I wash the car without a hose running?

Yes. Selleys Polyglaze Wash & Wax needs only one bucket of water for the whole car, and washing on a dry patch of lawn puts the run-off to use.

Can I fix a dripping tap myself?

On a standard tap, usually yes — it is normally the washer or O-ring. Turn off the mains first. This does not apply to mixer taps.

Does a pool cover really help?

It keeps the pool clean, reduces chemical use and prevents water loss through evaporation. Not filling the pool to the brim also reduces splash-out.

What is the best way to clean a paved area without hosing it?

A broom or an electric blower vacuum. Where a wash is genuinely needed, Selleys Outdoor Multi-surface Cleaner covers up to 175m² from a 2L bottle and is designed for pathways and pavers.

Why does sealing a sink matter for water?

A poor seal lets water penetrate where you cannot see it, which is how cabinetry swells and mould starts inside a wall. A silicone seal is a few dollars against a cabinet replacement.

How long does a new sink seal take to cure?

Selleys Wet Area Silicone cures in 72 hours. Tool the bead within 5 to 10 minutes of applying it, then leave it undisturbed.