5 Effective ways to save water while doing household chores

MF editorial team

15 Mar 2017

Prevent your utilities bill from skyrocketing – here’s how to save water at home.

Limit the soap and water while washing dishes

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Limit the soap and water while washing dishes
Dishwashing is an inevitable household chore that requires the use of running water. According to the New York Times, most people use 10 to 15 times more soap than they actually need! And yes, this causes a vicious cycle - too much dish soap means you’ll need more water to rinse off the suds! Follow the instructions of the soap’s label to find the perfect balance of soap to water ratio.

Additionally, you can fill your sink with warm, soapy water and then turn off the tap. Use this water to rinse your dishes. If it starts to get dirty and greasy, let half of it drain and add fresh water.
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Load up your washing machine – don’t be shy
Doing the laundry is the second-biggest use of water in most households. Rather than running several small loads of laundry a week, you should be running larger, fuller loads instead. Wait until you’ve piled up enough dirty laundry to fill up that washing machine! Every time the machine is used, you're consuming plenty of water, so consolidating washes will be more efficient. Also, you might want to invest in an energy-efficient model that will save you a good amount of water and electricity per load.
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Steam your vegetables while cooking your rice/pasta at the same time
Make use of handy cooking contraptions! If you have a saucepan with a steamer insert that goes on top of it, you can cook rice in the saucepan and steam the vegetables in the steamer insert at the same time! Use of multi-tiered pots and pans like this can save you time and money. The steam rises from the cooking rice and steams the vegetables. It takes longer to cook rice than it takes to steam vegetables, so don’t forget to remove your steamed vegetables early! This method also saves you the hassle of extra cleaning.
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Don’t throw away old water
When you use your clothing iron, you probably add a little water to the iron to create steam. But what happens to the water once the ironing is done? Here’s a trick: pour the old or stale water from the iron into a spray bottle and keep it beside your potted plants. Your plants could really use a spritz or two of water every day. Nice secondary effect: the plants will grow much better because stale water has more nutrients.
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Use cold water to water your plants or mop the floor
Most of us like taking a hot shower, but what about the cold water that has gone to waste while we wait for the warm water to come on? Water wasted while waiting for it to warm up can be used in so many ways - you should be making the most out of this valuable resource rather than letting it go down the drain! Place a pail in the shower while you're waiting for the water to heat up, and use the water you collect for watering plants, flushing the toilet or even mopping your floor!

According to PUB, the demand for water in Singapore is currently about 430 million gallons a day, with homes consuming almost half this amount. Taking into consideration the demand for water and the proposed 30% increase in water bill in Singapore, it’s time to start thinking about saving water to keep your consumption low. Simple things, such as the method you use to wash the dishes, do the laundry or water your plants, can make all the difference in the amount of water you use.

Singapore’s online marketplace for home services, Helpling, has come up with 5 practical ways you can consume less water while you get your daily household chores done. Head up to the gallery and start taking notes!

This post was brought to you by Helpling.

Photos: Getty Images

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