Saving water in the kitchen

Save water in the heart of the home

Ten percent of household water is used in the kitchen for cooking, cleaning, washing or drinking.

Quick tips

• Install flow-controlled aerators for taps. They’re inexpensive and can reduce water flow by 50%.
• Wash your vegetables in a bowl or container, and water your plants with what you collect.
• Defrost frozen food in the fridge or microwave, rather than placing it under running water.
• Use a plugged sink or a pan of water when working at the sink to avoid running the tap continuously.
• Use just enough water and keep a lid on it when boiling vegetables. The water will reach boiling point quicker.

Waiting on hot or cold water?

• Fill a jug and keep it in the fridge so you don’t have to wait for tap water to run cold.
• Catch running water while waiting for it to warm up. Use it to water plants, rinse dishes, or wash fruit and vegetables.
• Insulate hot water pipes so you don’t wait as long for the hot water to reach the tap.
• Set your hot water system thermostat at no more than 60 degrees, so you don’t have to add water to cool down very hot water.

Handwashing dishes?

• Use a bucket or sink plug instead of running tap water. If you have 2 sinks, fill the second one with rinsing water. If you have only one sink, stack washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a pan of water.
• Use dishwashing liquid sparingly, this will reduce the amount of rinsing required.

Using a dishwasher?

• Choose a more water efficient dishwasher. A modern 6-star WELS rated efficient dishwasher is usually more water efficient than washing by hand.
• Forget the pre-rinse, the dishwater does it for you. scrape your dishes before loading them into the dishwasher.
• Use the rinse-hold setting on the dishwasher, if it has one, rather than rinsing dishes under the tap.
• Make sure the dishwasher is full before turning it on.