Water Use

This is the first house we've lived in with a water meter. Unfortunately the external meter housing hasn't got a lid so we've not been able to read the meter since we moved in as it's always full of water (irony knows no bounds here!). This obviously doesn't stop Bristol Water as they issued us our first bill today.

Since 21st December we've used a seemingly vast 31 cubic metres of mains water. We try to be very careful with the amount of water we use doing all the things we're supposed to do like; not running water when brushing teeth, taking showers not baths, only using the dishwasher/washing machine when full (plus they're A rated with the lowest water consumption we could find) etc. So even without knowing how much water we've used in the last months I'd hoped we were below average. Our pleasantly low bill implies this is the case but I've done some research to check.

31 cubic metres over six months equates to 170 litres per day for the two of us, so 85 litres per person per day. Ofwat (see link below) state an average consumption of 148 l/p/d in the UK for 2005/6 with an average consumption in our region of 154 l/p/d. 55% of average consumption isn't bad eh!?

I guess the wet summer has helped as we've not been doing much watering of the garden, but even so it's great to see we're well below average. Okay, so I'm out a work 5 days a week using water elsewhere (presumably the Ofwat figures for households are regardless of whether the occupants are at work/school etc during the day) but even so I think we're doing well. It'll be interesting to see how our consumption changes with the planned extension and rainwater harvesting.

http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/aptrix/ofwat/publish.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/leakage_05-06.pdf/$FILE/leakage_05-06.pdf

Stream

Way back at the end of last year, before we'd sorted out our 'net connection (therefore pre-blog), and after a very wet December we were introduced to the first of several water problems with Hillside. The most dramatic was the stream that appeared from nowhere after hours of torrential rain and was captured for all to see by our post-Christmas visitors on http://www.knowles22fd.plus.com/. Although slightly less impressive, the rainwater pipe in the 'utility' area that blocked and backed up, spewing water jets into the house, was slightly more of a drama! While I was hacksawing the pipe to release the pressure and enable the drain to be rodded through, Cathy was 3 feet away in the kitchen mixing cakes for the visitors due the next day!

After the fantastic weather in April we thought we'd seen the back of excessive rain and saturated ground until the winter. By then we should've been able to sort out the broken land drain that appears to be the cause of the stream. But no, the record breaking rainfall in June has caused the stream to appear at least once over the last few days, albeit when I've been at work. Thankfully the dam I built in January and a small ditch I dug have helped to ensure the water (when it appears) doesn't flow towards the house.

If the water flow was consistent it'd be good to make use of it to generate power via a water wheel, but I think it's too unpredictable for this. Instead I'll maybe just have to make the most of capturing it for re-use in the garden and as a good supply of water for a wildlife pond or two.