Die waterkrisis: Groot bespaarders deel hul wenke

Die munisipaliteit van Windhoek se afdeling vir die bestuur van wateraanvraag skryf:
Dit is vir ons baie belangrik om erkenning te gee aan wat die publiek doen om water te bespaar en om oor goeie voorbeelde te besin.
Die twee inskrywings hieronder is ontvang in die kompetisie " I Save Water, This is how..." , wat aangebied is deur die Recycle Namibia Forum, Rent-a-Win en O&L.
Sulke besparings deur huishoudings en besighede help op ekonomiese stabiliteit te handhaaf. Dit beskerm werkgeleenthede en verseker watertoevoer. Besparing is nie net belangrik vir Windhoek nie, maar die hele Namibië.
Hierdie is net voorbeelde van die verskeie gemeenskapslede wat werklik moeite doen en meetbare besparings kan bewys. Die munisipaliteit bedank mense wat dieselfde doen. Buurtwagte lewer ook 'n belangrike bydrae.
Die uitruil van inligting bevorder toewyding tot besparing. Mense kan op Facebook meer lees op die bladsye van die Recycle Namibia Forum en by die groep Save Water Namibia.


KARIN LOFTIE-EATON:
Firstly we managed water savings in the garden by replacing normal grass with artificial lawn and by planting trees and succulents only.
We stopped using the bath and take showers only. Shower water is collected and used to flush the toilets. Shower sessions are shortened and we shower in succession, i.e. minimizing the water wasted while we wait for the water to get hot.
Our BIGGEST saving is achieved by changing the way we do washing of clothes. Double cycle washing is limited by washing all laundry in a basin and then only doing a rinse and spinning cycle in the washing machine. This way we almost halve the water we use for laundry.
We read our water meter every evening to see if there are any leaks etc., but also to determine trends and activities that use more water than usual. This way we can be very responsive on any occurrence of water wastage.
Our average daily consumption over the entire 2015 was 713 litres per day. Since we implemented our water saving initiatives on 25 February 2016, our average daily consumption is only 222 litres per day, i.e. our family achieved a water saving of almost 69% and we are still way below the CoW target of 90 litre per person per day!


PAULETTE WIESE:
Because EVERY DROP COUNTS, every unused drop of water in my household of 3 goes into a bucket, e.g.:
• The cold water running from taps before the water turns warm is caught in a bucket which is used to fill the toilet cistern when flushing.
• The arm of the cistern ball is bent downwards to reduce the amount of water inflow.
• Use a hand shower to wash hair and catch the water in a bucket which goes into the garden (soapy water is better than no water).
• The same as above for rinsing veg & dishes.
• In the shower: get wet - close the tap when washing & then rinse (this reduces water usage by half). I have installed a bathroom heater in order not to freeze!
• The swimming pool is covered at all times.
• Read the water meter at least once a week to monitor water usage/saving.
• I use my dishwasher instead of washing up in the sink - stacked to it's full capacity every 2nd day (my dishwasher uses 14L per wash).
• My washing machine is also set to rinse only 2 times instead of the usual 3 times (and it doesn't kill to wear the same pair of pants twice or to sleep in the same bedding for longer).
• I fortunately have a lot of water-wise indigenous plants which are still surviving! The patch of grass is dead (rather water in the tap than grass outside). My pot plants (6) are watered with a watering can (or the bucket) once a week.
So that is what I do to save water - it just maddens me that not EVERYONE is taking this situation as serious as the rest of us. A lot of residents STILL water their gardens, do laundry EVERY day, wash their cars, and and and...