As we’ve heard in the media, the Auckland region got hit particularly hard by the drought over the summer, right through to April. Water levels are exceptionally low, so we all need to make a focus on saving water to preserve what we have left in our dams – despite all the rain we’ve had in the last few weeks!
Watercare data shows that since November 2019 there has been just over 500mm of rainfall compared to the 880mm they would usually expect during this period. This has resulted in the drought conditions over summer, and in April, for the first time in 25 years, the water levels in our dams dropped below 50%. As at 2 June we’re at 45%.
Auckland Council has imposed mandatory water restrictions (the use of outdoor hoses and water blasters is banned) and Watercare’s message is that we need to ‘make it our mission to save 20 litres a day, every day’ – that’s just two full buckets. Even though we’ve had a lot of rain in the last two weeks it’s going to take a while to get our dams back up to an acceptable level, so it’s really important that we work on making water savings at home and on campus now, and for the long term.
What you can do + tips!
Make it your mission to save 20 litres a day, every day – Watercare is asking us to ‘save 20 a day’, it’s easy to do and these small water-saving measures add up quickly. Check out these key tips so you can be a ‘water super hero’:
- Spend a minute less in the shower – saves 12 litres. Keep your showers short (four minutes or less) and put a bucket or two in the shower – you can use the water collected (‘grey water’) to wash your car, flush your toilet and water your indoor plants
- Run your washing machine and dishwasher only when they’re full – washing machines use an average of 122 litres for every load – how much water can you save by reducing the number of washes you do?!
- Use the half flush when possible – save around 6 litres every flush. You can use your grey water to manually flush and remember that saying… if it’s yellow let it mellow
- Turn off the tap when you brush – save 4 litres. When cleaning your teeth or washing your hands don’t leave the tap running – keep to the COVID handwashing drill but put the plug in, soap up and then do a tap rinse
- Don’t wash your car with the hose or any fresh water – instead use your grey water collected from the shower or washing machine
- Water blasting is banned so put your water blaster away for now
- Don’t use your hose to water your garden or clean your property
- Fix a leaking tap – save 33 litres a day. Check you don’t have any dripping taps (inside and out) – new washers can be quick a fix and big cost saving
- Got an old green wheelie bin? Use this to store your grey water or to collect rainfall from the roof/downpipe. When the rain stops you may need this to water your garden!
What you can do to help save water on campus
Ati Sagote – one of our campus sustainability legends!
Our Sustainability team, Maja Zidov and Helen Polley, are out and about on campus looking for ways to reduce the significant amount of water we use at Unitec.
We already have a sustainability legend at Mt Albert campus who has been doing his bit to save water for some time now – Ati Sagote – who carefully sorts through our rubbish to ensure we are recycling as much as we can and keeps our bins fresh by washing them out with water collected from the roof of the sorting centre! Your stories – Ati Sagote, caring for our campus»
Here’s a few initial tips on how you can help to save water on campus and keep a look out for the posters that are going up this week to help remind us about our water saving mission:
- Tap on and off when washing your hands i.e. don’t leave water running down the drain while you lather your hands with soap
- Washing your coffee cups and lunch dishes – if you have plug in your campus kitchen sink, use it! Don’t let water run down the drain or take your dishes and cutlery home to clean with your dinner dishes
- As you would at home, when you use the showers here at Mt Albert campus, keep them short
We want to hear from campus water warriors!
The Sustainability team want to know what you’re doing during your working day to save water, what you’ve found, how they can help and who has already implemented a water saving programme. We want to inspire everyone on campus to save water so please share your ideas by posting below or on Yammer. We’ll capture and share your feedback in our next ‘water super heroes’ Nest story and report on how we’re progressing with our water saving mission.
More info and tips on water saving
Hey team – can we put in this weeks infographic?
Hi Nick, we’ll put it in the new post which is going up this later week. If you have any other content and info to share on any on campus water saving, let us know.