Life long lesson and financial saving, from time on Symi

The post lady handed me the post, and what followed was that normal realisation that it was nothing but bills.  Hesitantly I opened the Southern Water Bill, wondering what the damage was going to be.  Wow - what a surprise, they have offered me a rebate..

I look at the bill in detail thinking they must have made a mistake… no, its all correct.  What is interesting that according to Southern Water: the typical UK household  of one person, uses two hundred and twenty six litres of water each day.  A typical house hold of two, three hundred and thirty two litres and a family of four four hundred litres.

High water levels

For a few years, I lived on a small island in Greece,  water was drawn by an electric pump from the storage, cistern under the house, having never had it cleaned the water was of dubious quality, although it never made me ill.  Water came from the roof, and we would let the first rain wash the roof, and then remove the bung in the gutter, for the rest of the rains to fill the tanks, sitting for months under the house in the summer months, and in August or September, you could tell when  by the amount of bits floating in the tap water, that the levels were getting low.   When we ran out during the hot summer, we would get a top up, from the town supply, which came in on a tanker ship, and was pumped and rationed to a few hours delivery once a week, then you could taste the chemicals that you had got used to living without.

Dodgy water pump

The electric pump was very dodgy, breaking down, on at least a weekly basis,  every time we had heavy rain, it would cut out and the result no water coming from the taps, but the cistern filling up from the roof, very nicely, Thank You.  Luckily the sun would soon shine and dry it all off, and the water would resume with a flick of the trip switch.   Several times in the long summer months the tanks simply run dry, and all I had was the limited weekly delivery.   A few times, I carried buckets of sea water up the steps to flush the loo, and let me tell you that is a chore that teaches you the value of fresh clean water.  

We would wait for the winter rain, and have great delight if it tipped it down! then run outside to clean the steps, brush down the court-yard, and watch in delight as they cistern filled.

When water levels were low, August, September time, I would myself in the shower, wet myself, turn the water off, soap & shampoo and the turn the water on again to rinse. I was even known to have a shower under the outdoor garden tap in the court yard, just to use up the  water sitting in the hose pipe, that we used only in the winter. I learned to used a glass of water to clean my teeth, and a tiny bowl in the kitchen sink.  Well I had no choose but to learn how to use water wisely.

Here in Britain I am not so frugal with my water, I use the washing machine a few times a week, and really appreciate standing under a running hot shower that has some pressure, and flushing the loo, well that is now natural.   Last summer we have enforced, hose pipe and car-wash bans, so I cut my consumption a bit, yet others were still watering the lawns, and washing the cars, something I struggle to understand. 

In England for five years now, and my domestic water hasn’t cut off even once.  You may have heard in the news that many homes in Britain currently flooded, Thankfully here in Margate, the driest and warmest part of the country, on the sunny south coast, the worst we have suffered is some mucky muddy paths, and a few puddles, we still have had a hell of a lot of rain. 

"A typical  UK single person household, uses two hundred and twenty six litres of water each day"!   Over the last six months I have used an average of just twenty two!  

I guess thats proof, all those years on a dry Greek Island, taught me to turn the tap off, and to use water efficiently. My water bill, reduced to just £9.20 a month.  :-)