EVERY DROP STILL COUNTS

Keep saving and ensure you have a reduced-flow shower head

LAST week, I raised the emotive subject of water shortages again and I think we need to keep it out there and stay constantly aware there is danger instead of storm clouds lurking on the horizon. It now appears the rainfall this month will be lower than average, so we need to keep saving as the city’s daily usage continues to rise.

I was reminded last week about how easy it is to save water. When I got out of the shower, there was water all over the floor – I thought there had been a funny wet mist while I was showering. On examination, I discovered the shower head was cracked, and water was spraying out of the top.

I was the first to rush out last year to buy a reducedflow shower head, but as usual, being a tight-fisted Scot (who never follows his own advice), I bought the cheapest I could find. Lesson learnt: cheap Chinese plastic does not last long.

To avoid a phone call later from an irate Mrs Mac, I refitted the old shower head before I left for work.

Before fitting my newly purchased better quality reduced-flow head, I treated myself to an “old style” shower. I had forgotten the difference and the savings made with a reduced-flow head.

If you have not yet fitted one, get one. But beware, it is not always just a case of changing the head. It reduces the flow so much that the water does not reach where it is needed. This involved buying an extension piece for R400 – twice the price of the head – but it turned out to be another Chinese masterpiece that bends easily. We now have a rather skew shower arm, but it works for Mrs Mac.

For me, being taller, the extension piece has lowered the head which is now in proximity to mine, which means showering with bended knees.

Somewhere in the distant past, I wrote in the column about ensuring you install a shower at the right height – it appears I never learn.