THE BIG WASTERS AT HOME

SPRINKLERS: The lawn may look parched and yellow, but try to resist watering it: using a sprinkler for just 30 minutes wastes 540 litres of water — almost as much as can be drunk by three camels in a day! JET-WASHING THE PATIO: Pressurewashers may be quicker and more effective than a standard hose, but they’re not efficient. An average pressure-washer uses 36 litres of water per minute; 20 minutes of cleaning equates to a whopping 720 litres. CLEANING WINDOWS: Even professionals get through 25 to 30 litres of water cleaning the windows of a standard house, so this isn’t a job to do every week.

SHAVING YOUR LEGS: This can extend the length of a shower by five minutes, adding a whopping 65 litres. And men are waterwasters, too: leaving a tap running while shaving can waste four litres. BATHING THE DOG: While pets love a cooling bath on a hot day, pet wash fittings for the hose — which make it more like a shower head — do nothing to stop water wastage, meaning you’re still using 15 litres a minute (or 75 litres for a five-minute wash). At the very least, do it on the lawn or beside a flower bed, so the water does some good.