Eight ways to cut your water costs and save £936 a year as companies allowed to hike bills

Credit: Alamy MILLIONS of households are facing their water bills rising again after the water regulator Ofwat approved extra charges for five suppliers – but there are ways to cut your costs. Customers of Southern Water, Wessex Water, Thames Water and Severn Trent Water all face rises from next year, with Southern Water customers facing the worst hikes of £43 in 2027/28 and a further £37 in 2029/30. Water bills are set to rise for millions of people Credit: Getty There are ways to cut your own water bills Credit: d3sign However, there are ways to keep your costs down by making simple changes to your water usage and lifestyle, and you could save up to £936 a year. Here, we’ve listed all the ways you could cut your water usage and bring down your bills. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! Fix your leaky toilet and tap – £330 a year Leaky taps and toilets can be a drain on your water bill Credit: Getty Leaks can use up a huge amount of water and become a drain on your finances by pushing up your bills. According to Affinity Water, a running toilet can waste around 400 litres of water a day, which could cost you £300 a year if not fixed. Meanwhile, it said a leaking tap could add £30 to your water bills alone. You may not realise the amount of water being consumed by small leaks in your appliances. A good way to test if your toilet is leaking is to place a dry sheet of toilet paper on the back of your toilet pan and leave it there overnight, without using the toilet. If the paper gets wet, that means you have a leak. Take shorter showers – £226 a year for family of four Cutting your shower length can save a surprising amount of water Credit: Getty Simply cutting the length of your showers could save you a lot of money. Most read in Money According to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW), if everyone in a family of four cut two minutes off their daily shower, the household could save around £226 a year on their bills. Meanwhile, the Energy Saving Trust estimates that keeping your daily shower to four minutes could save a typical household around £45 on energy alone, or around 17,000 litres of water. The amount you’ll save per litre depends on your local supplier and their current rate. Switch to a water meter – £190 a year Water meters can save families £190 a year Credit: Alamy Around 60% of households now have water meters, according to the latest figures, but many of those who don’t could save money by making the switch. The CCW says that as a general rule of thumb, you’re likely to save money with a water meter if your home has more bedrooms than people living in it. However, it also depends whether you use more or less water than a typical household. For example, if you have a big garden and regularly water it, or if you need to take more frequent showers or baths. Households that do save money by switching to a water meter typically cut their bills by £190 a year, the CCW said earlier this year. Switching to a water meter is free for households in England and Wales, according to Ofwat. Contact your water supplier or apply online or over the phone. Don’t boil more water than you need – £70 a year Boiling more water than you need is a waste of water and energy Credit: Getty Boiling only the amount of water you need can save you a surprising amount of money. It’s easy to accidentally boil too much water – or to not boil enough, meaning you have to put the kettle on twice. But being careful to fill it by the right amount can save around £60 a year, according to the CCW. The Energy Saving Trust adds that you could save around £10 on your energy bills by only boiling what you need. If you love a hot drink, you could save even more. Buy a water butt – up to £50 a year Water butts store rain water to use on your plants in hot weather Credit: Alamy If you have a garden or balcony, you can collect rainwater in a water butt to water your plants, wash your car or clean with. While the UK has had a dry summer, it is often very wet and you could collect a lot of rainwater quickly. You can grab a 100 litre slim water butt from Argos for £28 currently – suitable for a balcony or small garden. A larger 210 litre water butt will set you back £39 from Wickes. A 200-litre butt could save you up to £50 a year, according to UK Water Bills, assuming it replaces hosepipe usage. Turn the tap off while brushing teeth – £36 a year Credit: Getty If you’re guilty of leaving the tap running while you brush your teeth or wash your face, you could be costing yourself an extra £36 a year, the CCW estimates. A family of four could save more than £140 just by switching the tap off while they stand at the sink. Make sure to turn it off while you’re not actively using it and run it again only when you need it, and avoid running it more strongly than you really need. Use your washing machine efficiently – £25 a year There are many ways to make your washing machine usage more efficient Credit: Getty There are multiple ways to use your washing machine more efficiently to cut your bills. First, cutting just one cycle per week can save you around £11 a year from your bills, the Energy Saving Trust estimates. Make sure you fill your washing machine each time to reduce the number of cycles you need to do. Using a cooler setting can also save you money. The Energy Saving Trust estimates washing clothes at 30C or cooler can save around £13 a year. You can also save money by switching to an eco wash. The CCW estimates one wash uses around 50 litres of water, and switching to eco could save around 30% on your bill. You could therefore save around 780 litres of water a year, currently worth roughly £1.50 to £3.30 for households on a meter, by switching one wash from a normal cycle to an eco one. Swap one weekly bath for a shower – £9 a year Baths use a lot more water than short showers on average Credit: Ekaterina Demidova Baths typically use a lot more water than an average shower – around 80 litres on average, or roughly double a six-minute shower, according to the CCW. Swapping a bath for a shower, or simply cutting down your baths, could therefore halve the water you use. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that swapping one bath a week for one four-minute shower could save around £9 a year in energy alone. The amount you’ll save depends on your supplier and whether you are on a water meter. Comment now