Compulsory water meters are just great for the environment… but they don’t go nearly far enough.
Grey water recycling schemes use the water from your bath or shower and sink to flush your toilet. Do you honestly what water is used to flush your bog?! Didn’tthink so…
But if I told you I could cut your water usage by 30% OVERNIGHT by using your bath and sink runoff to flush the toilet I bet you’d be interested then.
And if you added rainwater harvesting to to the mix you could add another 10 to 25% cut in water consumption.
That’s a total of 40 to 55% water reduction possible immediatley! All it would need the government to do is to make grey water use and rain water harvesting compulsory on – say – all new homes in 5 years time and all other buildings in 10 years time – and tell everyone that if they install it now (or within the next 2 yesrs) they get a 100% grant that diminishes by 10% every year after the next 2 years.
Yes there would be the usual whinging – but who could seriously have a problem on legitimate grounds? Here in the UK we are on a very small island with too many people putting a lot of stress on all of the resources. Soon the ground water in aquifers will run out and we will have no choice but to implement these measures.
(did you know that water in aquifers is called “fossil water” – on account of how long they take to fill… that should give you a clue as to the stupid short termism of relying on water from these sources… as we do in the south of England currently…)