We save water in every possible way but it still gets ‘wasted’ in forms which often goes unnoticed. Sometimes we don’t know how much water can be reused in our daily lives and how much of the usage can be reduced. A way to prevent using water excessively is to conduct a Water Audit. Water Audit is a method of reviewing how much and where water is used and adopting methods accordingly while also considering the financial conditions. It can be done in homes, communities, schools and also industries which use water for manufacturing their products.

The objective of a water audit is to identify ways to reduce water consumption and increase water efficiency, which can result in significant cost savings and environmental benefits. By implementing the recommended improvements, organizations can reduce their water bills, conserve valuable resources, and help protect the environment. The overall process is about analysing water usage patterns, and identifying any leaks or other sources of water waste. After reviewing we try to come up solutions which are financially flexible. 

The initial step is reviewing. It’s about having estimations on where and how much water is used. I will explain this on a house level. We can start it by calculating the number of buckets used for mopping the house and how many times it is done in a week. Same goes for cleaning verandas.

Water used(in L) = Capacity of a single bucket x Number of buckets used in a day x Number of days used to mop. Let’s call this ‘water formula’.

Example- if the capacity of a bucket is 25L, 2 buckets are used for a single day; 3 times in a week. Then water used will be 150L in a week. For calculating the amount of water required for dishes and clothes; If they are done manually then we can use the same formula used for mopping. If it’s done by electronics then one can make observations on the amount of water used for full-loads and half-loads and check if they are in the right conditions. One can also calculate the amount of water used for baths. For showers, check the amount of water used per minute and then multiply it to the number of minutes for showering and at last we can calculate how much is used in a month. If buckets are used then a water formula can be used.

In the same way one can calculate the amount of water used for cleansing pulses and vegetables, and watering plants. If needed, calculating the amount of water used for brushing might help! At last check for leaking pipes and taps. If the leaking is happening then one needs to make an observation for the amount of water leaked. It can be done by calculating the amount of drops leaked per minute and multiplying it accordingly. With this we get an estimation for the total amount of water used per week and per month.

The next step is adopting to new methods. As we have a track of where water is used we can easily come up with ways for reducing water usage. Such as, It’s not necessary to use full-loads all the time for washing clothes and dishes when only half of capacity is full, it can be switched to half-loads. Water used for cleansing pulses and vegetables can be used for watering plants; in this way we are reusing water and also saving some amount of water at the same time! Generally, a shower uses more water than buckets for baths (in the same amount of time) then switching to buckets can be helpful. Changing leaking pipes and dripping taps is a necessity. Depending on the affordability, one can install a Rainwater Harvesting System, Pressure Reducing Valves or add Water Aerators to taps. In the same way Water Audits can be conducted in communities as well as schools.