Aware of water shortages, Europeans, however, underestimate their personal consumption

Aware of water shortages, Europeans, however, underestimate their personal consumption
Aware of water shortages, Europeans, however, have difficulty adopting a reasoned consumption mode and saving money. This is what emerges from a survey carried out with 20,516 consumers in 12 countries for the German supplier of Grohe sanitary products.

One of the first observations of the survey concerns the estimation of respondents of their own daily water consumption. More than one respondent out of five (22%) think for example using less than 10 liters per day – while the real average in Europe amounts to 144 liters per person and per day. However, 87%consider that it is important to save water. Although a majority (66%) is said Perspective of reducing financial expenditure that seems to be motivated the respondents the most.

But, despite a good will “on paper”, a third of respondents admit, however, that she did not take the plunge to save water at their home. The main brakes mentioned are the lack of information (25%) or simply a lack of interest in the subject (24%).

The situation turns out to be critical, especially in France. According to data from the water information center, average consumption in France amounts to around 150 liters of water per day and per inhabitant, including 93% dedicated to hygiene. But it could double by 2050 if global warming is intensifying and if current trends continue, in particular due to the increase in irrigation needs, estimates a report from France Strategy published last January.

How to save daily water

However, there are simple gestures to adopt to reduce your daily water consumption. We can for example take shorter showers. According to several experts, the ideal duration of a shower is around five minutes), installing shower heads with low speed, tracking down water leaks, recycling cooking water in fertilizer for its plants or investing in low -consumption household appliances.

If you are fortunate to have a garden, you can also install devices (tanks, tanks, collector) in strategic places to recover rainwater, which can then be used to water your plants, vegetable gardens and other plants. Recycled rainwater can also be used to clean outdoor spaces (floor, wall, facades), outdoor furniture and vehicles. Other more sophisticated systems also allow to connect the toilets or the washing machine to the tank or the tank intended to collect rainwater.

If you want to go further in your approach and save water in a more unusual way, you can also test more “rustic” methods: urinate in the shower, pour the water from the bath in the toilet (to pull the flush less often), wash your animals in the garden (to water the lawn or plants at the same time) or even shower in two.