This year you will be paying €59 as a service charge for the number of times you register a bowel-emptying session in the comfort of your home.
Since such faecal extrusions are now coming under government’s all-knowing reach, isn’t it about time you start saving on some of the most basic of water consuming activities inside the home?
The Malta Resources Authority has signaled its intention to distribute a set of domestic water saving devices, which could save 500,000 cubic metres of water. These include aerators, discharge limitation devices and pressure reducers for taps and showers as well as equipment for flushings consisting of plastic bags to be added in the toilet reservoirs.
If only half the Maltese households (85,000 residences) install the water saving devices, the potential annual effect of the measure amounts to set around 500,000m3. The total cost of this measure is estimated at €485,000.
Malta can save a further 225,000 cubic metres of water a year if it enacts tax rebates for the installation of water saving devices. The tax-rebate would apply to the purchase of low water consumption household fittings, such as adjustable taps and shower rose heads and double button flushes.
The water saving potential of this measure is estimated at 19.2 cubic metres per household every year (40% of the water used for toilet flushing, showers and washing machines). Assuming a maximum 25% implementation rate, the potential saving effect of this measure amounts to around 225,000m3 ever year.
How to convert any toilet to a low-flush toilet 1. Fill a half-gallon container. A plastic bottle is ideal. Remove any paper or plastic label on the outside of the container. Fill it at least partially with pebbles, sand, or gravel – whatever is handy. Then add water if more weight is needed. If you just fill it with water, though, the container will move around in the tank and interfere with the mechanism.
2. Seal it shut.
3. Place the container in the tank of the toilet.
4. Carefully lower it into the water.
5. Replace the lid of the tank.
6. Flush away. A sealed half-gallon container will save half a gallon on each flush. If you, like most humans, flush five times daily, your family of five will save 350 gallons (1,325 litres) of water every month. These savings will significantly cut your water bill, too.
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