Water prices are set to increase for the first time in 17 years. According to Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat’s Budget Speech in Parliament, water tariffs are set to increase by 30 percent by July 2018, with the first increase set to take effect this July.
If you’re worried about what this means for your monthly budget, here are a few tips that’ll help you save on your water bill today.
#1 Take shorter showers
Nothing feels better after a tiring day of work than a long, hot shower. But that long shower can cost you.
Instead, try to keep your shower time down to just four minutes. You’ll not only save water, you’ll free up time to spend on other, more fruitful pursuits. Like a nice, long Netflix binge.
Water saved: About 15,000 litres per person per year.
#2 Turn off the tap when not needed
Make sure you shut off the water when you’re soaping up in the shower, or when you’re shaving or brushing your teeth. Just those few minutes of letting the water run can raise your water bill unnecessarily.
Water saved: About 18,000 litres per person per year.
#3 Use a cup of water when shaving or brushing your teeth
Letting the tap run while you shave or brush your teeth wastes a lot of precious water.
Instead, consider keeping a cup of hot water next to you when you’re shaving. You can just dip your razor into the water to clean it off between strokes. Also, using a cup of water to rinse your mouth, rather than using the faucet, lets you have better control over how much water you end up using, and saves wastage between rinses.
Water saved: About 4,000 litres per person per year.
#4 Install a low-flow shower head
Low-flow showerheads use an average of 9.5 litres/min, compared to normal flow shower heads which use 21 litres/min.
That means a switch can more than halve the amount of water you use!
Water saved: About 16,000 litres per person per year.
#5 Place a bottle of in the toilet tank
Fill a bottle with water and place it in the toilet tank. This will stop the toilet tank from filling up completely, by the amount of water in the bottle.
For example, a filled 1-litre bottle will save you 1 litre per flush!
Water saved: 1 litre per flush (based on using a 1-litre bottle).
There are plenty of other small changes you can make to help you save water. What are your go-tos? Share them with us in the comments section below!
About Zareen B.
Looking to sell your property?
Whether your HDB apartment is reaching the end of its Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) or your condo has crossed its Seller Stamp Duty (SSD) window, it is always good to know how much you can potentially gain if you were to list and sell your property. Not only that, you’ll also need to know whether your gains would allow you to right-size to the dream home in the neighbourhood you and your family have been eyeing.
One easy way is to send us a request for a credible and trusted property consultant to reach out to you.
Alternatively, you can jump onto 99.co’s Property Value Tool to get an estimate for free.
If you’re looking for your dream home, be it as a first-time or seasoned homebuyer or seller – say, to upgrade or right-size – you will find it on Singapore’s fastest-growing property portal 99.co.
Meanwhile, if you have an interesting property-related story to share with us, drop us a message here — and we’ll review it and get back to you.
Join our social media communities!
Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Telegram | YouTube | Twitter
Leave a comment