Most of us know how important it is not to waste water. Water saving devices like low flow showers and dual flush toilets are now standard. Our kids learn about water efficiency at school and waterwise gardens are common. Rainwater tanks are popular and in some areas installing tanks is mandatory. But are we reaching our full potential? Can simple lifestyle changes help us to reduce our water use even further, while still enjoying a quality garden and a great standard of living?
The 10 households in our Living Labs study are all making efforts to reduce their water use and the first year of monitoring shows that all of them are using less water than the local average. In this episode we visit the participants to conduct an audit of their homes to see where they are using water and how they can make further savings. We also ask them to commit to personal reduction goals. We give them access to their real-time water use data so they can see the immediate impacts of their actions, as well as see how they compare to their peers in the study. So how will they go and what surprises do we find out?
Other Living Labs Episodes
Series Introduction
Ten suburban homes sign up for a two-year experiment tracking their behaviour and collecting data in order to prove that small changes can result in big wins whether you are living in a high performance home or not. Episode 1 explains the research objective and introduces the participants.
Saving Energy
In this episode we take a closer look at energy use. We find out how much is being being used by the households and where the savings can be made. Participants set their goals and we find out if they achieve them.
