Page 32 - Silver Lakes_Issue 10_2022

HOME FRONT

• Use “grey water” – that’s used water from
baths, washing machines and other safe
sources – to flush your toilet.
• Do not overfill or excessively backwash
your swimming pool.
• Use a bucket rather than a hose to wash
your car. If you have to use a hose, use a
sprayer that can be turned off in-between
spraying the car. A garden hose can use as
much as 30 litres of water per minute.
• Do not pour paint and chemicals down the
drain.
• Farmers must ensure that they keep toxic
insecticides away from water sources and
streams.
• Factories should take care of how they
discharge mercury and other heavy metals
into waste water.
• People living in rural areas should be
careful not to use the river or riverbank as
a toilet.

In the garden
• Always water your plants during the early
morning hours or in the evening, when
temperatures are cooler.
• Between 10:00 and 15:00 one can lose up
to 90% of water to evaporation.
• Every time you boil an egg, save the cooled
water for your houseplants. They will
benefit from the nutrients released from
the shell.
• Focus on indigenous and non-water-
consumptive alien plants (but not invasive
alien plants).
• Group plants according to both their water
needs and the mulch around them.
• Water your garden less frequently, but
water it well.
• Remove invasive alien plants from your
property.
• Roof water can also be profitably stored in
tanks, for watering gardens.
• Use “grey water” to water your garden.

Source: National water security |
South African Government (www.gov.za)

30 | INTRAMUROS NOVEMBER 2022