The Right Equipment
It was just a couple of delicate clothes, so I decided not to run it through the machine program and wash manually instead. It took around two buckets full of water to give a quick rinse till the water came clear. The next day, I ran a full load of washing machine in a “Eco” mode and as usual directed drain pipe of machine to grey water collecting barrel and just out of curiosity went on to see how much water did the wash cycle use. To my surprise, it used almost the same amount of water as I did the day before i.e. two full buckets.
Some thought and research put over choosing the appliance while buying one can save a lot on your water and electricity bills. Washing clothes and utensils is a major water load at each household every day. A water efficient appliance can save tens of gallons each day in an average household. If we break this down to the water used per cloth that is way too less.
There is a common misconception among us that running an appliance for either washing clothes or utensils drains quite a larger amount of water than doing the same manually. However it’s not true at all. It varies greatly from equipment to equipment and to a larger extent it depends on the amount of load. For example a washing machine cycle that uses 60 liters per cycle will use the same amount of water for full/ partial load. So, the key to water efficient laundry is running full load rather occasional manual washes.
Same is the case with dishwashers; a fully loaded dishwasher consumes way lesser water than manual washing under running water. To some extent, bulk washing utensils in a sink full of water can be a quite economic, but then due to hygiene issues many people are not comfortable with that method either.
The best way as we count upon is to use a water efficient appliance rather washing manually and run a full load. While an old washer can consume almost twice as much as water than the new water efficient ones, still bulk washing in machine is an efficient way than washing manually. Washing manually with running cycles for full loads is also water expensive. While manual washes are indeed lot water consuming.