How much does a cubic meter of water cost?

Statistically, a person in UK uses up around 150 litres of water each day for which they pay less than the cost of one bottled water! Doesn’t seem like a lot of money, does it? But if we multiply it by the number of people in a household, take into account the leaking pipes and some wasteful habits like brushing your teeth with the tap turned on, the price may skyrocket.

An average British family of four uses 140m3 of water every year and pays the annual bill of £830. Costing around £1.25- £1.90 per m3, the actual water you pour from the tap makes up merely around 1/3 of this sum. What makes over a half of the total bill is sewerage cost, including surface water drainage (surface water consists mainly of rainwater which runs off your roof and falls into the public sewer).

The rest of what you pay are standing charges for water and sewerage, that is the cost of providing clean water straight to your tap and your line’s maintenance.

If you are having a hard time visualising how much 1m3 of water is, try to imagine instead:

- 12 baths
- 25 showers
- 14 washing machine loads
- 33 dishwasher loads
- 111 toilet flushes
- 220 gallons
- 1000 litres
- 1759 pints

Did you know?

Wondering how you can reduce your water footprint and save money at the same time? Here are some tips:

1. Use aerated or low-flow taps and shower head.
2. Install water meters and water flow restrictors.
3. When you are waiting for hot water to start flowing in the shower, collect the cold water (that would be normally drained) into the buckets. This water can be used for e.g. watering plants later on.
4. Opt for quick showers instead of baths.
5. Turn off the tap when shaving or brushing your teeth.
6. Get any leaky pipes repaired- this can save you £35 a year!

What other tips would you add to this list?