More ways to get WATERWISE with Nature Fresh
Nature Fresh products are grey water friendly and we wish to encourage everybody involved in the CT water crisis to make use of our extra-efficient water saving techniques.
1 Recycle with eco-products: You can use Nature Fresh cleansers and body washes for showering, mini-washing in a bucket or taking a bath. Being pH balanced, they help to control odour, so there is less urgency to wash or change clothes so frequently.
Water can be reused for flushing toilets yet is safe enough for watering your pot plants and survivors in the garden. Look out for other eco – products that may also be suitable. Placing a deeper basin underneath a pot plant or tub of vegetables reduces the need for water. Waste water from our toothpaste and mouthwash is equally suitable for grey water systems.
2 Save water and freshen up the toilet: add a little Nature Fresh Body Wash to the toilet bowl. It will foam up and freshen, every time a litre of water is tipped in after urinating. Keep a water bucket next to the toilet for doing this. Also wash your hands in it. Ladies can save even more water by disposing of their toilet paper in a sealable bin.
An old plastic milk bottle for instance, can be thrown away when full and prevents any smell. If too much toilet paper accumulates after a number of mellow yellow sessions the toilet (or the sewer) may get blocked up, so please use this technique. Then, whoever does a ‘solid number’ can do a full farewell flush. Afterwards, add more liquid soap for another run.
“Easy-peezy rule: leave the liquids and flush the solids.”
Toilet alternatives: the brick trick can damage the delicate mechanism within most of our modern toilets. Some toilets have a duel flush system that helps to prevent excessive flushing and they use only 6 – 9 litres for small flushes. Older toilets release over 13 litres so using it four times consumes over 50 litres (our daily allowance) of water! Placing 2 bricks or plastic bottles filled with water inside the cistern will reduce the flush volume by 2 – 4 litres. Alternatively, people still relieve themselves au natural, in the garden, behind a bush or along the road, I notice! (My desk has a view of the road.)
3 Using bath water again and again: The smallest person goes first and uses the least water. More hot water can be added by the next person. Using Nature Fresh body washes or intimate cleansers enables the water to be used afterwards for plants or for washing clothes and then flushing toilets. The pH balanced products ensure personal freshness and so help to extend the time between changing clothes and taking baths, showers or mini-splash downs.
For waterless cleansing the Nature Fresh Personal Lubricant Gels can be used with tissues or cotton wool for hands or personal cleansing / intimate swabbing. Use a spray bottle filled with water and a few drops of essential oil to wash hands and freshen up your face on a hot day. Personal wipes and baby wipes are very popular – but don’t flush them down the toilet.
4 Shower power: A large basin will catch all the water and it can be recycled or kept as is for sitz baths or sponging. It is best if one person showers directly after another, so that the water stays hot, avoiding the heating up time. A quick shower need only use 5 litres of water, especially if you first wash in the basin you are standing in. Afterwards, use the water to wash clothes, the car, clean the bathroom and floors or flush the toilet.
5 The washing machine: one wash load can consume between 70 – 110 litres of water. All this water can be collected into buckets. The first batch released is very soapy and can be used for house cleaning, removal of driveway stains and so on. The rinsing water can be shared between the garden, washing the car or flushing toilets.
The City council recommends 1 wash load a week, but this seems to be ignored by many households. Please try to wear outer garments more than once and wash out small stained areas by hand. Also hand wash clothes in the used bath or shower water. If you have access to well point water, rinse your clothes in it before using it in the garden or flushing the perfectly clean water down the toilets.
6 The Kitchen water: waste water from the sink or dishwasher is called black water and can only be used in the garden. It contains fat, grease and food morsels – but thirsty plants love it. Please collect the water from your dishwasher outlet. The pipe can be secured to a 25 litre bucket – the average amount used. Make sure the load is as large as possible, skipping a few days in between and use the economy setting.
Place a plastic dish below the taps, in the sink to collect any water used for food preparation and cleaning up. Our allowance is 1 litre per person per day, including what we ingest! Being as frugal as I can, I tip 5 litres onto my plants, so that is wishful thinking. Use more eco-friendly enzyme cleaners or make your own to wipe kitchen surfaces, eliminate pet odours and other accidents.
7 For waterless cleansing: the Nature Fresh Personal Lubricant Gels can be used with tissues or cotton wool for hands or personal cleansing / intimate swabbing. Use a spray bottle filled with water and a few drops of essential oil to wash hands and freshen up your face on a hot day. Personal wipes and baby wipes are very popular – but don’t flush them down the toilet.
Conclusion:
Dear Friends, use this handy information link for mobile phones.
https://naturefresh.co.za/weblinks/
These articles can serve as a data base for people who are concerned about environment, health and saving water. Please share this information and spread the word that everybody can make a difference. If we all try to add even more water saving techniques to our daily routine we can defeat day zero! We can also benefit from these habits so as not to be taken by surprise should disaster strike.
Drinking water: Being prepared is the best option. People are already panicking about hoarding water, finding cans or buckets and filling Jojo tanks. Shops are running out of bottled water and queues at the mountain springs are getting longer. Tap and spring water should be boiled, we are told. Bacterial and microbial infections that cause stomach bugs are resistant to chlorine and spring water is easily contaminated by faces.
Reverse osmosis filtration systems are the best option, especially if you have access to borehole or well point water because they remove iron and other impurities. At worst, we will each only be allowed collect 25 litres of not too potable water from various distribution points. Too bad about the toilets, showers and washing machines! Prevention is better than cure and more people still need to wake up or we will not reach our goal. It’s up to us.
Regards, Jim and Sue Visser