365 Tips to save water
Hinkler Books
Written by Louise Coulthard
1 Star Review – Stay Away From

How the propaganda describes the book:

Saving water is simple and easy.

Find out how to save water around the house, in the kitchen, laundry, bathroom, toilet, and garden, as well as how to check for leaks.

Kids can save water too, with a section of fun activities and projects.

Mr Home Budget Review

There is almost a huge red flag when you read the title of this book. 365 Water Saving Tips, it seems they came up with the title first, then tried to fit a book around it. I guess the reason they used the number 365 is because it is meant to be a tip for each day of the year. It is not mentioned in the book that there is a council for each day of the year.

Now this would be great if there were 365 ways to save water. However, as the author has had trouble finding tips; They’ve repeated the same advice, just in different sections of the book. For example, they use the same tip for the bathroom sink, but write it differently for the kitchen sink.

This book would have been much better if they had written X number of original tips. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but once you’ve read the same advice three or four times in different places, it can get a bit boring.

On the plus side, this book provides some good facts and information about water. Some of the best or most unusual tips that we have considered are:

“Soak your lawn every few days instead of a small amount every day. Small amounts of water are more likely to evaporate before it soaks into the soil. It will also help your lawn become more drought resistant and develop a strong root system.

“Take a sea shower! Used by sailors to conserve water on sea voyages, this is a great water saver. Just turn on the shower, wet your body, turn off the water, then the soap, shampoo, and foam , and run the shower long enough to rinse.”

“Did you know that leaky toilets can be the number one cause of water waste in your home? A silent toilet leak can waste 150 liters or more per day. That’s more than 50,000 liters per year. Obvious leaks can waste even more”.

Some of the ones that are just obvious and bring the book down are:

“Make sure all taps, both indoors and in the garden, are always turned off tightly, so it doesn’t leak. Don’t force taps though, as this can damage them and cause leaks.”

“Some people reduce the number of showers they take in the summer by regularly swimming in their pool, especially after exercising or before bed.”

Unfortunately, the book almost seems put together over a few weekends than it was really meant to be. Ideas get repeated too much, and really good ideas are few and far between. Only if you really need to save every last drop of water is this book worth reading; otherwise stay away. One out of five stars.

Pros: It has some tips that you can probably put into practice right now.

Cons: Repeats too many tips that are just written slightly differently throughout the book.

Some advice is just plain crazy and no human being should follow it.

It seems slapped, instead of thought.