We’re always looking for ways to save on rising utilities costs.  Here’s a simple solution that will save water AND energy at the same time. 
 
It’s easy to get distracted with glamorous and exciting solutions like new solar PV panels, wind turbines or solar hot water systems.  But most of the time the best place to start saving energy or water is with the simple things.  The humble tap aerator is one such example. Mark Shorter from Business Treading Lightly said, “It costs less than $5 a pop but can save up to hundreds of dollars a year!” They’re readily available and very easy to install yourself.
 
How does it work? Aerators restrict the flow of water coming out of your taps without reducing water pressure.  Taps without an aerator often flow at a rate of 20 litres a minute.  This can be reduced down to 6 litres a minute for bathroom basins.  It’s easy to see how you can reduce your water use.  But they will also save you energy as well by reducing the amount of HOT water you need, which of course uses energy.

Consider this example: On a 20L/minute tap that gets used only 10 times a day for a quick 10 second hand wash, you would save about $50 a year by installing a 6L/minute aerator. Imagine the savings for basins that get a lot more use!   Business Treading Lightly recently checked the flow rates on all the taps at Catalina Country Club.  They’re now in the process of installing aerators.  They will save around 650,000 litres of water and $4,000 in energy per year by installing aerators on all taps.  Operations Manager Owen Quinn said “When we realised the savings we could make with tap aerators we got straight onto it. It makes a lot of sense.”   

Here is what Catalina had to say about the Business Treading Lightly program.

And here is what Catalina have been able to achieve.