Step 4 - Check your appliances Are you aware of how much water each one of your appliances around your home actually uses? You may be surprised at how many litres of water is used each time you simply run your dishwasher or use your washing machine. Average consumption figures from the Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme indicate you could be using as much as 15 - 20 litres of water each time you run your dishwasher.
Depending on the type of washing machine you have, you could be using anywhere between 72 - 140 litres just to wash your clothes. Did you know changing your old showerhead to a new water efficient one changes your water use from 15 litres per minute to 9 litres per minute when you shower.
Click here to register for Yarra Valley Water's showerhead exchange program
Other appliances you may not even know use water could be adding to high water consumption figures displayed on your account. Did you know using an evaporative cooler could use up to 90 litres of water per hour? Establishing which appliance uses the most amount of water to run will help you determine where you can reduce your water consumption.  The easiest way to monitor the amount of water used by each appliance is to read your water meter before and after you use your appliance.

  Click here for a detailed description of how to read your water meter


Examples of where you will find your meter reading are shown below:

Example test for a washing machine:

Note down either the last four numbers of the dial or the numbers located on the clockfaces of your water meter before doing a load of washing. When the cycle finishes, note down your meter reading again. The difference between the first reading to the second will be the amount of water used by your washing machine in one cycle. 

When monitoring each appliance make sure you are not using water anywhere else around the house as this will add to the meter reading.