Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink. You only need to have seen the flooding earlier this year to see how real this can be. No matter how much rain water falls, fresh water is one of lifes essentials - did you know that a man can survive for a month without food but only seven days without water? If we lose just 1% of our body's water we become thirsty. Here are a few tips to help conserve our precious resource and perhaps save some money (especially if you have a water meter).

Take a shower rather than a bath, but try and limit you shower time to three minutes. It can be done and you are just as clean.

Avoid power showers - they use up just as much if not more water than a bath.

Don't run the shower before you get in - it wastes pecious water and the cold blast is good for you.

Try washing your hair, then soaping your body, then rinsing all off at once. It does save time.

Use environmentally friendly products. Don't forget everything you use to clean, be it yourself or your house, will end up in the water system. Some ingredients use in cleaning products and cosmetic products are really quite harmful - sodium laueth sulfate (SLS) for example is in most shampoos, body washes, toothpastes etc but is a known carcinogen. It is used because it is cheap and makes the item foam. It also is the ingredient that makes your eyes sore if you get it in them!

Grey water (bath water or washing up water) can be used on the garden (check what you have put in it first), to wash your car or even windows. You could even fill up a bucket and use it to flush your loo!

It takes between 2 and 7 gallons of water to flush your loo (depending on the size of your cistern). Reduce this amount by putting an inflatable 'brick' in your cistern to stop it overfilling. If you have a dual flush try to use the half flush. It used to be advised to use a half brick in your cistern but it has been reported that over time these crumble and block things up.

Turn the tap off when brushing you teeth.

Don't rinse your dishes under a running tap.

Try to avoid dishwashers - if you do use a dishwasher make sure it is full before operating; the same applies to washing machines.

For more great water saving tips check out my site at www.ecoready.info. I have also sourced some great UK stores that give the best eco-friendly products; please give them a visit. Don't forget that everything you put into the water system will eventually come back to you via your tap. Makes you think doesn't it?