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Reduce your expenses by saving water
As the cost of water seems to inexorably rise, is there anything
owners can do to save money? If you own a property with a pool or garden,
the answer is YES.
Here are the four main ways you can keep your bills down:
- Villas which have a pool and garden will use about 80% of water in
those places, therefore it pays to urge your pool and garden maintenance
contractors to be economical.
- Make sure your irrigation system is installed and working properly.
- Ensure any leaks are repaired - especially in the case of pools.
- Try your best to keep within 100 cubic meters of usage - at that level
of use the highest rates begin to apply. For villas on plots sizes of
800 sq meters or less this should be possible except for perhaps July
and August.
In the Garden
- Make sure sprinklers are properly installed and adjusted to give an
even coverage of water. So many irrigation systems sprinkle water wastefully
onto roads etc.
- Make sure that old and leaky pipes are replaced. A lot of water can
go to waste underground without being noticed.
- Ensure your irrigation system is not timed to come on during the day.
In the heat of the mid-day sun, upto half of your water can evaporate
before it even reaches your plants!
- Try to plant indigenous plants which require little water. Large areas
of lawn require the most water, try to minimise those, or use the hardy
strains of Bermuda grass which can be resilient to drought.
- Read here some more tips for conserving water.
Swimming Pools
- Leaking pools can waste a lot of water. It is invariably cheaper to
fix your pool than pay expensive water bills each month, however, pool
contractors often do not seem to realise this and therefore do not bring
leaks to owners attention.
- Many pool contractors habitually vacuum pools 'to waste' instead of
through the filter. If the bottom of your pool is very dirty then this
is probably the best thing to do. However, it should not be necessary
every time as it uses a considerable quantity of water.
Are there any real life examples of how much water an average villa
should use?
This question is possibly best answered by an owner who has studied the
use of water in his own property:
Quote:
"I have been able to estimate that for a villa with a garden and
pool [on a plot size of approx. 1.500m²] it should be possible to
keep the total consumption below 1,200m³ depending on the usage of
the villa. The irrigation system uses about 2.2m³ per application.
During the winter months (4 months) I have my system on every other day
(115m³) and during the summer (8 months) every day (540m³).
The swimming pool does not need very much topping up in the winter months,
but during the summer will require about 2m³ per week (80m³
p.a.). Domestic usage should be less than 1.0m³ per day (365m³
p.a.). My total usage for the last year was 898m³ based on 14 weeks
occupancy of the villa."
Loulé Water Charges
Year 2004
Meters read and charged monthly
| Quantity Used |
Charge per Cubic Meter
EUROS
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| Upto 10³ |
0.30
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| From 11 to 30³ |
0.50
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| From 31 to 50³ |
0.75
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| From 51 to 100³ |
1.25
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| Over 100³ |
1.75
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Exclusive of IVA (applicable rate currently 5%)
- Rental of water meter EUR 1.50 to 2.50 per month.
- Re-connection charge approx. EUR 100.00
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