FAQ BACK

How can the units and individuals save water?

Answer: According to Shanghai Water Law of the Peoples Republic of China and the "Regulations of the Shanghai Municipality on Water Saving" and other relevant provisions, both the state and the city shall carry out planning and require strict economy in the use of water. Each water units and individuals have the obligations to save water, which include:

1. About the Water Plan--The city shall implement water planning policy among the units using public water supply. The Urban Water Supply Management Division and district (county) water authority shall, according to their duties and the requirements of water balance at different times, decide on the annual and monthly water consuming plan of the water units before the end of the previous year. The monthly water consuming index shall be inspected monthly. A water unit shall be charged for its excessively used water at the current water price and, in addition, it shall also have to pay an increased water price which is 5 times higher than the current water price for its excessively used part. A water unit who uses water excessively for successive 2 months, if without good reason, shall pay a doubled increased water price, but the maximum shall not exceed tenfold.

2. About diverting water. Water unit, if unauthorized, shall not be allowed to divert water to other units and individuals. Be there necessity to divert water to other units and individuals, the water unit shall first get the approval of the municipal water supply management office or district (county) water department.

3. About water-saving facilities. The construction, expansion and rebuilding projects (including technological transformation projects) of the water unit should involve the construction of appropriate water conservation facilities which should be designed, constructed and put into use at the same time with the main project. The Urban Water Supply Management Office or the district (county) water department is responsible for inspecting the design of water-saving facilities of the projects whose monthly water consumption shall be over 5000 m3 and undertaking the project checking upon completion.

4. About water use management. Water units shall install water meters as required. The diverted water supply which has been approved should have a separate water meter. Water units should establish and improve its water management systems and desk-account management, and conduct water balance tests on a regular basis according to the requirements of the Urban Water Supply Management Office or district (county) water authority. Water conservation measures should be incorporated into technical renovation plan of enterprises to encourage the use of recycled water in series among water units to improve the water re-use rate. No direct discharge of indirect cooling water.

5. Residential water management. The water meter shall be installed on household basis in the new residence. Water units shall not practice prepaid water fee in the domestic water.

6. Use and management of water-saving equipment, facilities and instruments. Water units and individuals should use water-saving devices (including cooling towers), instruments, and install water-saving and anti-overflow devices. Water units with more than 50 vehicles parked concentratedly should install water-saving car wash water recycling equipment. New housing must be installed with quality water-saving toilet tanks and accessories in line with national standards; houses originally installed with toilet water tanks and accessories should replace the old facilities with new facilities gradually according to relevant requirements of the state administrative department.

Water supply enterprises and housing management organizations should strengthen the management, repair and maintenance of water supply equipment, facilities (including roof water tanks) and instruments to reduce the loss rate, and should rush to the scene within the time limit when leakages are found in water supply equipment, facilities and instruments or receiving such reports. 36 Methods of Saving Water:

Method 1: Replace old flush toilet with water-saving toilet. Replace guide-type straight drop toilet with turn-plate toilet, with its water controlled within 9 liters;

Method 2: Use water-saving spray gun in landscaping, car washing and ground washing;

Method 3: Reduce the flushing time of the automatic urinal flusher;

Method 4: Install low-flow showerheads, faucet aerators, or add slow-flow water faucet vaporizers;

Method 5: Shorten the turn-on and turn-off time by replacing full-turn taps with 1 / 4 turn taps to reduce water wastage;

Method 6: Readily turn off the tap to avoid water to drain away unused and add to the tap a shut-off valve with spring or an automatic sensing device used to turn off the tap automatically.

Method 7: Check toilets, water tower, pool, tap or other plumbing fittings as well as the wall or underground pipeline regularly to avoid leakage.

Method 8: Use shower instead of a bath tub. Use low-flow showerheads and avoid prolonged shower.

Method 9: Do not wash dishes, vegetables and clothes directly under the flowing water. Instead, keep certain amount of water in the basin to reduce the loss of water;

Method 10: Wash dishes with water used for washing rice or cooking noodles in order to save water and reduce water pollution by the detergent;

Method 11: Water flowers and wash cars with the water used after washing vegetables, clothes, dishes and the water after bath;

Method 12: Reuse water collected by dehumidifier and the waste water produced by such water purification equipment as pure water machine and distilled water machine;

Method 13: Water plants in the morning or evening when the sunshine causes less evaporation;

Method 14: Select drought-tolerant plants in garden greening and grow the plants in several plots divided according to their different needs for irrigation.

Method 15: The scope of sprinkler system should be within the courtyard. Part circle sprinklers can be used on the edge of the garden to spray to the inside;

Method 16: Turn off the automatic sprinkler in rain days and do not water plants when there are strong winds;

Method 17: Give only the right amount of water enough for flowers survive. Micro-irrigation methods are effective in watering flower beds by dripping water to individual plants through pot mouth, or water the whole garden with low-flow sprayer.

Method 18: Leave 10-15 mm-height grass stalks when mowing to prevent water evaporation to further reduce the use of irrigation water.

Method 19: Improve the soil quality of the garden by applying wet medium or water-retention polymers, such as vermiculite, snake wood chips, rice, wood chips, peat, etc. to improve the soil permeability and water storage capacity;

Method 20: Cover the garden with grass stubble, bark, sawdust, gravel, etc. to reduce soil moisture evaporation and soil erosion;

Method 21: In winter, only water the plants on days of droughts and continuous hot weather (in the spring and autumn, most plants only need half of the water needed in summer);

Method 22: Keep an appropriate amount of washing to avoid too much or too little amount in the washing machine and dishwasher;

Method 23: Washing small pieces and small amount of clothes by hand can save a lot of water;

Method 24: Choose washing machines that can automatically adjust the volume of water. Dehydration before rinsing can save water and cleaning time;

Method 25: When there is more than one person to take bath, wash one after another without break in order to save water from losing during the time one is waiting for the cold water to turn warm.

Method 26: Use rooftop rainwater storage device to collect rainwater as an alternative water source in daily gardening, car washing, and toilet flushing, etc.;

Method 27: Institutions, schools and factories, etc. can establish watercourse system, conducting sewage treatment to meet certain quality standards to be reused in garden watering, playground watering, toilet flushing, car washing and fire fighting, etc;

Method 28: Throw tissue into the trash can rather than into the toilet;

Method 29: Drip a little food coloring into the water tank and wait for 20 minutes (make sure no one use the toilet during this time). If the colored water flows into the toilet, it means that the tank is leaking;

Method 30: Water leakage is a serious water waste. Please contact the water company for urgent repair if you find any leakage in the underground water pipe;

Method 31: Overflowing water from swimming pools can be collected and reused for playground sprinkling;

Method 32: Wash the car with plug nozzle or with bucket and sponge or cloth. Wash the car once per month to reduce water consumption;

Method 33: Turn all the taps off tightly and make sure nobody is using water in this time. If the water meter is still moving, then it shows that the water pipe either in the house or underground is leaking; If the tap itself is dripping water after being turned off, then the rubber pad inside the tap should be replaced;

Method 34: Do not water frozen food to remove the ice on it, instead, use microwave ovens or take the food out of the refrigerator freezer earlier into cold storage;

Method 35: Replace wet or steam cleaning with dry powder cleaning in cleaning the carpet;

Method 36: The right procedure of washing hands: wet your hands with small water turn off the tap use soap rub your hands wash hands with small water turn off the tap.