If you're running the water to get hot water....

There is a Chinese saying that "water is money". Well, that is true in many ways. For those of you with water meters, you see that your consumption of water relates directly to your water bill. In developing nations, water is a sacred resource and clean water is moreso.

When hot water sits in your tap for a little while, it can get cold. If you need hot water, often you run the tap (i.e. your dishwasher needs hot water to help it clean; babies need warm water for cleaning bums) until the cold water in the hot water tap goes warm or hot.

That amount of water, we've measured, amounts to a two litres or four depending on how far away the tap is from the hot water source. The water, nonetheless, is just water.

So, what do we do? We run the cold water in the hot line into a Brita water jug and we use it for drinking or cooking. Conversely, you can save this water for watering plants around the house.