Save Water (and money) With Every Flush (Hippo Water Saver)

Member Name: sweetdaisy

Product:	Hippo Water Saver
Date:	23/04/08 (648 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: save 30% of water used with each toilet flush

Disadvantages: will only save around £20.00 a year on your annual bill

Everyone is talking about being 'Green' and doing what we can to help the Environment, as well as being energy efficient. So I have decided to write about one of the ways in which I am becoming 'Green' which saves me water as well as a little money, especially as household bills are continually rising.

Since October 2007 I have been using Hippo Water Saver bags in my toilet cisterns. My bathroom suite is around 7 years old and doesn't have one of those 'half flush' toilets to save water, so I use the Hippo Bag.

Most toilets don't need to use a full cistern to flush effectively. Of each toilet flush 30% of the water used is wasted, so you are literally flushing your money down the drain. The Hippo bag saves you 30% of water used with each flush, which equates to around ¾ gallon of water when fitted in an average cistern of approximately 2 gallons capacity. If you have a water meter, using a Hippo bag will reduce your annual bill by £20.00. I know that this isn't a huge amount of money saved, but 'every little helps' as they say. If you happen to own a business the amount of money you will save as a company will be a lot more, depending on how many employees you have and quite a few large companies use these to help reduce costs.

The Hippo Bag is a simple and proven water saving device to help conserve water in household toilet cisterns. Hippo bags are made from durable heavy gauge Polyethylene which opens up into an open-ended box shape when placed in the toilet cistern. The bag sits in the water directly underneath the cistern float. So when the toilet is flushed, the water contained within the bag is the volume of water saved with each flush (30%). The bag also has a small hole, which acts as a relief valve, which allows slow circulation of water to prevent the water in the bag stagnating and evaporating.

Many UK water companies have bought and distributed Hippo bags, as it is the most effective way to save water and promote the efficient use of water. I ordered mine free of charge from my local Water Authority, Welsh Water (Dwr Cymru) and had the option of having 2 or 3 bags sent to me. I have also seen Hippo bags advertised on various websites (see below); however you have to pay for them. It is worth taking a look at your local Water Authority's website to see if they are available in your area. Here are some of the companies who promote and distribute Hippo bags:

Welsh Water, Thames Water, Northern Ireland Water Service, South East Water, Three Valleys Water, Dundee City Council and the Environment Agency (to name a few).

Fitting the Hippo bag is very is straightforward and can be done in a couple of minutes. All you need is the Hippo bag and a jug of water (as you will need to pour water into the bag when flushing the first few times).

To start with, you will need to remove the cistern lid. Then place both hands inside the Hippo and push out the corners of the bag to create a box shape.
Turn the Hippo upside down and place it's open end over the cistern ball float.

Turn the Hippo over so that it is immersed in the water and the ball float inside it's open end. Flood the Hippo by pushing down with one hand placed inside.
Flush the toilet in the normal manner and at the same time pouring 5-7 pints of water into the Hippo bag. At first it may seem that the bag sits high in the cistern, however after a number of flushes over a 48 hour period the Hippo bag will settle in.

If you have a toilet which has a cistern with Micro floats and not the usual large plastic ball float, before fitting the Hippo, unclip the float making a note of it's location and hold the float arm up to prevent over filling. Immerse Hippo as above and clip the float back into it's former position. Then pour 5-7 pints of water into the Hippo. Again it will take 48 hours for the bag to settle.

Having been used to my toilet flushing 'normally' for the last 7 years, the Hippo Water Saver has not affected the toilet flush at all and has not left anything lurking in the toilet after a flush. The only real noticeable difference is that the cistern fills up in less time than before. I can even continue to use cistern toilet blocks to freshen the toilet, as they don't affect the effectiveness of the Hippo bag.

I have to say that if the bags had not been available free from my local Water Authority, I doubt that I would have purchased them. Having said that, I recommend using the Hippo bags and will give the Hippo Water Saver bag 4 stars as it saves 30% of the water used in each toilet flush. The reason that I have not given the bag 5 stars is due to it only saving around £20.00 a year on my water bill (as I have a water meter), however the bigger the household - the more water and money you'll be able to save.

For more information please visit:

http://www.hippo-the-watersaver.co.uk
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Save-Water-When-Flushing-To ilet.htm


Thanks for reading xx
© sweetdaisy 2008

Summary: a water saving device used in toilet cisterns