1 Dripping taps can waste a lot of water. All you need to stop them is a new washer. See how to do this in my plumbing section on leaking tap

2 If your pipes freeze in the winter they may leak or burst when it thaws. Avoid this by lagging them with Climaflex polyethylene pipe insulation. It's a hollow foam tube slit down the middle so that you simply clip it over the pipes. You can buy it for 15mm or 22mm pipes in lengths of 1 metre. (see section on insulating tanks and pipes )

3 A toilet with an old cistern can use around 9 litres of water every time you flush. You can install several devices which reduce the amount of water that it flushes.

A Hippo water saver for cisterns with a 9 litre flush or greater is a very simple to install bag system which reduces the flush by up to 3 litres. Checkout their web site which shows full fitting instructions at www.hippo-the-watersaver.co.uk/http

NB Most water companies will supply them free. Contact your local water board to ask or visit their web sites which also have more water saving ideas.

A Save-a-flush bag is a similar system for cisterns with a 7 litre or greater flush which is a bag you simply drop into the cistern, hold it a moment, then it expands to reduce the flush by about 1 litre. http://www.save-a-flush.co.uk

Most water companies will supply them free to. Contact your local water board to ask, or visit their web sites for more water saving ideas