• Install a water saving showerhead – A standard showerhead has a flow rate of around 15 litres per minute, while a high efficiency water saver rose has a rate of 8.5 litres per minute. In an average 8 minute shower that will save 52 litres. With one shower a day, after a year of installing the water saving shower head you will have saved 18,980 litres of water (19,032 if it's a leap year!).

• Shave with the plug in – Whether you're a bloke shaving his whiskers or a girl doing some armpit deforestation, don't rinse your razor under running water. A running tap goes through around 10 litres per minute so it's better to part fill the sink with warm water for rinsing the razor.

• Check for leaks – You can use your water meter to check for water leaks. At night, before going to bed, write down the meter reading. In the morning check with the people you live with whether or not they've used any water during the night and, if they haven't, record the meter reading again. If there are no leaks then the water meter reading shouldn't have changed. If there is a leak it needs to be traced and fixed, which may require getting a plumber in.

• Give your toilet a makeshift half flush – As an alternative to a flush regulator you can simply put a water filled plastic bottle inside the cistern (the top bit that stores the water ready for flushing) of a single flush toilet. This will reduce the capacity of the cistern by the volume of the bottle or brick. For example, if you put in a 1.25 litre filled plastic bottle then each time you flush you will use 1.25 litres less water.