Wednesday 10 October 2012

No need to flush. Saving water.

Eeeee bye gum, you wouldn't believe the day I've had today, I feel drained. It's a hard life in front of the cameras, ha ha. Four hours today of being interviewed and filmed. A nice young lady came up from London on the train, lugging her blooming big bags full of equipment. She set it all up in the living room, clipped a mic onto my chesticle area, and wired me up to the battery pack clipped onto my pants, that's trousers if you are not American, ha ha. 
She had a long list of questions which we ploughed through, then we did it all again, this time with different angle shots. Next we went upstairs to the office where she showed me four different websites and asked me to comment on them while she pointed tha camera at me. Then a bit more filming downstairs. Then it was an almighty rush as she needed to get to the station to catch her train back home. 
It is now all mixed up in my brain, I can't remember everything we talked about. She assured me that the filming we did today is not for broadcast, at this stage her company is researching the possibility of making a programme for Chanel Four. It may or may not happen, I may or may not be in it. I agreed to help out because it's a fun thing to do, although it is quite mentally demanding. I need to keep my brain working through to old age, so something like this forces me to think quickly, be spontaneous with my answers, and dig for ideas which might have been lost. Use it or lose it is what they say, I need to keep using it.
Anyway, moving on, I had a bit of a brainwave to save money today, see, I do use my brain, ha ha. I thought I would bring the downstairs privvy back into use. I very rarely park my bum on it to be honest, there's nothing wrong with it, perfectly clean and in working order, it's just that it reminds me of the olden days when I had to go outside and down the yard to spend a penny. Grandma had a toilet which was a wooden box with a hole in the top, I hated using it. When I was a teenager we lived in a house with an outside loo, it was awful to have to go out in the cold and sit there shivering.
My loo is not down the yard, it's just outside the back door in a passageway, so it's all under cover but not heated. My idea is to save money by using this toilet, and flushing it with a combination of rainwater, washing up water, and any other water which I would normally throw down the sink.   
As I have mentioned before, I use my bath water to flush the upstairs toilet, all well and good because the bath is next to the toilet, easy enough to slosh it down with a plastic jug. But the bath water only lasts a week, then I have to have another bath, or start flushing. In the downstairs loo I can put any grey water I have in this very large bucket and scoop and chuck with an old saucepan which I have conveniently hung on the door handle. It will also be easy to bring rainwater in from the garden from the many receptacles I have for collecting it.
So bingo, I can keep my flushes down to one per day, and that will be first thing in the morning, as I am as regular as clockwork, ha ha. Good idea, eh! Toodle pip.

17 comments:

  1. This is a good idea, why use fresh drinkable water when there's plenty of grey water to be had. We've got into the habit of not flushing every time, but when a visitor calls unexpectedly, I run round flushing in case they ask to use the loo, for the sake of respectability LOL

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  2. I feel quite honoured that I know a TV star. Did the camera woman need to use the facilities?

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  3. Great idea - just goes to show there is always more ways of pinching a penny. Dont get frost bite out there on icy mornings :)

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  4. Ilona you made me laugh out loud with your comment about first things in the morning and being 'regular'!
    I really like your water saving idea though - why pay for water when you can collect rainwater or re-use washing up water?

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  5. I think its great that you reuse your water like that. It must save you a fortune. Great idea with the rain water. Hope you do go on TV, how exciting!

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  6. About yesterdays post, I don't know if you know but Bakers dog food is the worst you can buy! Nutritionally it is rubbish, not to mention being absolutely packed with additives and colourings. Does Rocky have green poo? If so that's why! It's well documented on dog sites that it's very bad for nutrition and our vet says unrepeatable things about it!
    I know it's the cheapest but in this case you really do get what you pay for. Do Rocky a favour, help him live a long and healthy life by buying him something better.

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    1. I have never heard of that dog food, living in the US as I do. However, dogs cannot handle corn very well. Actually, no animal should eat corn. I won't even feed it to my hens. Cheap dog food very definitely shortens the life of a dog.

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  7. I admire your dedication to water saving Ilona. I need to pull my socks up in this department as it's going to be a very long and dry summer for us. In the past we have collected water in large tubs from the shower and used the grey water from the washing machines, although we have never "flushed" the toilet as you describe. We do have two flush buttons, one for half a flush and two for a full flush. Happy flushing:) xxx

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  8. Hi John, I allowed the woman with the camera to use the posh loo upstairs and flush. Can't expect my visitors to rough it like I do, ha ha.

    Hi Doreen. Rocky's poo isn't green, it looks normal to me. In fact when I walked him after I came back from hols, his poo definately wasn't normal, he was terribly constipated. Don't know what he had been eating while I was away. He doesn't have the Bakers coloured stuff, and he only has the meaty chunks as occasional treats, I have a few in my pocket. He gets other food as well.

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  9. Let the word go out from this time and place Ilona, we are officially old ladies. Talking about our poops and pees!

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  10. wow, that's really cool! :) Is it another Superscrimper-style show?

    I have to agree with Kath; when we had someone round last week I ensured that the toilet was flushed - I don't know why but I wouldn't want to use someone else's unflushed toilet, even if it is just yellow and mellow, lol.

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  11. we are lucky we have a well so we have no water bill thank goodness.

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  12. Always thinking, Ms. Meanqueen. Always coming up with something new and different; well done Ms MQ. :)

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  13. I flush less and less. However, I am regular all day long! Even at that, I use less than the minimum, so I pay the same for using about 75% of the minimum charge.

    When I used bath water to flush my toilet, some one said there is a way that the water can get into the potable water supply. It was explained to me, but I am trying to fall asleep.

    I use water from my dehumiifier for flushing. My back is too far gone to be lifting much.

    In the summer, I managed not to use the water hose all summer by using dripping water from the window ac, caught rainwater, and bath water. I love saving water. I am glad you do too!

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  14. I like your water saving ideas. Water here too has become very expensive.

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  15. We are lucky that our water is free!! Seems like a good idea for you, but maybe you will need a rug in there for the winter to keep warm.

    Julie Q

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  16. Hi Ilona, Up here our water company is not privatised, so I just pay a flat rate charge every month. Despite that though, I do try to be canny with my water usage. Also, if I use the dehumidifier, I put the water in the mop bucket with a little bit bleach to mop up the floors. I remember reading a book years ago that showed you how to make a dew trap using some stones and a sheet of plastic, need to be up at the crack of dawn to collect it though. You would be able to save it in a bucket for your loo, but I'm not sure how much it would collect on a daily basis. Re Rocky and his toilet habits after you came back from hols, might have been down to lack of exercise as he is used to getting out regularly for long walks when you have him, or just the change in routine. Hope he is better now. I look forward to hearing about when you are next on the telly, got fingers crossed. Cheers for now, Christy.

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