Avid gardener Brent has got creative with water to keep his garden lush without relying on the hose.

“We keep a flexi-bucket in the kitchen sink which collects all the water from rinsing dishes or washing veggies. When it fills up we take it out to the garden to water the ferns and some of the other plants.”

He and his wife Nina also capture water from the shower in a bucket while it heats up, and use that on the garden too. The Mt Eden couple spend a lot of time in their terraced garden.

“We’re considering installing a rain tank for outdoor use,” Brent says.

“I’m also going to put plenty of mulch around our ferns because it helps to retain moisture and means you don’t need to water them so often.

Brent has also been taking short showers, taking care to keep it at the low-pressure setting.

“We’ve been skipping showers in the weekend and taking a dip in the spa pool instead – it only needs a top-up of a couple of buckets of water every so often, and the water only needs to be changed twice a year – so that saves a considerable amount of water – about 160 litres a week.”

Brent’s other water-wise gardening tips are to water in the evenings when it’s cooler, to prevent evaporation, and to consider using water retention crystals in your pot plants. They absorb water and then gradually release the water to the plants, which helps plants survive with less frequent watering.

Teaching her children to do their own laundry has dramatically reduced Jenny’s household water use.

“Instead of throwing everything into the clothes basket to be washed, they have worked out to put things like jeans and sweatshirts back in their drawers if they aren’t dirty. We have reduced their washing from three loads per week to one.”

Jenny says her three children, aged between 8 and 13 years old, are much more careful about what they wash now that they are responsible for cleaning, drying and putting away their own clothes.

“They do all their laundry on the same day and it’s all in the same load. We also have a water-efficient washing machine that saves 100 litres of water per wash.”

She says saving water is about being mindful.

“We have to rinse things before they go in the dishwasher, but we do it all in the same water in a bowl in the sink.”

The family also has a rainwater tank to collect water for the garden.

Baking wedding cakes creates a lot of dishes, as Sophie knows well.

The avid baker often has to hand-wash items that can’t go in the dishwasher and she uses it as an opportunity to save water.

“I fill the sink to wash them and I avoid rinsing them under a running tap,” says Sophie.

“It doesn’t matter if there’s a little bit of soapy water left on them.”

Her water-saving doesn’t stop at the kitchen – she also catches her shower water in a bucket while it’s warming up and uses it to water the garden.

Inside plants don’t go thirsty either, thanks to the water collected by Sophie’s dehumidifier.

“Using the dehumidifier water is an easy saving to make. When I’m washing my hair, I turn off the shower to lather it. We also have a water-efficient washing machine.”

She says saving water is easy once you’re in the mindset.

“Short showers are a habit. It’s only a small sacrifice.”

If James has a tap running, his three-year-old twins know what to do.

“They’ll say, ‘Daddy, save water’,” says James. “I talk to them about saving water and keeping our showers quick and they get it.”

Water in his house is heated by gas and takes a little while to warm up, so the family uses buckets to catch the cold water in the shower.

The water is used to flush the toilet and water plants.

“That’s probably our biggest water-saver,” says James. “We also have a rainwater tank that is plumbed into the downstairs bathroom and a sink in the garage, so we can use that water to clean things in the garage.”

The twins have enough clothes that the family doesn’t have to do laundry every week.

“We have a smaller washing machine for the kids’ laundry so we don’t have to use the big machine. It has a quick cycle so it doesn’t use much water.”

Washing cars is also off the menu, but James says that a bit of spot cleaning with collected water does the job.

Having a big family inspires Isobelle to get creative with water-saving.

A leaking gutter on the garage is the perfect place to collect rain water in baby bathtubs, which can then be used for cleaning cars and watering plants.

“We also use it for water play for our little ones,” she says.

“I never clean the car on a dry day. I wipe the car down in the rain and don’t use hoses or taps.”

Her household of seven people – which includes her four children, aged from one to nine – are strict about taking short showers.

“We use a four-minute shower timer and everyone turns off the shower to lather themselves up and then turns it back on to rinse off. Our water bill is just over $70 a month, which is pretty good.” They recently bought a water and energy-efficient washing machine which also helps to keep their water use low.