NI Water has announced water usage has risen by 12 litres per person per day and is urging the public to be "water wise".

The increase, compared against figures from 2020, is a result of more of us being at home for longer periods of time. This statistic means people are now using 170 litres per person per day rather than 158.

NI Water's Environmental Outreach & Learning Officer, Anna Killen explained: "Northern Ireland was already among one of the highest region of water users in the UK before the pandemic, with an average of 158 per person versus the 142 UK average. With working from home becoming the norm and the school holidays upon us, we need to take stock of how our water usage has changed and examine how much we are actually wasting.

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"I know there is a massive willingness among the public to conserve water, it can often be the case people simply don't realise that little changes can make a big difference.

"It is estimated that a running tap can waste 6 litres of water per minute, couple this with the recommended teeth brushing time of 2 mins, that equates to 12 litres of water wasted per brush! If we all turned the tap off while we brushed our teeth, we are helping save some of those 12 litres we are currently over using.

"NI Water water audits also show the average time spent in the shower is 10 minutes. A shower can use up to 7 litres per minute, more for a power shower, which means what we think is a quick 10min shower, is actually 70 litres of water. Now, this is not an excuse to avoid getting washed, rather, be mindful of your length of time in there. Maybe challenge yourself to get in and out before a song finishes or don’t perform that imaginary concert (yes we all do it!)."