Efficient dishwashers save water and energy

Today, 1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate clean water to meet their basic daily needs, and 2.6 billion do not have proper sanitation facilities, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) within the UN. The UN warns that by the year 2025, between 2.6 and 3.1 billion people could be living in either water-scarce or water-stressed conditions. This already poses a serious threat to health and welfare, and also to agriculture and industry.

The Environment Agency recently issued a press release on its plans to tackle future water shortages, warning that: "Consumers and businesses must reduce their water use to help avert severe shortages due to future climate change and population growth".

London could save as much as 16 billion litres of fresh water annually if everyone used a dishwasher instead of doing the dishes by hand. The amount of water is equivalent to 6350 Olympic swimming pools. This is one of the findings in the Electrolux WaterSavings study.

The study is based on results from the University of Bonn, Germany. The study shows that on average 10.5 litres of water is consumed per person per day when washing a daily amount of dishes by hand, while the best Electrolux dishwasher only uses 2.27 litres of water to wash the same amount. Moreover, time is saved. Since there is less water to heat up, less energy is also needed.

This means a household in UK could save over 7000 litres annually by using an efficient dishwasher. If all households in UK today that are doing the dishes by hand changed to a modern dishwasher, a total of over 125 billion litres could be saved. If all households in the 22 European countries studied were to use an efficient dishwasher instead of washing dishes by hand, 990.2 million m3 of water could be saved! This is more than, for instance, the total annual use of water from supplies in Denmark.

“Everyone can play a role in solving the challenge of water scarcity: consumers, by adopting new technologies and making smart choices in their daily life; policymakers, by encouraging consumers to do so, for instance with legislation and incentive programmes that speed up the replacement of inefficient appliances; industry, by reducing water use and emissions, and equally importantly, to develop and offer products that are continuously more efficient and climate smart”, say Henrik Sundström, Head of Sustainability Affairs, AB Electrolux.

Related categories:  Water conservation and supply  

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