Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice as part of some studies I'm working on and thought someone in here might be able to help.

I'm looking at my average weekly water consumption and trying to calculate the amount of water I'd use for the washing machine. When I search various manufacturers, they all seem to show the consumption per year. Any one know why this is? How come the manufacturers can't provide approx volumes per cycle, which I'm presuming (maybe incorrectly) that they would have tested during design phases of their products.

Thanks in advance.

Alex.

from Which guide.

Water and washing machines

Some washing machines are better than others at saving water.

The average washing machine uses 10 litres of water for every kilogram of cottons it washes on the standard 40oC cotton program. But during our washing machine testing, we found that water usage varied between models, ranging from one that used just 5.5 litres of water per kilogram to another that consumed 13.6 litres of water per kilogram.

Looking at standard 7kg-capacity machines as an example, the most water-efficient 7kg washing machine we’ve tested used just 5.9 litres per kilogram and the worst used 12.8. If you use the standard 40oC washing program four times a week for a year, filling the drum to 80% capacity, the difference in water used amounts to 7,967 litres of water. That’s nearly enough water to fill 100 baths.

The table below shows the best and worst washing machines we've tested in terms of water usage for a 7kg machine, filled to 80% capacity.

CWatters wrote on May 6^th, 2013, 9:37am:


the cost off water seems to vary vastly around the country here in redhill its east surrey water and thames for disposal
after standing charges its around £1.87p a ton and apparently that cheap compared to the west country

Lectrician wrote on May 6^th, 2013, 5:51pm:


admittedly i dont use much water 3 years and 3 months and now approaching 100 units about 27-28 a year so my annual bill was you old monthly bill at 11x12=£132

Sandy wrote on May 31^st, 2013, 1:51pm:


you need to remember a machine without clothes in will always use a standard amount give or take a few percent as it fills to a level
once you add clothes the clothes absorb the water to a lesser or greater degree dependent on material and amount

woodsmith wrote on Jun 1^st, 2013, 8:05am:

thats interesting  


how did you find that out  

trying to washing air perhaps