If we can't do without water change, then at least maximise re-use of the changed water. Our tank water is almost perfect for watering plants... it has left over fertilisers. Especially nice for plants that do not root in soil, like orchids.
Other possibilities:
1. Hook up to hydroponics system and grow veggies. Spend less on veggies. Excess can be sold too.
2. "Down grade" to a slow grow, low fish-load planted tank. Less water change, less electricity too.
I have a 6 footer planted tank. About 600 litres. Weekly water change is about 150 litres, which adds up to 600 litres in a month. I keep about 55 litres each time for watering plants. Slightly related, we have a alkaline water filter (for drinking) at home. All acidic water runoff is kept for light flushing of our toilets.
For those who want to keep water, I recommend the IKEA Filur bin with lid (
http://www.ikea.com/sg/en/catalog/pr...337/#/40188335). Comes in 3 sizes. I use two of the 28 litre ones which fit perfectly inside the IKEA ÄPPLARÖ outdoor storage bench (
http://www.ikea.com/sg/en/catalog/products/50204924/). Just fold the flexible bottom to the side and the bins sit nicely on the floor. The lid of the bins keep mosquitoes out, but are easy to flip open to scoop water. The rectangular shape maximise space usage and makes it easy to fit anywhere.
Anyway, I looked up the numbers for our water consumption and I'll share my findings here.
To keep things simple, I'm using the numbers for 3-room HDB and apartments. These two groups form a large part of households in Singapore for this rough exercise.
3-room HDB and apartments (I assume it refers to condos and ECs) average monthly water usage in Jan 2017 (
http://www.singaporepower.com.sg/irj...4-de464caacd39) is about 13 cubic meters (m3). 4-room HDB households use about 17m3. For reference, 1m3 is 1000 litres (L).
The price change is nicely summarised in this infographic (below) on this page:
https://www.pub.gov.sg/watersupply/waterprice
Before the price hike, 13m3 will cost roughly $27.
After the full price hike, it will be roughly $36. So a absolute hike of about $10 per month.
My tank water change per month, 600L or 0.6m3 translate to roughly $1.70.
Nevertheless, we should conserve water for the sake of water conservation, not just because of price.
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