By Helen Le Caplain
November 28 2019, 12.10
Follow @SW_Londoner
Environmentally ‘woke’ millennials are failing to practice what they preach – with a third waiting more than a WEEK to fix plumbing problems and wasting millions of gallons of water.
Research revealed that baby boomers are the most proactive in repairing issues compared to their Gen-Z and Millennial counterparts – stopping huge amounts of wasted water.
The survey of 2,000 adults found that more than half (55%) of over 55s would get a dripping tap fixed in a day, as would half (48.4%) of 45-54 year olds.
But nearly a third of 18-24 (28.7%) and 25-34 year olds (32.9%) would wait more than a week to fix it – wasting the equivalent of 168 litres of water.
The research by Water Regulation Advisory Scheme (WRAS) revealed that baby boomers are the most proactive overall when it comes to getting common plumbing problems repaired sooner rather than later.
When asked how long they’d wait to repair issues such as dripping taps, leaking toilets, blocked toilets and banging pipes, the majority of over 55s were prepared to get them fixed in a day or a few days.
It was 25-34 year olds that seemed to show more reluctance to get them fixed with nearly one in ten (7%) admitting to waiting more than a week to repair a blocked toilet, compared to less than 1% of over 55s.
The WRAS survey also found that just one in 10 over 55s would leave a leaky loo for four days or more, which can waste up to 400 litres of water per day.
This is in stark contrast to more than a third (39%) of 25-34 year olds who would do the same.
The wasted water is enough to supply 2.8 million people – the populations of Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool and Bristol combined.
Julie Spinks, managing director of WRAS, said: “The longer a plumbing problem is left, the more water it can waste.
“Neglecting simple steps like repairing leaks quickly, can have a huge impact on our homes and pockets but we all have a duty, regardless of age, to use water more wisely and consider the impact we have on the environment.
“When a plumbing problem first arises, a quick call to a local approved plumber can not only give you peace of mind but also help ease the burden on the environment.”
Feature image credit: Yu Morita from Flikr.
