Water-saving tip of the week: Watering the garden

With the summer weather, the consumption of drinking water increases again. At the same time, the rainfall required for vegetation fails to materialize. Even the rainfall in winter and spring was not sufficient to significantly increase the groundwater reserves after several dry years. Even if it does rain now, the roots of the plants - unlike during the winter dormant phase - immediately draw the urgently needed rainwater from the soil. And those who help by watering the plants further increase consumption. For these reasons, the groundwater situation and therefore the drinking water supply in the Rhine-Main conurbation remains strained. The newly introduced drinking water traffic light of the water supplier ZWO is yellow. The city is therefore asking the population to use drinking water particularly sparingly.

Valuable drinking water can often be saved with simple measures in various areas of the household. From now on, the city of Offenbach will regularly publish tips for everyday life in a small series. Today it's all about watering the garden. There is no need to use precious drinking water for watering. It is better to collect rainwater - either in traditional rain barrels or in underground cisterns. But it's even easier: if you wash vegetables, for example, you can collect the used water in a bowl and use it to water the garden. To prevent the water from evaporating immediately after watering, it is best to water in the evening. It is also a good idea to cover the soil with mulch to protect it from drying out. Daily watering of the lawn should be avoided altogether. Brown lawns turn green again after a few days of rain.