I was excited to see these little units for sale at Bunnings a couple of weeks back. The Pump Pod is an all in one rainwater storage barrel with built in pump and hose connections. Hook it up to one of your downpipes then use the stored water to water the garden or wash the car.

Wikihow has one of the simplest step by step instructions on how to reduce the amount of water you use when you flush the toilet. Even a monkey could follow this one. It's as simple as grabbing a plastic bottle, such as a used water bottle, refilling it with water and placing in your toilet cistern. Simple. If you would like the pictorial instruction, here it is!

The Canadian design Brac Grey Water recycling system takes grey water run off from your bath, shower and laundy and stores this water for use in flushing your toilet.  Why flush perfectly clean water down the drain when you can use grey water, it's an incredible waste of a precious resource.  IMO, These kinds of grey water recycling systems should be be made mandatory in all new homes.

Not sure if the Brac units are available in Australia yet , but there's plenty of other Australian grey water solutions around.

With Christmas just around the corner, it's time to look at some great water saving gifts.  Nico has an awesome range of eco friendly product on offer through their online store so below are a number of water saving products on offer from Neco.

The Home Water Saver Pack ($153.30)
The home water saver pack includes the following :

• water saving digital shower timer
• collapsible shower bucket
• control flush cistern converter
• water saving kitchen nozzle
• luxury water saver shower kit

Super Drought Blaster Pack ($149.95)
The super drought blaster pack includes the following:

• Mini Hourglass Shower Timer
• Collapsible shower bucket
• Rainmaker 3 Star Showerhead
  
• Cistern Converter
• Kitchen Water Saver
• Lenny Water Diverter

Shower Timers (from $3.95)
Something small for the water conscious Christmas stocking.  Pick up a shower timer from $3.95.

Rain Tap - Rainwater gutter diverter ($29.95)
Something for Dad perhaps, this simple device diverts rainwater from your gutters to the garden. The water that is normally wasted goes onto your lawn, borders or to a rainwater tank for use later.

Gardening Australia has a great fact sheet on drought tolerant plants for the Australian garden environment.  Some of the plants they recommend include:

• A wattle Acacia cognata.
• A native grass called Lomandra ‘Seascape’.
• Coastal Rosemary, Westringia fruticosa.
• Dwarf Sacred Japanese Bamboo
• Pelargonium peltatum, the ivy leafed pelargonium.

For the full fact sheet, see Gardening Australia's - Drought Tolerant Plants.

Savewater.com.au is currently running 3 surveys which ask questions about your knowledge of water use, water saving habits and your views on the proposed Victorian desalination plant. Filling in the surveys will put you in the running to win one of a range of water saving products including:

• BlueScope Water WATERPOINT rainwater tank package (valued at $3,260)
• Quantum Solar Heatpump (valued at $3,500)
• New Water Rain Reviva rainwater storage system (valued at $2,645)
• Waterwise Systems Greywater Gardener 230 DIY Kit (valued at $2, 987)
• Asko Washing Machine Model W6222 (valued at $1,799)
• Downpour 2,100 litre MiniOrb Poly Tank (valued at $1,675)
• Davey Rainbank System including KRB50 pump (valued at $1,040)
• Whirlpool WFS1072AW 7.5 kg Front Load Washer (valued at $949)
• Dux ReadyHot (Retrofit) Standard Size system ringmain (valued at $999)
• Just Water Solutions Grey Water Gator (valued at $495)

To be in the running all you need to do is fill in the Save Water surveys available on the savewater website.

Neco, the online eco shop, is selling a great little product to help you save water in the shower. The Every Drop Shower Saver is a lever which can be easily fitted to the base of the shower head which gives you the ability to switch on and off the water while maintaining the water temperature. This would make the perfect gift for the avid water saver.

You can purchase the Every Drop Shower Saver on Neco's online shopping cart.

City West Water has produced a e-book titled Gardening to save water. The booklet, available on their website, gives you all kinds of water saving tips and water saving ideas to help you save water in the garden. The booklet covers the following topics:

• Garden Watering tips
• Garden Design Tips
• Soil improvement tips
• Compost and mulch tips
• Greywater use on the garden
• low water use plants
• lawn and alternatives

This Gardening to Save Water e-book is a free download at the City West Water website.

Here's a 3 minute video from Retriever Communications, in cooperation with Sydney Water, on the benefits of using a field inspection program called the Love Your Garden program. The campaign is aiming to help Sydney siders reduce the amount of water wasted on gardens. View the Love Your Garden video.

From the 19th to the 21st of October Victorian residence can take their old water wasting shower heads into the exhibition center and exchange them for low flow water saving shower heads. All you need to do is take along your old shower head together with a copy of your water bill and you will receive a free water saving shower head! No theres no excuses not to replace you old one.

See the Free shower head exchange program on the Save Water website for details.