Let off sparkling firecrackers, we say farewell to the old year. Put up festive couplets, we embrace the arrival of the new spring. Chinese New Year is around the corner. It is time for every household to do the grand year-end house cleaning, especially for items that are rarely cleaned, such as the cooker hood, or the screen window. It can be quite a headache trying to remove dust and dirt accumulated from the past year. It also means the water consumption is heavily increased during this period. On top of that, last year (2020), Taiwan set an unprecedented record since 1964. There was zero typhoon during the wet season to bring plentiful rain. Water level continued to drop at every reservoir all around Taiwan. Therefore, Water Resources Agency would like to share some tips for your year-end house cleaning, for an effortless, a cleaner and a more water-conserving cleaning experience.
To welcome Chinese New Year holiday, it is commonly considered main priorities to clean the kitchen, bathrooms, glass surfaces, and floors during year-end house cleaning. We recommend wiping instead of hosing. Always dust before damp wipe to lower the frequency of repetitive wiping. As for used laundry water, it can be collected for the purposes of mopping, floor wiping, as well as toilet flushing. Furthermore, there are some easy methods to be used in our daily life. For example, choose baking soda over detergent for cleaning. Its high detergency and low residual characteristic make it a better water-conserving alternative than chemical detergent. Meanwhile, set a water-consuming quota for cleaning. Distinguish areas such as living room, kitchen, and bathroom, then assign only one bucket of water for each area. By meeting the quota, it will eventually help save a lot of water. Finally, while house cleaning consumes incredible amount of water, install water saving devices and witness the amazing result of 50% of water use decrease.
Although the current water regime is not the most favorable, the government has carried out several water-conserving contingency plans to ensure a stable water supply during Chinese New Year. Here is a friendly reminder from Water Resources Agency: Please avoid water-consuming peak hours during house cleaning. Cherish insubstantial water resource at our best. As celebrating a prosperous and healthy new year, let us conserve water together!