This week sees the 100^th anniversary of the death of Thomas Crapper, inventor of the ballcock (not of the flushing toilet as is often believed). The flushing loo was invented around 250 years before Thomas Crapper was born but, nonetheless, the ironically named plumber was hugely influential in bringing sanitation to the masses and so helping reduce the high levels of disease.

Nowadays, toilet flushing accounts for one third of the water the average person in the UK uses each day. Non-dual flush loos use 14 litres for each flush and with the average family of four flushing the loo 15 times a day, that’s 210 litres of water going down the toilet each day.

If you don’t fancy following the ‘if it’s yellow, let it mellow’ philosophy, you can still reduce the amount of water flushed each time, and without going to the trouble of changing your toilet. Save-a-flush and Hippos (a nifty device, not the semi-aquatic mammal) are available from most water companies, check out your provider’s website to see how to get yours.

You may be surprised to know that two out of every 1,000 UK households still use an outdoor loo. You never know, you might find that fact useful in a pub quiz one day...