Households in the UK waste a massive 68m a year by overfilling kettles and letting taps run for too long, according to a new report. The Energy Saving Trust says that 75 percent of householders boil more water than they need, costing 68m a year in energy bills. It has also revealed that households use nine billion litres of water every day, with showers using a quarter of the total. More than nine in ten people boil a kettle every day and four in ten boil water five times a day or more. Andrew Tucker, water strategy manager at Energy Saving Trust (EST), said Its all too easy to turn on the tap and not think about the consequences. But there is an environmental and energy cost attached to water which many people do not consider. On average, hot water use contributes 228 to the average annual combined energy bill. The survey of 86,000 homes revealed that showers, on average, last seven and a half minutes. Reducing this time by just one minute would save households an annual 215m on energy bills. A fifth of household water is used by kitchen appliances such as, taps, kettles, dishwashers and washing machines. Customers can save money by not running taps longer than absolutely necessary, taking shorter showers and installing instant boiling water taps that prevent the overfilling and use of kettles. If you dislike spending too much time at the kitchen sink, it is also worth knowing that dishwashers are generally more efficient than washing dishes by hand.