Nearly 4 billion litres of water will be wasted this weekend as more than a quarter of people in the UK will be filling up paddling pools, according to recent polling by an environmental group.

Argos has reported its biggest week ever for paddling pool sales as families keen to cool off in the garden bought an average of 15 every minute last week. The retailer sold around 154,000 pools with a water capacity of 210 million litres – equivalent to 84 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

This trend for super-sized paddling pools will see an estimated extra 3.9 billion litres of water going down the drain this weekend according to Hubbub. They state that the average pool now needs 530 litres of water to be filled – more than three times the daily amount of water usually needed by one person. 

Hubbub shared the following advice for enjoying water in your garden in a less wasteful manner: don’t fill the pool up to the top; don’t drain it every night if you can cover it and use a water-sterilising tablet (taking care to keep kids away from any chemicals); instead of a pool, why not play with buckets and sponges to soak and throw around; have a water fight with water pistols; or head to the beach or a local pool.

Northern Ireland Water has already implemented a hosepipe ban and water companies are urging customers to cut down their usage. So if you’re keen to cut down on water wastage in other ways check out our guide to doing so while still keeping yourself and your garden refreshed.