Most of us are quite insensitive when it comes to saving water. It may seem quite easy for you to let the water run from your tap and leave it running while brushing your teeth or face. But this nonchalant behavior towards wasting water has serious consequences for the environment and human life. Although apparently water appears to be abundant, the resources for potable water are limited and making it drinkable uses a lot of energy.
A very small portion of Earth’s water is fresh water and less than one percent of that water is fit for human use. It is therefore very crucial to save water otherwise we might face disruptions in our supply of food and clean water. In the year 2014, California faced its worst drought in 500 years. Several towns in California faced sever scarcity of water and the dry conditions caused reservoirs to dry up, igniting wild fires. Conditions like these are not only restricted to the state of California, it has marked its presence in other parts of the world as well.
If we fail to conserve water a growing number of people will struggle to find potable water so it is our moral duty to conserve as much water as we can. Having all that said and done let us check how we can save water. Here are some helpful tips:
- Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth: If you can turn off the tap while brushing your teeth it can save at least 6 liters of water per minute.
- Put a cistern displacement device in your toilet cistern: This can help to reduce the volume of water used in each flush.
- Take a shorter shower: You might not be aware of that showers can consume anything between 6 to 45 liters of water per minute. If you want to save some water you can consider getting an aerated shower that combines both water and air. Otherwise you may also insert a regulator in the shower which can control the flow of water.
- Use full loads in your washing machine and dishwasher: Using full loads in your washing machine or dishwasher can cut down the unnecessary washes in between. This can help you conserve a good amount of water every day.
- Fix your dripping tap: Dripping taps are not only annoying it also contributes to a large amount of water being wasted every day. Make sure that you fix your dripping tap to save as much water as you can.
- Water your garden with a watering pot: Try to use a watering pot instead of a hose pipe. Hosepipes use around 1000 liters of water an hour. Deep soak your lawn so that the water reaches the roots, otherwise the water will sit on the surface and will evaporate easily. Water your lawn when it is required don’t just take a water pot or a hosepipe to sprinkle water, it not only amounts to wastage of water but also is not good for your lawn. Put layers of mulch around trees and plants to slower the rate of evaporation.
- Check out for leaks in pipes and faucets: These kinds of leaks go unnoticed as they do not mess up the floor or disturbs your sleep. However, they can be more wasteful than the leaks inside your house and since we have a tendency to overlook them the results are quite alarming.
- Don’t let the water run for rinsing while washing your dishes: If you are not using a dishwasher, then try to gather all your dishes and rinse them quickly with a spray device or a pan of water.
- Don’t let the faucet run while cleaning your vegetables: Try to rinse your vegetables in a bowl or sink filled with clean water instead of rinsing your vegetables under a faucet.
- Keep the bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator: This practice will help you to stop the wasteful practice of running tap water to cool for drinking.
Water is important to us. Scarcity of water means less available water for drinking. Decline of water supplies can also result in lesser availability of water for irrigation and can threaten ecosystems worldwide. So use water wisely otherwise we might find ourselves in a situation where we might not have enough water to do our daily chores.
