As urbanized societies of the 21st century do we even know how to conserve water?
We have been spoiled with the luxury of sewage and storm water systems in our modern times, so much that we treat them more as a given rather than as a privilege. We don’t realize the water wastage linked to these systems and how we can literally reduce this by virtue of what we put down them. Our attitude is such that we take water quality and quantity and the disposal of our wastes for granted, due to the skill of engineers responsible for maintaining these services has made us dependent that we don’t know how to conserve water properly.
With the world’s increasing population, our consumerist society, air pollution, deforestation and our poor use of land and resources, our climate is being effected through global warming which we are witnessing in the increasing severity of droughts, floods and natural disasters.
With all of this placing an increasing strain on our man made infrastructure, the time has come for a review of how to conserve water use and how we dispose of our waste.
This is a huge dilemma that impacts everyone the world over, however there are modifications that we can make to our homes that can save government and local council from having to undertake further expense by building dams which only passes further costs onto the consumer in the form of increased rates and taxes.
So what can we do?
All of our main water is purified and treated in order to make it suitable for human consumption however only approximately 1% is used for this purpose resulting in around 99% going to waste down the drain. This is the water we use to wash our dishes, our clothes ourselves and our cars with.
Another wasteful practice is the rainwater collected from our roof being piped away to the storm water system which only ends up in our surrounding oceans. Living in urban areas we make little use of this valuable resource and rather than to go to extra expense to purify more water we should conserve the water we already have.
In terms of sustainability with this precious resource, time remains a critical factor for its preservation.
As individuals we can all do our collective part, here are a few ways on how to conserve water:
1. Reduce the usage of the main drinkable water supply for cleaning purposes.
2. Each home to find ways to collect and use rainwater efficiently.
3. Each home to find and implement ways of re-using some or all of its grey water.
How you can start to conserve your water usage especially during the summer months is to reduce the amount of drinkable water you use for gardening. Did you know that gardening and car washing are the two most wasteful pure water using activities?, not to mention that these are luxuries. Why not opt to use grey water instead?, this is the water collected from the sink run off and from your washing machine.
Toilets, baths and showers are the most water consumptive practices indoors, however with a little self discipline we can greatly reduce the amount that goes down the drain with a little forethought and consideration.
How to conserve water by using more efficient versions of our current plumbing such as water efficient showerheads, clothes washers, dishwashers and garden irrigation systems.
Unless you plan on purchasing a more environmentally friendly appliance you shouldn’t throw away your current one just because it’s a slightly older model making this counterproductive when you take into consideration the resources and energy required to create the product in the first place. You can however use your current model more wisely by washing more with cold water, washing full loads and by collecting the grey water runoff for recycle.
These are just a few ways on how to conserve water, doing your part can see this precious resource last for generations to come.
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