Only areas that face low rainfall or prolonged droughts need to worry about water conservation… Any pollution in fresh water is filtered out as the water flows through the ground into the water table… And anyway, city water treatment plants do the final clean before it reaches our pipes and after it goes down the drain… what’s to worry about?
If you ever had thoughts like those above, then you need a refresher in how the global water cycle works.
agriculture and industry are the largest users of water
Today there are more people using the same amount of water as existed 100 years ago.  Water suffers from the tension between people’s multiple needs for it: as a fundamental resource for life, for transportation, and for agriculture and other industries. Your personal choices in food and manufactured products affect water supplies – Good Magazine has a great visual, click here.
Many of us don’t pay for the water we use directly. That means most of us don’t have a motivation to conserve water (why bother fixing that leaky toilet? it’s more trouble than it’s worth) – in reality, when we don’t pay for something directly, that usually means we’re paying for it indirectly. Indirect costs are always higher, because there are more people providing services (or just beauracracy) between you and the resource.
There are at least 3 processes that have to be paid for to get clean water to your tap: moving it from the source through the pipes (pumping = energy), keeping it clean and potable (chemicals and monitoring), then moving it from your drain back to the water treatment plant or directly into the local waterways (physical infrastructure; regulatory agencies; local, state, and federal laws; etc.).
The upside is that the less we use, and the cleaner it is coming into the system, the less it costs. A few things you can do today to conserve:
- Use less: fix those leaky pipes; time your shower; etc.
- Avoid bottled water
- Eat less red meat
- Keep it clean: don’t pour chemicals down any drain
Visit my website for more tips and information: www.rethinkyourworld.com
Great post! We all need to be reminded from time to time that we shouldn’t take things for granted. Enough clear clean water is one of those things. You mention that most of it goes to agriculture, which is important, but I don’t think they need to spray it into the air and lose so much to evaporation. All that energy to collect it, and pump it around is wasted. We all have a long ways to go.
Thanks for your comment – I agree that a whole lot of “environmentalism” is really just appreciating what we take for granted, and working to make sure it’s still there for us down the road.
Suzanne Drake Green Advisor cell: 415-373-7970 email: suzanne@rethinkyourworld.com web: www.rethinkyourworld.com blog: http://www.rethinkyourworld.wordpress.com twitter: GreenAdvisorSZD