Why is Water Conservation So Important?
Less than 2% of the world’s water supply is suitable for drinking; conservation is paramount to the preservation of the earth’s existing drinking water supply. Also, Southern California’s population continues to grow, but its water supply doesn’t. By conserving water you can preserve one of earth s most natural resources while at the same time saving money. WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT? 1. Lawns – Water your lawn only when it needs it and adjust your sprinklers so that water lands on the lawn and not on the sidewalk. This will save up to 1,700 gallons per month. For more information on Smart Gardening click on http://www.smartgardening.com 2. Showers – Install water saving showerheads and shorten your showers. Even if you shorten your showers by only 1-2 minutes, you can still save up to 1,500 gallons per month. Take a shower instead of a bath. The average bath, half full of water, uses around 20 gallons of water. However, an average length shower only uses about 13 gallons. 3. Toilets – Ins
Less than 2% of the world’s water supply is suitable for drinking; conservation is paramount to the preservation of the earth’s existing drinking water supply. Also, Southern California’s population continues to grow, but its water supply doesn’t. By conserving water you can preserve one of earth’s most natural resources while at the same time saving money. WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT? • Lawns – Water your lawn only when it needs it and adjust your sprinklers so that water lands on the lawn and not on the sidewalk. This will save up to 1,700 gallons per month. For more information on Smart Gardening click on http://www.smartgardening.com • Showers – Install water saving showerheads and shorten your showers. Even if you shorten your showers by only 1-2 minutes, you can still save up to 1,500 gallons per month. Take a shower instead of a bath. The average bath, half full of water, uses around 20 gallons of water. However, an average length shower only uses about 13 gallons. • Toilets – Instal
Water is our most essential natural resourcewe cannot survive without it. Yet for years we have been treating our water sources as garbage disposals by dumping toxic waste, chemicals, pesticides, and even sewage water into our pristine waterways. According to a recent report on water quality in the United States, 45% of assessed stream miles, 47% of lake acres, and 32% of bay and estuarine square miles were so contaminated that they could not even be used for fishing and swimming (EPA). Now population growth, droughts, industrial and agricultural demands, dams & diversion projects, and other factors have begun to dry up many of our water sources. Rivers are running dry, aquifer levels are decreasing faster than they are replenished, and many cities are struggling to provide water. According to the EPA, a recent US government survey revealed that at least 36 states are anticipating local, regional, or statewide water shortages by 2013. We continue to use the limited fresh drinking water
Because a safe and secure supply of water is no longer the “sure thing” it may have been just a few years ago. While demand for water is on the rise, pollution, declining water tables, and prolonged drought conditions are shrinking the usable supply. We need to reassess our attitudes about water, and water conservation. We use water everyday at home and at work in so many situations that we take it pretty much for granted. Water passes through our households, cooking our food, bathing us, washing our clothes, watering our lawns and carrying away the various by-products of our day-to-day lives. We return it to the environment, often to the same body of water it came from, usually in a much poorer state. When we understand how water cycles through the environment, we begin to appreciate the significant role we can play in improving the quality and protecting the quantity of our water resource, by practising some basic rules of conservation.
