The FAO has warned that within the next 20 years, two thirds of the earth's population could face serious water shortages. There's things that all of us can do to reduce our water usage.
The culprit isn't so much population growth, but poor water management practices. For example, I live in Australia - the driest inhabited continent in the world; yet we appear to be one of the leaders in water consumption per capita.
The biggest water hungry industry is agriculture. The FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations) states 70 percent of all fresh water drawn globally is for agricultural use - higher in some countries.
There's no point in laying blame solely on current farmers - we are all in this together and we as consumers fuel demand for water hungry crops such as cotton. It takes around 925 gallons to produce a single pound of cotton and over half that water is lost through evaporation or other poor water management practices. There are cotton alternatives - our job is to demand those products in conjunction with farmers improving water management practices.
I was out at a remote property a few days ago and there were a couple of old wells on the site - both totally dry and looked as though they hadn't seen water for years. When they were first dug less than a hundred years ago, it's likely that water they accessed had been at that level for many thousands of years.
At my old block of land in the outback, just prior to selling that, there was outrage in the local community that a big company had established a potato farm and consequently the ground water levels dropped across the entire region!
While there will always be X amount of water in the world, much of it will be useless or require a great deal of processing at the rate we're going - and that processing requires energy and creates by-products. Rather than us all looking towards processes such as desalination as the cure, as welcome as they are, we should see them as a sign that there's something very wrong in our approach to water.
As individuals, there's so many things we can do to lessen our water consumption - and save cash in the process too! Here's some brief tips:
- Shorter showers with less pressure
- Install a water saving shower head - under $10
- Ensuring taps, water pipes and hose connections don't drip
- Checking toilets for leaks. Use a few drops of food coloring in the cistern, wait for a while and check the bowl for signs of color - be sure to flush afterwards prevent staining.
- Buy clothing with fibers that aren't so water intensive
- Installing rainwater tanks
- Using greywater from sinks and washing machines to water the garden
- Using low water car washes
- Installing tap aerators
- Turning off the tap while brushing our teeth
- Turning off the tap while shaving
- Washing veggies in a sink partially filled with water instead of under a running tap
- Setting washing machines at the lowest possible water level for the load
- Watering gardens just after sunrise or just after sunset to reduce evaporation
- Mulching gardens to reduce watering requirements
- Installing drip irrigation systems
- Cutting grass a little longer during summer
- Reducing the temperature of water heaters which lessens the amount of mixing needed to be done in order to achieve a temperature that won't scald your skin
- Insulate water pipes
- Installing dual flush toilets or displacement devices in cisterns
- Fill a dishwasher completely before running it
- Don't use water to accelerate thawing of food
- Instead of using a sink rubbish disposal unit, establish a compost pile or worm farm
- Use drought tolerant plants in your garden and drought resistant grass for lawn
- Never use a hose to blast leaves or litter off a driveway - sweep it, it's good exercise too :)
.. and don't forget; spread these tips among your friends, neighbours and where you work. While bosses are notorious for only caring about the bottom line ($), by showing them they can save cash by decreasing water consumption; perhaps you'll get their attention!
Bear in mind that every small action when multiplied millions of times can make a huge impact. For example, if every person in America reduced consumption by 100 gallons per year, and it's not that hard to do - that would represent a saving of nearly 30 billion gallons of water annually!
Humans can go for weeks without food, but only days without water. The amazing thing is, we only need a few litres (a gallon or so) a day through our food and directly to sustain ourselves. Added that, to maintain hygeine, we only need about 25 litres (6 gallons) a day. In developed countries, we currently use 500-800 litres (125 to 200 gallons) per day per person!
