Water is a scarce, precious and indispensable resource that we use without measure on a daily basis. Without it, life on our planet would be impossible. All living things need water.
Water covers 72% of the 509 million km2 of the Earth's surface. 97.2% of the water on our planet is salty, which means that freshwater represents 2.8% of the total water on the globe. Of this small percentage, we have polar ice which accounts for 2.1% and therefore our available freshwater is 0.7%. This is not overwhelming information, but it is sobering data about our consumption of freshwater.
Today, water has become a blue gold, threatened and unequally distributed. 11% of the world's population does not have access to drinking water. Knowing this scarcity of water, it is important tobe attentive to its consumption in order to save and protect this threatened resource. In this article, we propose simple solutions to preserve water. But first, here is a video about the water cycle.
How does the water cycle work?
Saving water starts in our homes, from hunting to watering the lawns, from the kitchen to the bathroom to washing the car. The average annual consumption of drinking water per French inhabitant is 53.4 m3, or 146 litres per day.
Avoid running water
By not running water unnecessarily when washing vegetables, doing the dishes or having a picnic, several litres of water are saved and the water bill is also reduced.
- For vegetables, put them in basins for washing and rinsing. The waste water from the vegetables will not be thrown away, it can be used for watering plants for example.
- When you have dishes to wash. The dishwasher should only be turned on when it is full. If you don't have a machine, you can lather up the water in a basin or block the sink drain to lather up the water, wash all the dishes and then prepare unsoapy water as in the first procedure to rinse the dishes.
- In the bathroom, turn off the tap when brushing your teeth, shampooing or lathering your hands during hand washing.
Rainwater harvesting
Drinking water or non-drinking water is all good for feeding plants.
For watering plants (and the lawn) and washing cars, it would be interesting to use rainwater collected through a connection from the gutters to a tank (or barrel) designed for this purpose. Remember to install the container in a place where the water does not freeze when it is cold and does not evaporate when it is hot.
Beware of water leaks
It is important to check water meters regularly for water leaks. To find out how to read a water meter, go to here