By: Julianne Boulton
This year too, World Water Day was celebrated on the 22nd of March with many national and international events. The aim of World Water Day is to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and how to conserve water. This is a timely need as “water crisis” was identified as the third most concerning global risk in the recently published Global Risk Report 2014. The good news is that you don’t have to join a massive global event to save water; you can start right at home.
The best place to start is probably just by using only the amount of water that you really need. You should never under-estimate the power of closing the tap when you are brushing your teeth or shaving because it can save around 8 gallons of water! Fixing leaks around the house is another easy way to save water. A leak can waste around 200 gallons of water per day.
Letting the ground soak in as much rainwater as possible is another way to maximize water efficiency. You can increase the amount that is soaked-in by using Mulch (a layer of organic material like leaves, aged wood chips, or grass clippings that you spread around your plants), compost and pervious surfaces such as porous pavement. You can also collect rainwater for later use. Collected rainwater is ideal for gardening purposes and to wash your car. It is possible to collect about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months.
Toilets account for almost 30 per cent of domestic water consumption. Replacing older toilets with new WaterSense labelled toilets not only save water but can also save a family of four around $2,000 in water bills over the lifetime of the toilets. Composting toilets which require little to no water are another option. Although they may not sound very appealing to some at first, more than 30 years of technological advances have enabled them to be constructed to look and feel like a regular toilet.
There are many simple things that you can do to reduce water consumption in and around your house. All figures mentioned can be found here. You can use this as well as many other freely available online sources to explore your options further. By incorporating small modifications into the way you use water to conserve water at home, you are in fact responding to a current global need.