SAVE WATER

    SAVE WATER

INTRODUCTION

There are three things (oxygen, water and food) without which we cannot live on the earth. But the most precious thing is oxygen, then water and food because we cannot live without oxygen even for a second. Clean water is also a most important thing as we need it in our all the daily routine activities and especially to drink.

Already the percentage of clean water was less but due to the industrial activities our clean water under the ground is getting dirty and polluted. Because of the lack of fresh mineral water everywhere, it has been started selling on the local shops for many years. And, people are ready to buy it worth 30 to 35 Rs because they know that simple tap water may not be clean especially at the public places.

Increasing rate of people’s carelessness (regarding water saving and safety) and population, it is sure that our future generations must suffer the shortage of clean water. Very less percentage of earth’s water is suitable for drinking and many people (at the place of water shortage) survive on very less water per day.

AVAILABLE CLEAN DRINKING WATER

Three-fourth of the earth is covered by water from which 97% water is ocean water means salt water and completely unfit for our consumption. Left percentage (about 2.7 per cent) is fresh drinking water however around 70% of this is available as ice sheets and glaciers in Antarctica. So, we only have one per cent of fresh water which is fit for human use.

We need to practice water conservation on urgent basis in order to make the presence of this precious resource in our life. We also need to stop contaminating the drinking water resources through direct passage of sewage, toxic chemicals and other wastes into it. Increasing rate of population, deforestation and rapid urbanization is increasing the need of clean water and leading to the water pollution and scarcity.

SOURCES MAKING CLEAN WATER DIRTY  

The sources which are polluting the underground water are land runoff, drainage, seepage, sewage, atmospheric deposition, precipitation, industrial waste, etc. Such wastes get deposited into lakes, rivers, coastal waters, wetlands, etc. and meet to the large water bodies and ground water too. Other water spoiling sources are use of excess fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, detergents, soaps, etc. from agricultural lands and residential areas. Acid drainage from abandoned mines and industries involved in making oil, grease and toxic chemicals are also involved in making water dirty and polluted. Such nonpoint sources are the leading cause of water quality problems.

SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE WAYS TO CONSERVE WATER

            There are various simple ways which we can use on daily basis and save gallons of water daily. Following are save water techniques which we must use to save water at home and other places:

v  We should use shower heads with low-flow (also called as energy-efficient shower heads), low-flush toilets and composting toilets (instead of conventional western toilets as they use large volumes of water) or dual flush toilets (it uses very less water than others).

v  Keep the tap close while doing hand wash, tooth brush, face wash, washing dishes, etc.

v  Collect rain water during rainy season to use in toilet flush, watering plants, sprinkle in garden, etc. Using raw water like sea water or non-purified water in toilet is also good.

v  We should be habitual of reusing or recycling waste water.

v  We should promote rainwater harvesting, using high-efficiency clothes washers, weather-based irrigation controllers, garden hose nozzles, low flow taps in wash basins, swimming pool covers, automatic faucet, etc for water conservation.

v  Water saving techniques should also be given priority in the commercial areas as it is a big area where gallons of water can be saved on daily basis.

v  Water saving techniques in the business areas are like waterless urinals, waterless car washes, infrared or foot-operated taps, pressurized water brooms, cooling tower conductivity controllers, water-saving steam sterilizers (in hospitals and health care units), rain water harvesting, water to water heat exchangers, etc.

v  Agriculture field is also a vast area where we can save more water on daily basis if we follow water saving techniques. We can use overhead irrigation for crop irrigation (using center-pivot or lateral-moving sprinklers), minimize evaporation, runoff or subsurface drainage, etc.

v  Use of green manures, recycling of crop residues, mulching, animal manure, etc in the field improves the soil organic matter which again increases the water holding capacity and ability to absorb water (during torrential rains) of the soil.

v  Water saving techniques is also promoted at the social and community level by the municipal water utilities or regional governments through the use of common strategies like public outreach campaigns pay higher price for increasing water use, restrictions on use of clean water for outdoor activities like lawn watering, floor cleaning, car washing, etc.

v  There should be universal metering for water supply to each home just like electricity. This facility is only available some UK households areas and urban Canadian homes. It is estimated by the US Environmental Protection Agency that water metering is an effective technique which alone can reduce water consumption by 20 to 40% on daily basis.

v  The growth of more water-efficient crops adopting less irrigation should be promoted as only crop irrigation takes around 70% of the world’s fresh water.

CONCLUSION

Water saving techniques should be promoted among people living in the societies, communities, villages including business sections as they are the main water users in rough manner. Farmers, children, and women should be taught properly about how to use and save water in efficient manner. They must understand the value of water in their life. Clean water scarcity is not a problem of one country or continent; it is a global issue which needs to be solved globally by increasing awareness about it among people worldwide.