How to Ensure Water Sustainability at Home
What makes Earth standout amongst all the other celestial bodies in space is an abundance of the water resource. Even though our planet is surrounded by water and that water covers about 71 percent of the Earth's surface , only 3% of it is available as a freshwater resource and only 1% of it is accessible for our daily usage.
With an ever-increasing number of regions that are battling with dry spells and water shortages, conserving water has become more important than ever. Conserving water not only helps to reduce utility bills but also helps conserve the environment.
Whether you plan to get a water well drilled or are thinking of cutting down the duration of your showers, there are many big and small ways through which you can contribute in conserving water.
Turn Off the Tap When Not in Use
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On average, about 2.5 gallons of water per minute is wasted when you keep the faucet running while you brush your teeth, shave, wash your face or scrub your hands. Do you actually need the water to run while you’re scrubbing your hands? Turn off the faucet and save a few gallons of water the next time your brush or rinse.
Take Shorter Showers
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There is nothing like a hot shower to fire you up after a long and exhausting day, however, no matter how pleasurable as they are, they do come at a cost. A few extra minutes in a hot shower wastes lots of water. These long showers waste 4 times the amount of water as much as a 3-5-minute shower would do.
Also, never brush your teeth while taking a shower. That is wasting gallons of water for several minutes while you stand still brushing your teeth. These two tasks should be done separately in order to conserve and save water.
Keep an Eye for Plumbing Leaks
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Keeping a close eye on the utility bills can help to identify whether there are plumbing leaks or not. If your water bills are high and you have done everything to keep your water consumption at low, then there is a chance you might be suffering plumbing leaks.
Tighten your pipes and talk to your plumbing company to check for hidden leaks in order to ensure that there are no water leakages. A single drop of water per minute is almost 53 gallons of water wasted per year
Use a Bowl
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Rather than running the water every time you have to rinse the razor, use a bowl filled with a little water to wash the razor instead.
Similarly, the same idea can be applied when brushing. Using a bowl filled with water would be a lot more effective in conserving water, rather than running the tap every time you feel that you need to rinse.
Store Rain Water
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Harvesting Rainwater for domestic consumption can be a great way to consume and save water. Rather than letting the rainwater go down the drain, it can be diverted and stored in a barrel, which later can be used accordingly. It is also a great way to hydrate your plants without using sprinklers or a hose.
Use Sprinklers Wisely
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Keeping an eye on the weather forecast can help deter the wastage of water. If you don’t have a rain sensor installed, then you have to check for rain and make sure you shut off the water.
Also, frequent inspections of sprinklers and its usage can help deter wastage of water. Like for example, during the summers, it is advisable to water the plants early in the morning or late in the evening, as cooler mornings and evenings means losing less water to evaporation.
Reuse the Water for Gardening
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Rather than washing fruits and vegetables in running tap water, it would be ideal if we use a bowl to rinse them. Since the water isn’t feasible for drinking or cooking purposes we can use it to hydrate the plants.
Plant Wisely
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Seeds and young sapling require more water to grow and mature so planting during a dry season would mean that they would require more water from external sources rather than relying on the rain. So plan ahead and plant during a rainy season.
Getting rid of water-hogging foreign trees and plants which are not acclimated to the local weather and rainfall can drastically cut down the excess need of water and help you to conserve it.
Secondly, strategically grouping all the regularly water plants together and the drought tolerant ones together can also prevent the plants from being over or under watered.
Water is life. Growing pressure on water resources – from population and economic growth, climate change, pollution, and other challenges has a direct impact on our environment and our well being. About 780 million people around the globe still lack access to adequate quality drinking water and thousands die daily because of the lack of it, and the blame lies on our ineffective management and wasteful use of it.
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