Clean drinking water is rapidly becoming a limited resource. It already is in many areas. Not just in the dry, desert Southwest.The EPA reported in 2008 that nearly every region in the US had experienced water shortages in the preceding 5 years. The EPA also stated, that 36 States will be experiencing local, regional or state-wide water shortages by the year 2013, even under non-drought conditions. These shortages are due to groundwater being used at a rate that exceeds the rate at which it is being replenished and to municipal drinking water systems that are at capacity. Many towns already enforced limited outdoor watering for lawns and gardens. Huge amounts of water are being used to support our lifestyle. Below is a table giving examples of how much water is used to grow and make food, clothing, paper.
The above data is compiled from Waterfootprint.org a great educational resource on water.
Every day we consume hundreds of gallons of water without being aware of it, because we do not see that water. Water conservation can and must include the water used for making our food and producing, fabricating all the daily items we buy, use for a short while and then throw away. Awareness is the first step. Then we can start to change our consuming habits. Recycling paper takes on a new meaning: not only will we reduce the amount of trees that are cut down, we will hugely impact the amount of water used. That old T-shirt can maybe serve us another summer for yard work, before we bring it to the cloth recycling center. Several hundreds of gallons of water can be conserved. Do I really need a 16-oz. steak for dinner, considering I already had 2 eggs for breakfast (at 53 gallons of water each) and a ham sandwich for lunch (1 pound of pork=576 gallons of water)?
Millions of gallons of precious water are also wasted by irrigation. Many irrigation systems, both industrial-agricultural and residential, still can be seen in operation in the middle of the day, with the sun beating down, when most of the water will evaporate before it ever reaches the roots of the plants. Many homeowners over-water their lawns, wasting water and ending up with weak plants, that have shallow roots. Having a lush green lawn in an arid climate is also very questionable.
Water, especially clean drinking water, is essential for our survival. We must start conserving this precious resource and make sure that all people and animals on Earth have access to clean drinking water. What we each do as individuals has a huge impact. We can make daily choices as to where and how we conserve water.
