WATER -Why do we need to save it?
Water is vital for all life forms. In the UK we now use
70% more water than we did 30 years ago and our consumption increases
by 1% a year, which means on average we use 150 litres per person per
day. We therefore face the prospect of running out of sustainable water
supplies in the not so distant future, unless we use water more sensibly.
It is only when we see our reservoirs at dangerously low levels, as we
did in 2005, that we realize our supplies are not limitless and, in addition,
have an inkling of the problems of supply facing people, usually women,
in many parts of the developing world. This also has implications for
inter-nation security. Professor Paul Rogers (Peace Studies - Bradford
University) says "in the same way as recent wars have been about
oil, future resource wars will be about water". The picture that
stills haunts me is of the African woman having to leave her young children,
including one that was sick, in order, three times a week, to make a 9
mile trek to the nearest water source - the local river.
There are larger schemes for reducing the amount of water we use. These
include installing a water metre, for free (which we have not yet done!)
which will benefit most smaller households and installing a system to
use 'grey' water from showers, baths and washing machines to flush toilets
or water the garden. Less high tech is to install a water butt for watering
the garden. In this area rain water benefits ericaceous plants such as
heathers.
However it is the small daily water saving devices that we can all consider
which collectively can make a difference. Tips from parish magazine readers
would be most welcome. Here are a few ideas to start with-many of which
will already be incorporated into people's daily routines
1 Only put the required amount of water in the kettle - this saves energy
as well.
2 Remember that in half an hour a garden sprinkler can use as much water
as a family of four in a day. Also that using a hose to wash a car can
use up to 300 litres, the equivalent of 33 buckets of water.
3 Fix leaking taps and (Jon please note) garden
hoses. London Water are now building a water desalination plant for times
of high demand. It has been pointed out they could produce the extra water
needed by fixing all their leaking pipes, and, even encouraging their
customers to use less water!
4 Keep a small watering can by the sink to take the remnants of drinking
water, before the glasses or mugs are put in the washing-up machine, which
can then be used to water indoor plants.
5 Consider changing a much loved power shower said to use 120 litres in
5 minutes as compared to 35 litres of an ordinary shower head - something
we have yet to do. However putting the plug in the bath, if it forms the
shower base, has been recommended to wash your feet or to then use the
water to wash personal items such as tights or woollens.
6 You might not yet feel quite like acting out the rhyming tip: 'If its
yellow let it mellow. If its brown flush it down' but either installing
a dual flush system or fitting a hippo bag in the cistern will reduce
the amount of 'good quality drinking water' being flushed down the toilet.
Finally do share any further ideas or tips for saving water in the home.
Jill Vogler
