Conserve and Use Less Fresh Water
Environmental studies conclude that we need to conserve our water supplies now. Finding fresh water is getting harder when you consider that 99.5% of all fresh water is found in icecaps and glaciers.
There are more people on the planet, which requires more water for sustaining life. This extremely large population creates a lot of waste, some of which ends up polluting rivers, lakes, and streams. Companies and manufacturers that dump hazardous waste into our water make the problem even worse.
Each year, 40 million acres of tropical rainforests, which is an area larger than California, are destroyed through logging or burning. The water in your home is created from rivers and reservoirs. The more water you consume, the higher the probability that some beautiful valley will be flooded by a reservoir, or another river might begin to run dry up, killing the wildlife in and around it. That's why it's so important to conserve the water that we have! We all remember what happened in Atlanta GA in 2007. The city was absolutely desperate for water because of the drought! The other bad part about wasting water, is that sewage systems have a hard time keeping up with it. Accidental overflows of sewage can seriously pollute water and land resources. What Pollutes Our Water?There are many, many sources of water pollution, some of which may surprise you. We usually think of huge pipes dumping industrial waste into rivers, but only 10 percent of water pollution comes from industrial dumping. To fully understand what pollutes water, it is first important to understand where your drinking water comes from. Nearly half of all Americans and 3/4ths of people who live in cities get their water from underground sources. Underground water picks up whatever they pass through. Rainwater and melted snow run off of parking lots, rooftops, streets, and farms, and carry with them many deadly substances they’ve picked up along the way. During a storm pollutants are washed into rivers and streams. Once they get into the water cycle, they are very hard to eliminate. One big source of pollution is found in the farming industry. Farming uses about 2/3rds of all water in the United States. Every year, millions of pounds of pesticides and fertilizers run off of farmland and contaminate the environment, which includes the land and water supply. So many insecticides and pesticides are used now to kill debilitating insects that they have now become part of our food chain. You can’t rinse them off. These dangerous chemicals have gotten into the ground and are consumed by the plants along with the water. The end result is that these chemicals have now become part of the plant and whatever the plant produces. When you look at the vast amounts of vegetables and fruits in a superstore, you begin to wonder how many chemicals these fresh items actually contain. How Much Do You Use?It is difficult to imagine how much water is used in your home every day. Here are some estimates: 1 toilet flush - - - - - - - - 3.5-7 gallonsIf for example, you flush your toilet 6 times a day, that's 15,300 gallons a year per person. Try to figure out approximately how many gallons of water you use in your home. If you have a typical four-member family, each member of your household uses about 80 gallons of water a day. That’s 29, 200 gallons a year per person. That's a lot of water! The less we use and the more we conserve, the better it will be for the environment. Tips to Conserve Fresh Water and Save Money!Drinking Water - Find more ways to get healthy!
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