| Fresh Water Supplies At Risk, Part 4: Water Conservation |
| Friday, 15 July 2011 | John Potter | Article |
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Conservation means protecting and preserving, not wasting—but it doesn't necessarily mean going without. Asceticism is an effective method of conserving, but the general population is unlikely to embrace that approach. Smaller steps and better, less-invasive methods are more likely to be accepted en masse. In places such as Las Vegas and most of Florida, freshwater resources have always been limited. Now they are spread even thinner under the stress of booming populations, extravagant lifestyles and public policy that hasn't changed to accommodate the new conditions. There are two obvious methods of conserving water in these types of places (and any other for that matter): stop wasting water and use what is available more efficiently. Water is squandered constantly—everything from a leaky hose to a sprinkler that inadvertently waters the street. A household that regularly waters its lawn uses over a third of its water supply for that purpose. Inappropriate landscaping and lawn care can only increase this. Either xeriscaping or letting a lawn suffer through a drought can save significant amounts. For those who aren’t willing to give up a lush lawn despite an inappropriate climate and inhospitable weather, watering yourself with a hose—rather than relying on an automatic sprinkler—is better. It generally uses a third less water. A drip irrigation system is best—cutting use by as much as 50%. Irrigation systems can be made more efficient through the use of rain or soil-moisture sensors and there is no reason why rainwater or graywater cannot be used for irrigation as well. The average household uses indoor water for showers at a volume of seven to 10 gallons per minute, clothes washers at 60 gallons per full load, toilets at five to seven gallons per flush and dishwashers at 15 gallons per load. All of these numbers can be reduced by upgrading plumbing and/or appliances. Imagine five to seven gallons of milk every time you flush the toilet. It's remarkable that such an inefficient appliance was ever developed. By federal mandate, new toilets sold in the United States use less than two gallons per flush. Most of us cannot afford to gut our homes to make them more efficient overnight, but when the time comes to replace an aged or broken appliance, it's an opportunity for us to do some research and make responsible decisions that are good both for the environment and reducing our utility bills. Water conservation isn’t just personal a personal matter. Many crucial decisions are made on the societal level as well. Thankfully, policymakers in some regions are beginning to consider water-resource management in a more serious and comprehensive way. Others have been employing water reclamation and reuse for decades. For example, in northern Virginia, the Occoquan Reservoir has been supplemented with recycled water since 1978. Orange County, California, has been pumping purified wastewater into its aquifer since 1976. It is essential that this consciousness spread among our political leaders and government administrators, as well as the captains of private industry. We all have an obligation to make our voices heard in this regard. Water conservation and water recycling have great potential, especially in places under severe water-access strain. A combination of carefully applied technology and behavior modification seem the most promising methods of ensuring a bright future for our water supplies—essential not only to our individual health and happiness, but to our civilization’s very survival. See other parts of this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Additional resources:
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Although environmental protection and restoration can provide us with cleaner water and lots of it, that doesn't negate the benefits of conservation. In many—if not most—places, conservation is essential to ensure ample water for everyone's use. It may seem an obvious statement, but conservation by consumers costs less and has a smaller impact on the environment than any other method of maintaining the flow of clean water to consumers. 
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