WATER
When reading a recent article on Facebook on how often one should take a shower I was quietly furious. I don’t feel it is any of my business to think about how often people wash. However I do think about our water use very carefully and the way we waste water appals me. Most of us in richer countries have always thought that water is an ever-present resource that we can use thoughtlessly. That is no longer the case, if it ever was. A recent article in the Guardian newspaper describes the mess the English water system seems to be in.
The importance of water to living beings
All life on Earth needs water to survive and function. Human beings for example can only survive for about three days without water. We need water for our cells and organs to function, to help regulate our temperature, get rid of waste products in our bodies and protect our sensitive tissues. In addition to that, animals need water for shelter, as a breeding ground and to bathe to remove parasites.
Plants also need sufficient water for healthy growth. As they supply much of the food we eat, we need to give them adequate water for their development. Most plants consume a vast amount of water. According to a blog for the World Bank 70% of our water is used for agriculture. (This includes the water required for raising livestock). With an increasing world population and an increasing number of people who want to eat meat we need to think about our water use very seriously indeed.
Those facts really should be making us sit up and take notice. Another report on water use in agriculture backs that up: “With climate change expected to significantly influence crop growth and water availability in the coming decades, understanding how to manage water use is essential for building climate resilience.”
Water for Pleasure
For me there is another aspect to our need of water and that is the mental benefit that comes from looking at water and playing on and in it. I am not talking here of water to fill our swimming pools, but of the joy one has in looking at a large river in spate, or a tiny glacial lake hidden in the mountains, or swimming in a secret pool.
I am sure this is not true for everyone: I remember I had an Iraqi acquaintance in London and all he missed of home was the desert! But for many of us the experience of water is uplifting and necessary.
Earth the Blue Planet, From Space
Where does our water come from?
Our world is sometimes called the blue planet. That is because the Earth’s surface is 70% water. However, a vast amount is salt water in the oceans. According to the National Geographic only about 3% of the water on Earth is fresh water and most of that is inaccessible as it is locked up in icecaps and glaciers. Most of the rest is found in groundwater. This is water found in spaces between soil, and in underground aquifers (bodies of rock that contain groundwater) which act as huge storehouses that supply enormous amounts of water. There are 37 major aquifers found worldwide. Only a very tiny proportion of fresh water is found as surface water in lakes, rivers and swamps.
Just for emphasis – more than 99% of the Earth’s water is unusable. What is available is clearly a resource that we have to use very wisely, particularly with the challenges of Climate Change.
Desalination
For the sake of completeness here, it is important to mention seawater desalination. This is a source of fresh water that is becoming significant in areas of high water stress, for example the Middle East. This process requires both heat and electricity to function, and at present much of the electricity is produced by fossil fuels. This continues to contribute to the Climate Change that is already causing the need for more fresh water. Many countries are starting to use renewable energy for desalination. The market for desalination plants is quite large and will continue to grow into the future.
Are We Using Our Water Wisely?
No, we are not.
Aquifers
Most of the world’s aquifers have been filled with very old water (they vary but it could be many thousands of years old) and now replenish themselves very slowly with rainwater, or even not at all. Unfortunately, partly to do with recent drought and partly, in my opinion through stupidity, we have mined these sources for water at a rate far beyond their ability to replenish themselves.
The Ogallala Aquifer under the Great Plains in USA according to a daily newspaper in Kansas “has water levels that are beginning to plummet as an average of 2 billion gallons of groundwater a day has been removed for agriculture.” It has been estimated that Kansas’s portion of the aquifer is being used up nine times faster than it is being replenished by rainfall. It could take many thousands of years to refill. There are many aquifers worldwide, especially in arid regions that have been similarly badly managed.
Rivers and Lakes
A report by GreenFi shows that “water pollution remains one of the biggest environmental challenges facing the world.” They also say that “According to some estimates, more than 80% of the global wastewater ends up polluting oceans, rivers and lakes.” Of course, much of that polluted water is still used, with serious health impacts. But it is nevertheless the case that rivers and lakes – and indeed more than half the world’s wetlands – have disappeared. Drought is causing significant water loss from rivers and lakes, and loss of water from dams upstream is also causing conflict between nations due to water shortage.
Water Loss Through Carelessness
Waste
Apart from overuse and pollution of our water supplies we also lose water from carelessness and waste. Vast amounts are lost every day from leaks. The Guardian newspaper has a report on the loss of water from British leaks. It seems that leaked water losses in England and Wales came to more than 1 trillion litres in 2023. This, of course, is only an example. Worldwide the losses must be enormous. (At the same time it is predicted that London could run out of water within 25 years.)
Unnecessary Use
The richer countries seem to me to have a sense of entitlement over the use of water. We fill our swimming pools (apparently USA has 10.7 million). We take long showers, run our washing machines half full, wash our cars even when they are not very dirty and water our lawns in high summer.
Bad Planning
The Saudi Arabians grow wheat in the desert with water from ancient aquifers. I was going to use almond milk as an example of something that really doesn’t make a lot of sense when we think about conserving water. Unfortunately the research results vary so widely for the production of one litre of almond milk I can’t really do that. However if you must use plant milk it makes a lot more sense to use oat milk.
Avocados are another example of something that we need to eat a lot less of. Again, the research results vary but it appears that producing one avocado takes about 70 litres of water. These are just examples. There are many more instances where we need to start thinking seriously about what we are planting and eating if we want to conserve water.
Other examples of water use we need to think about
Water as a coolant
As the world becomes more and more addicted to using computers with all their different possibilities, we are building more huge data centres to hold the required information. These centres generate a large amount of heat and it is necessary to cool them. One way of doing this is by using water. EESI states that large data centres can use up to 5 million gallons (American) or 19 million litres a day!
These are just some examples of our excess usage or waste of water. It is clear that with the changing climate and our already overenthusiastic use of the fresh water we do have, we need to change.
I have written this blog in the full knowledge that if we have water for our needs and especially for our wants, then we are very lucky indeed. I am sure for the women and girls who have to walk many miles each day to provide a small amount of water for their families, life is very different.
What Can you Do to Save Water?
There are many ways that as individuals we can save water. some of them are very simple.
- Appreciate what we have
- We can do our bit to save Climate Change getting any worse
- If you must shower each day, take a “navy shower” i.e wet, turn off the tap, soap, turn on the tap and rinse
- Don’t run the water when brushing teeth
- Save the cold water in a bucket while waiting for the water in the tap to warm up
- Use “grey” water for the garden, i.e. water that has been used but is not too dirty or soapy
- You can do the same for flushing the toilet
- Report any leaks you see in the street
- Only wash your car when it really needs it
- Use full loads of laundry in the washing machine
- Start using vegetables and plant milk that don’t need vast amounts of water to produce
- Clear out the data you don’t want to keep on your computer
- Write to your local Council and talk to them about how they can save water
- You could convert your lawn or part of it to a wild flower space
These are only a few ideas, you may have some of your own. Please do let me know. As with Climate Change it is important for each of us to act. We can make a difference.
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Photos by Leo Rivas, Javier Miranda and PAN XIAOZHEN on Unsplash