Introduction
In this post ample views and facts regarding water wastage and its effects from existent articles posted on official NGOs or world bodies and government sites will be reviewed. The reason for referring to NGOs and world bodies is because they are non-profitable organizations and the general understanding is that they research because they genuinely care. Therefore their findings are reliable. As for the many governments, they constantly seek to improve economically and that is one of the major effects of water wastage as well. The aspects that will be addressed include:
1) Facts and stats of water wastage.
2) Effects.
3) Preventive measures and solutions.
Facts & Stats
The underlined concern about water wastage is conservation not prevention of use altogether. According to a governmental body in the United Kingdom called Waterwise “The key to water efficiency is reducing waste, not restricting use”. One may wonder why saving water is important as it seems to rain all the time especially in Malaysia. Even in other parts of the world Wet summers and even wetter winters seem to keep the garden nice and green and the rivers flowing. According to the source despite having a seemingly wet climate some parts of the UK are experiencing water shortages. The South East of England has less water available per person than Sudan and Syria. It is not feasible for the UK to give its water to parts of the world where they are suffering serious droughts, so surely it should be ok for them to use all their water? True. Waterwise doesn’t want people to stop using water, it wants people to stop wasting water. About one third of the water each person uses on a daily basis is wasted – it runs straight down the plughole or down the toilet without being used. It is this wastage that needs to be cut down.
Water is scarce in parts of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as in England. In other parts of the world large scale drought is already occurring, with the lowest rainfall, groundwater and reservoir levels for decades. Each person in the UK uses 150 litres of water a day. This takes into account cooking, cleaning, washing and flushing. This has been rising by 1% a year since 1930. This consumption level is not sustainable in the long-term. If we do not take action now, climate change, population shifts and behaviour mean the world will face increased water stress in the future.
The government body in the United Kingdom, Waterwise is currently carrying out cost-benefit analysis on the advantages of demand side measure rather than supply side measures. It is Waterwise’s opinion that water efficiency and water meters when combined with improving leaks from water mains is more cost effective and better for the environment than building new reservoirs to increase the supply of water. The water cycle is continuous and it will rain and replace water that has been abstracted for use in the home, however, there is no guarantee where and when the rain will fall, and your supply might be depleted before the next downpour. Saving water will not only save the environment, but if you are on a water meter it will save you money on your water bill, and it will save you money on your energy bill if you reduce your hot water consumption. Water wastage has other immediate consequences. For example, the energy used to pump, treat and heat the water in the average family's home produces the carbon equivalent of a return flight from London to New York. These carbon emissions are a global problem, because they are aggravating the effects of climate change. Therefore, saving water will also help alleviate climate change and can make the water scarcity problem in another country less severe. So, even though we cannot help other nations by transporting our water to them, we can help them by reducing our carbon emissions by wasting less hot water.
The following are some statistical figures by the United Kingdom’s governmental body, Waterwise as well as an American NGO.
1) A running tap uses 6 litres of water a minute, a shower can use anywhere between 9 – 45 litres per minute, a hosepipe uses as much as 1000 litres per hour.
2) Toilet flushing accounts for 30% of our daily water use – with old toilets using as much as 14 litres per flush compared to new dual flush models which use as little as 2.6 and 4 litres per flush.
3) Fixing a dripping tap can save as much as 5000 litres a year – if everyone in the UK fixed their dripping taps the nation would save enough water to supply 120,000 for one day.
4) The average household uses 350 gallons or 1325 Litres of water daily and the average household water use annually is 127,400 gallons or 482,000 Litres.
5) Do you know exactly what uses the most water in most households? The toilet! It uses an average of 18.5 gallons or or 69 Litres per day, approximately 26.7% of the total daily water use.
6) It is estimated if all households installed water-saving and reduction features, water use would decrease by nearly 30%. That would save more than 5 billion gallons of water per day, resulting in an estimated savings of $11.3 million
Effects
The biggest effects of water wastage are energy wastage and destruction of the environment. Firstly when water is wasted a form of energy is being wasted and the direct result is its impact on the economy. Water costs billions of dollars a year to process and treat. When water is saved money is saved.
The second major effect would be its destruction towards the environment. Several forms of emissions are released into the environment when water is collected, processed, used and treated. Emissions that are extremely hazardous to the environment such as carbon that gets released when water is pumped and heated.
Preventive Measures & Sollutions
Daily indoor per capita water use in the typical single family home is 69.3 gallons. Here is how it breaks down:
By installing more efficient water fixtures and regularly checking for leaks, households can reduce daily per capita water use by about 35% to about 45.2 gallons per day Here's how it breaks down for households using conservation measures:
The key to water efficiency is reducing waste, not restricting use. Consumers can help reduce waste by making small behavioral changes and by choosing more water efficient products. We can also ask our retailers and supermarkets to provide information about the amount of water embedded in goods, and we can demand that these shops ensure that their goods are produced with as little impact on water resources as possible.
We must start thinking about how much we really rely on this finite and shared resource. The pie chart below shows the percentage of water used in each area of your home.
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