Nowadays “Sustainable” or “Sustainability” is used in more that just one aspect of our life, from lifestyle to marketing and even finance, but what is the simplest way to understand it and actually know what focused on according to subject ?
Here a simple way you can understand it : Sustainability is a concept that refers to meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, from this wherever the subject you can have a clear idea of the topic, and in our case in this article today we talk about “sustainable water usage” for breaking it down we talk about : How to regulate water usage to meets needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and suffer from water problem. From now and then you see how you can understand sustainability topics and you can now deep dive in our article
As we all know, water is essential for life, health, food production, energy, ecosystems and human development; Therefore, sustainable water management is ensuring that there is enough water to meet everyone’s current needs whilst ensuring that future generations can meet their water needs, and the more time goes by the more water problems occur, should we stand and still and just accept it ? surely not. What is the solution then ? Sustainable Water usage
You may be asking why now and why sustainable water usage is a topic that matter.
Sustainable water usage is important because nonsustainable water usage can lead to water scarcity, health risks, environmental degradation and social conflicts.
Here are some facts about water problems:
– About 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water¹.
-Close to 2 billion people use water that is unsafe and dangerous for their health².
-Agriculture accounts for about 70% of global freshwater withdrawals³, but some countries use more than 90% of their water for agriculture³.
-Water stress affects more than 2 billion people, with this figure projected to increase.
Water Scarcity | Threats | WWF – World Wildlife Fund.
https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/water-scarcity
5 risks from water overuse | World Economic Forum.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/5-risks-from-water-overuse/
Water Use and Stress – Our World in Data.
One of the biggest problem that result from nonsustainable water usage is Water Scarcity; Water scarcity is the situation where the demand for water exceeds the available supply. There are two types of water scarcity: physical and economic.
Physical water scarcity is when there is not enough natural water resources to meet a region’s needs. Economic water scarcity is when there is enough natural water, but people lack access to it due to poor infrastructure, governance or affordability.
Some of the causes of water scarcity are:
-Overuse of water for agriculture, industry, domestic or recreational purposes.
-Pollution of water sources by chemicals, waste, sewage or invasive species.
-Climate change that alters precipitation patterns, increases evaporation and causes droughts.
-Hunger and malnutrition due to reduced crop yields and livestock production.
-Disease and death due to lack of safe drinking water and sanitation.
-Conflict and violence over scarce water resources among different groups or countries.
-Environmental degradation due to loss of biodiversity, soil erosion and desertification.
Sustainable water usage is not about using water at all, it is about finding ways to reduce the most we can the usage and further more to even recycling water for different purposes
It may be easy to fall on the scarcity about the fact that the earth does not have enough eater anymore but the fact is that being in a alert mode doest not help, you must first acknowledge the situation and then start working ont the habits and behaviour that can fix the problem, no only fix now but for next generation also
Now more practically what can we be doing to help usage more sustainably water in our everyday life, here are 15 tips that can be used in our everyday life to conserve water:
-Turn off the tap when it’s not in use
-Soak your dishes in warm water first before washing them
-Run your dishwasher and laundry only when its full
-Cut those long showers short or use a low-flow showerhead
-Use energy-efficient, water-saving devices such as taps, toilets, and appliances
-Use a water softener to tackle hard water problems that can damage your pipes and appliances
-Fix plumbing leaks as soon as possible
-Go easy on your sprinklers and gardening hose or use drip irrigation systems
-Recycle water for different purposes such as flushing toilets, watering plants, or cleaning cars
-Practice sustainable gardening with native plants and mulch that require less water
-Protect and restore natural water sources such as rivers, lakes and wetlands that provide ecosystem services
-Reduce food waste that consumes a lot of water during production
-Eat more plant-based foods and less meat that have lower water footprints
-Insulate water pipes to get hot water faster, thus saving both energy, water and money
-Use biodegradable cleaning agents for cleaning, and avoid chemical pollution of toilets, showers, washers and drains
10 Ways to Conserve Water for a Sustainable Living – Culligan Nation.
https://www.culligannation.com/10-ways-to-conserve-water-sustainable-living/
Reducing water use | YourHome.
https://www.yourhome.gov.au/water/reducing-water-use
17 ways to reduce water consumption – IKEA.
13 best ways to save water | Friends of the Earth.
https://friendsoftheearth.uk/sustainable-living/13-best-ways-save-water
How can we use water in a sustainable way? – Best in Australia.
https://bestinau.com.au/how-can-we-use-water-in-a-sustainable-way/
10 Ways to Conserve Water for a Sustainable Living – Culligan Nation.
https://bing.com/search?q=tips+to+sustainable+water+usage
A problem as harsh it can be, the more attention it needs to help the world overcome it, and in this race here are some innovative technologies and solutions that helps achieve sustainable water usage and help people that has not have access to clean water :
-Solar powered water filtration that uses solar energy to purify contaminated water
-Fog catchers that collect water droplets from fog using large nets or mesh
-Desalination that converts seawater into fresh water using reverse osmosis or thermal distillation
-The drinkable book that contains pages with silver nanoparticles that can filter out bacteria and viruses from water
-Water from air that uses solar panels to extract moisture from air and condense it into drinkable water
-The LifeStraw that is a portable device that can filter out 99.9% of waterborne parasites and bacteria
-Rainwater harvesting that collects rainwater from rooftops or other surfaces and stores it for later use
-Sprinkler and drip irrigation that deliver water directly to plants’ roots and reduce evaporation losses
-Laser land levelling that makes the land surface even and reduces runoff and soil erosion³
-Floating agriculture that grows crops on floating platforms on water bodies
New Technologies That Create Clean Water for a Thirsty World.
https://www.goodnet.org/articles/7-new-technologies-that-create-clean-water-for-thirsty-world
Climate-smart water technologies for sustainable agriculture: a review …. https://iwaponline.com/jwcc/article/11/4/1455/69011/Climate-smart-water-technologies-for-sustainable
Use of Innovative Technologies to Save Water | Commentary.
https://www.business.com.tm/post/8451/use-of-innovative-technologies-to-save-water
Sustainable implementation of innovative technologies for water ….
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41570-021-00264-7
The future of water: How innovations will advance water sustainability …. https://blogs.worldbank.org/water/future-water-how-innovations-will-advance-water-sustainability-and-resilience-worldwide
Cultivating innovative techniques for sustainable water use.
The numbers are more that just alarming, any daily action of everyone can help improve things
Some numbers and statistics that say about sustainable water usage are:
-2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water services
-2 billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress
-90% of natural disasters are weather-related, including floods and droughts
-80% of wastewater flows back into ecosystems without being treated or reused
-India was the world’s largest agricultural water consumer at nearly 700 billion m3 per year in 2010
Do you want more numbers or more explanations on any of these statistics?
Drinking-water – World Health Organization.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
Water | United Nations.
https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/water
Water Use and Stress – Our World in Data.
https://ourworldindata.org/water-use-stress
UN World Water Development Report 2021 | UN-Water.
https://www.unwater.org/publications/un-world-water-development-report-2021
In the age where consumerism and waste is preached everywhere following the wave can not be safer than it seems, and not accepting the sad reality is even worse in most cases if not all cases, yes the situation is alarming, yes a lot of people are still not taking care of their water usage, yes yes yes, but the same way you came accros this article and take the decision about your water usage the same you can help other to so, share for granting awareness around the subject, be the one who can impact people around you positively by being the initiator of what is better to the planet, and surely together as small as our action can be we must do our best to change and move things