Saving Water

When the well runs dry, we know the worth of water.  Ben Franklin

California’s mega-drought serves as a reminder how precious our water resources are.  Many Americans are unaware what ground water is.  The stuff that creates life below the subsurface like the water that is stored in a potted plant.  Today we are depleting out of the ground H20 that has enormous impact on future reserves since to water is limited and requires time to recharge. 

Throughout the world, clean water is becoming the most precious resource.  Half of the world’s population -- or three billion people -- live without access to safe drinking water.  With an estimated 2 billion additional people to be born in the next 30 years, good water will be even scarcer.  Here and worldwide, record droughts and water shortages are forcing us to reexamine water use.

Four trillion gallons of water fall daily in America, much of which runs off or is evaporated.  Overall the U.S. withdraws 339 billion gallons of ground and surface water each day.  Each day we use 137 billions of gallons of water for irrigation and 131 billion gallons to generate energy.  Industry consumes another 25 billion gallons a day.  So 45 percent of American’s freshwater goes to industrial use, 42 percent goes to agriculture, and the remaining 13 percent goes to domestic use.

Forty-seven percent of the U.S. population depends on ground water for its drinking water. In the U.S. each day, about 76.4 billion gallons of ground water are used for household water, irrigation, and industrial and other uses.  Ground water is an important source of surface water. Its contribution to the overall flow of rivers and streams in the U.S. may be as large as 50 percent.  It is also a major source of water for lakes and wetlands. Ground water is tapped through wells placed in water-bearing rocks and materials beneath earth’s surface. Precipitation and other sources replenish the ground water supply, but increasing periods of drought have led to a situation in which the rate of pumping exceeds that of replenishment.  Nearly 15.9 million water wells serve U.S. households, cities, business, and agriculture. Twenty-three million Americans rely on this private drinking water supply. 

Ironically only 1% of the world’s water is drinkable and that must meet our ever-expanding human needs.  At home we drink 1% while 99% of this clean water may be lost in many wasteful ways.  Most household water goes to lawns, showers, toilets, etc.  In our life time, we will experience a drastic shift in how we use water.

Our public water systems produce more than 180 gallons per day per person, more than seven times the per capita average in the rest of the world and nearly triple Europe's level. By comparison, the World Health Organization says good health require a total daily supply of about 8 gallons of water per person.  An average person can survive months without food, but only days without water.  We flush an average of 27 gallons of drinking water per person per day down our toilets, 17 gallons per day through our laundry and 14 gallons per day in our showers.  Watering lawns also uses up a tremendous amount of this valuable drinking source.

Simply installing a more efficient showerhead and faucet aerators saves about 7800 gallons of water per year in an average household. In addition, by reducing demand for hot water, a low-flow showerhead can save 376 pounds of climate changing carbon dioxide each year, while faucet aerators can save 83 pounds per year.  These items can be found at the local hardware store.  Faucet aerators cost less than $5 a piece and high-efficiency showerheads go for under $20.  Switching to landscaping dominated by bushes and shrubs, instead of grass, can reduce lawn watering by 80 percent.

To appreciate the value of water, all you have to do is realize the role it plays in our bodies. One-half to two-thirds of the human body contains water.  An average adult contains roughly 40 quarts of water and loses several quarts of water per day through normal elimination, sweating and breathing. 

Life itself depends on how we protect, preserve and conserve this precious resource.  Our future prosperity relies on how we champion water quality improvements.  All Americans have a right to affordable fresh water.  Without clean water life itself is in jeopardy.