Every morning, I drink a huge glass of water: it’s the first thing I do. I love that it hydrates my body and helps my digestion, keeping me healthy. I don’t think that, years ago, I had ever considered water (as our and the planet’s source of life) might become threatened. However, these days, the question that needs an answer is why is water conservation important for everything living on this planet and how can we achieve such a goal while we still can?
Did you know that, although Earth is pretty much covered in water, only 1% of it is drinkable? With so little water available for the entire planet and our dependence on it for survival, starting to save water is essential.
Groundwater is the primary source of drinking water both for public and domestic use, as well as for irrigation. The good news is this: if everyone is doing a little bit, it will add up to a whole lot — including economic, social and environmental benefits.
At the present moment, we are doing a lousy job conserving our freshwater, and we have developed a bad habit of wasting water aimed at drinking by:
- Using too much water for mundane tasks.
- Polluting our water bodies with garbage, chemicals, toxins, hormones, antibiotics, and steroids.
Here are some sobering facts about water:
- Only 3% of the water on Earth is freshwater, and only 1% is available for drinking.
- The other 2.5% of clean water is locked in ice caps, glaciers, the atmosphere, soil, or under the earth’s surface. Unfortunately, pollution is also taking a significant toll on this 2.5%.
TLDR? Water is a limited resource and we should conserve water to the best of our abilities before it’s too late.
Here are our main reasons why we should not waste our water.
1. Because It Helps Us Grow Food
Water is an essential ingredient in food production; as a matter of fact, 70% of our freshwater supply is used to grow crops and freshwater fish for human consumption, as well as other foods a human requires to survive (fruit, vegetables, dairy, etc.).
To put it simply – no water means no food. The problem is that major factory farms, unfortunately, end up polluting clean water reservoirs. Moreover, the majority of water being used in factory farms does not go towards animal sustenance, but rather towards cleaning and processing during and after slaughter, resulting in huge amounts of wastewater filled with animal waste, antibiotics, hormones, and bacteria.
2. To Help Avoid Droughts
My family and I live in San Diego, which has been plagued with droughts. Therefore, we’re committed to the conservation of water because it’s an excellent way to prepare for the extra hot months and seasons when we do not get enough rain. If you ever wondered why is it important to conserve water, here you have one reason: to manage a drought without suffering its consequences.
3. So You Can Enjoy Soda, Coffee, and Beer
30(ish) gallons of water go into making one pint of beer, and roughly two glasses of water go into one glass of soda. I don’t know about you, but I, for one, love my occasional beer. Coffee needs the most water, one single cup needing 35 gallons of water.
4. It’s Crucial for the Survival of the Ecosystem
Remember those iconic scenes in basically every cowboy movie out there when they are walking in the desert with no water in sight, and all you see are dead animals and no plants? That is because water is a key element in the fragile balance of the ecosystem. Even the slightest deviation from the norm could irremediably affect landscapes, turning marshes into deserts.
5. To Produce Milk and Other Dairy Products
A dairy cow needs to drink 30 to 50 gallons of water per day. And that’s only the water required for sustaining the animal. Keep in mind that a farmer needs 381 gallons of water to produce one pound of cheese, 665 gallons of water to produce one pound of butter, and 569 gallons of water for one pound of powdered milk.
6. To save our parks
Do you enjoy going to the park or playground? My family and I certainly do. The plants, trees, and grass make parks magical. That’s because parks are basically a small ecosystem – the trees shelter birds and squirrels, the plants attract butterflies and other insects, all of them thriving together. Without water, it would just be a dull area with dead grass and plants.
7. So You Can Enjoy Your Garden
My garden is why we bought our house many years ago. I wanted a garden that would offer plenty of room for my children to roam, as well as one that would also allow me to grow flowers and vegetables. Now, I only cultivate vegetables and have given up on having a lawn, because my family and I strive to conserve water as best as we can.
8. To Save Farms and Ensure Food Security
Make sure you do not leave your water running when you brush your teeth or wash the dishes. Whenever somebody asks you why is water conservation important, tell them these two words: food security. Where there is no water, there is poverty. And where is extreme water poverty and no human water rights, there are pain, suffering, and death.
My family and I live on an urban homestead where we grow most of the food we eat. However, we still depend on other farms to produce what we can’t, like flour for our bread and pasta. Not even small, family-owned farms can operate without constant large amounts of clean water, so for food security, we need farms to survive.
9. To Make Sure We Won’t Run Out of Water
At the moment, we’re severely overusing our clean water resources. We use about 70% of that 1% of clean water for agriculture, we use 79 billion cubic meters of water to make clothes that go rapidly out of style, and we waste God knows how many tons of water by not closing the tap while brushing our teeth. Not to mention leaky faucets that, over the period of a year, waste about 80 gallons of water.
If we continue at this rate, by 2025 half the population will suffer from water scarcity.
10. To Save the Bees
Bees are an essential part of our ecosystem as pollinators. This means that without bees to pollinate crops, there would be no crops. These little insects need water not only to hydrate themselves but to control the colony’s humidity levels, to cool off, to feed the larvae, to digest their food, and to dissolve crystallized honey.
11. To Ensure Our Children Will Have a Future
I have three beautiful children, and nothing is more important to me than securing their future. By abusing water, we are lessening its ability to provide our children with the prospect of a stable future.
The question why is water conservation important has many answers, but this one is probably the closest one to home you will get: to make sure the children you love so much will endure long enough to tell the story of that love to their own children.
12. To Save Money
We harvest rainwater to use in our garden, and that is one way to water your vegetables without spending money. However, in some states, you can’t even do that as rainwater is considered state property and those who harvest it can even be fined. So, make sure you’re up to date to your state legislation before installing a rainwater collector.
13. To Help Reduce Rising Prices and Political Tussles
With little or no water, prices would skyrocket. And this wouldn’t just apply to your monthly water bills, but also to, basically, everything else since it takes massive amounts of water to produce anything from food to clothing, to power the energy and transportation sector.
This may also lead to increased political unrest. According to Unwater.org, since 1948, there have been 37 incidents of acute conflict over water.
14. To Save Trees
Living in a desert-like climate, I can tell you that trees are essential for our survival. We need trees not only because they provide much-needed shade, but also because they’re nature’s carbon filter, absorbing carbon released into the atmosphere from fossil fuel use and converting it into oxygen. Even more, trees make the ground itself sturdier, helping protect valleys from life-threatening landslides.
15. To Avoid Deadly Diseases
What does cholera, typhoid, dysentery, dengue fever, and hepatitis A have in common? They are all waterborne diseases. Unfortunately, they’re also highly infectious and can spread like wildfire in areas where there is little to no access to clean water.
16. To Be Able to Cook Food
Try cooking without water…it’s almost impossible. Now think about the previous entry, about diseases. Sadly, this is a reality in plenty of third world countries where starvation and diseases go hand in hand.
17. To Save Energy
6.5% of the energy used in California is for pumping and treating water. So, if you think about it, by using less water, especially hot water, you use less energy. This then translates into smaller bills and you will save the water the plant would have used to produce the hot water you saved.
18. To Help Firefighters Fight Fires
Can you imagine firefighters without water? Needless to say, they need water to do their job.
Conclusion: Why is Water Conservation Important?
United Nations Sustainable Development estimates that by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population could be facing serious problems with water availability unless we make drastic changes. What are your water conservation tips? What do you do to conserve water?