The Problems Of Water Conservation

Introduction

The battle of water conservation is very real today. The need for water has gone sky high due to the doubling size in the worldly population. Things such as pollution and water shortage have affected countries all around the world including the United States. Every day there are citizens, whether they know it or not, wasting water in ways they didn't even think of. As of right now, only 1% of Earth's water is actually safe to drink. Practicing water conservation will decrease the amount of water wasted every day and effectively help clean up the world (Competing).

Pollution

One big contributing factor to water waste is pollution. Any time someone discards items that cannot decompose out in the wild, they are polluting a water system nearby. These water systems are built up with this pollution, and by the time someone goes to help, it's already affected hundreds of people and wildlife in that area. For example, if a lake is backed up with trash then that in turn contaminates the water and makes it unsafe to drink.

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It doesn't stop at trash either. Herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizer also contaminate lakes, rivers, and other sources of drinking water. These substances put unsafe chemicals in the water that can kill animals who are unaware of these hazards. If pollution was controlled more, then the amount of viable drinking water would go up immensely (Hays).

Ways of Wasting Water

Sometimes water is wasted unknowingly. A big water waster that many people don't consider is showering.

While showering is necessary to maintain hygiene, it's actually how long someone spends in the shower that is the what wastes so much water. When someone spends longer than 5 minutes in the shower, then they're wasting 5-10 gallons of water for every extra minute they spend showering. If someone was alert to this fact and showered faster by shaving at the sink instead of in the shower, then that person could be saving up to 150 extra gallons of water each month (Stern).

There are many ways in which people waste water. When someone flushes a toilet then that totals to 5 gallons per flush. While it may seem disgusting to not flush the toilet, if a household only flushed every two or three uses when it's just urine, then they're effectively saving up to a thousand gallons of water each week depending on the size of the household. Not being "flush-happy" is only half of the whole aspect on toilet. A newer toilet only flushes 1.6 gallons of water per flush, but an older toilet flushes up to 7 gallons per flush. In those regards, if someone has an older toilet and places a brick in the tank to displace some of the water it's wasting, then that person can save up to 20 gallons of water per week if not more (John).

We Should Practice Water Concervation

Water conversation is not the only pressing issue in the world. Agricultural land preservation is also a huge problem of today. While focusing on preservation is also a step towards cleaning up the world, if the the lesser problems aren't focused on then they will eventually turn into big problems. Preservation was a lesser problem that was not focused on before, but now that it has been ignored, it has become a big issue. Water conservation holds that same similarity. If water conservation is not looked at now, then it will become an even bigger life threatening problem in the future (Cook).

Water conservation can help clean up the world. It may not affect everyone in the same way, but given time, that can all change. It's not that difficult either. Being conscious of water usage is very simple. If the amount of pollution put into the world everyday was reduced by 25%, then that would already be a big step towards solving the water conservation problem. Pollution isn't the only contributing factor though. The simple actions of showering at a quicker pace and not being "flush-happy" would also steer water conservation into the right direction. Practicing water conservation would be very beneficial to not only America, but the world.