Water – Save it now!
Finding out about water
conservation.
Current water storage for
Melbourne.
http://www.savewater.com.au/default.asp?SectionId=180&SortTag=317
What is, and why is water
conservation important?
Water conservation is the preservation,
management, and care of water as a natural
resource.
Of all the water in the world, only 3% is fresh.
Less than a third of 1% of this is available to
humans. The rest is frozen in glaciers or polar
ice caps, or is deep within the earth, beyond our
reach. To put it another way, if 100 litres
represents the world's water, less than a half of
a teaspoon of it is fresh water available for our
use.
Current strategies – around the
home
• There are many reasons to save
water in and around the home.
• It can help to reduce your running
costs and spending less on water,
energy and detergent bills, especially
when it comes to washing machines,
dishwashers, toilets and taps.
• These changes will also help the
environment. These are all good
reasons to save water.
Current strategies – around the
garden
• In Australia, about 35-50% of all domestic water use occurs in the
garden. Most of our gardens contain plants inappropriate for our
environment, and we often water far more than we should, because
we don’t know what our plants really need. As the driest populated
continent on earth, we can't afford gardens that require excessive
amounts of water. In the future new dams will need to be situated in
more environmentally sensitive areas. This will be at the cost of tax
payers, and may result in the destruction of wilderness areas. It will
also degrade natural aquatic ecosystems.
• Water efficiency can reduce consumption, whilst retaining many of
the plants we like. Efficiency should be a key concern when
designing a garden, but it can also be incorporated into existing
ones.
What we can be doing ~ around the
home
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When washing dishes by hand, don’t rinse them under a running tap. If you have two
sinks, fill the second one with rinsing water. If you have only one sink, stack washed
dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a pan of hot water.
Use the minimum amount of dishwashing detergent (when washing dishes by hand)
as this will reduce the amount of rinsing required.
Use a plugged sink or a pan of water. This saves running the tap continuously.
Use only as much water as you need in the kettle to cut your electricity costs at the
same time.
When boiling vegetables, use just enough water to cover them and keep the lid on
the saucepan. Your vegetables will boil quicker and save you water, power and not to
mention preserving precious vitamins in the food.
Aerating taps are inexpensive and can reduce water flow by 50%.
Don’t use running water to defrost frozen food. Ideally place food in refrigerator to
defrost overnight.
Where convenient and appropriate try to capture ‘warm-up’ water for use on plants,
rinsing dishes, washing fruit and vegetables, or other cleaning tasks.
Check for leaks and if there are any dripping taps, replace washers or other
components as required. Dripping taps can waste 30 – 200 litres of water per day, so
ensure taps are turned off properly.
What we can be doing ~ around the
garden
• Xeriscape (xeros=dry, scape=land) is a term often used for water
efficient gardens, and targets seven basic areas: planning, soil care,
selection of plants, lawn care, irrigation, mulching, and maintenance.
When applied together these techniques reduce water dramatically,
however each technique on its own will have a significant impact.
The concept was first developed in North America, but has since
emerged as a generic, holistic approach for water conservation in
the garden. The average garden hose delivers 1000 litres of
water an hour!
• We can be water efficient just by changing our behaviour. It is
important to make sure that we apply it sensibly. Using trigger
operated nozzles, checking for leaks in the hoses and taps, and
remembering to turn off that hose left under the lemon tree are all
simple ways to be water efficient. See the advice section for more
information.
A New Old Solution!
A few years ago in Australia it was a common to see
rain water tanks beside each building.
As towns and cities developed, along with the water
supplies to these urban areas the use of rain water
tanks diminished.
Can this be part of our solution?
Rain Water Tanks for the Urban
Dwellers
Home owner’s advantages:
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Use the captured water for your garden – it’s free!
Use this water to flush the toilet – it’s free!
Use this water to wash the car – it’s free!
Use this water to top up the pool – it’s free!
Use this water to wash the pets – it’s free!
Use this water for the washing machine – it’s free!
Effect of water restrictions could be diminished!
Low ongoing costs involved.
Lower the water costs to the home.
Take advantage of Government rebates on water saving devices.
No disruption to service!
Water Tanks in Urban Areas
Disadvantages for the home owner:
• Cost of buying & installing tank.
• Extra plumbing costs.
• An area of the yard ‘lost’ to the tank.
• Need to regularly clean the roof &
spouting.
Effects to the Environment.
• Less demand for increases in mass water
storage.
• Less demand on storm water drainage.
• Less flow along storm water
Conclusion
Water is precious. As we can see, we all
need to conserve water, and there is lots
we can all be doing in the home, in the
garden and at work.
Do your bit now!
Bibliography
Graph:
http://www.savewater.com.au/default.asp?SectionId=180&SortTag=
317
Research:
www.savewater.com.au
Photo
http://www.ncpw.com/prd-tanks.htm#
www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elnino/dispatches/images/drought.jpeg
© State of Victoria 2003
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The State of Victoria accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any
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made.
List of teachers name and materials produced – Heather Harley & Rita
Ellul - ‘Water, Save it Now!’ Unit Plan & Multimedia presentation.