Water water everywhere
A look at personal water utilization
September 19, 2006
Sven Heyde
When I think about the amount of water that I use on a daily basis, it astounds me. The fact that all the water that I use is readily available from a faucet is even more shocking when I consider that many people in the world must collect and carry water great distances daily. Moreover, most of the gathering is done by women and young girls. I live in a time in which it is easier for most people in wealthier nations to get clean water than it has ever been, and yet the supply of drinkable water in many poorer regions is rapidly dwindling.
It has been said that water will be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century: the cause of international tensions and war. More than 12 countries, most of them in Africa, receive the majority of their water supply from rivers that first flow through hostile neighbouring countries. Closer to home, many Canadians are concerned about the potential for expropriation of our water supplies by the U.S. Water supplies are increasingly becoming a factor in negotiations between countries, as they were between Canada and the U.S. during Free Trade Agreement talks.
If we are soon going to be killing each other over water the way we have been over oil, then conservation is probably what we need to focus on. Since the World Health Organization suggests 150 liters of water per day per household, I need to make some serious changes. As there are only two of us in my apartment, I get 75 liters to myself. I could use that in a seven minute shower, but then I’d have nothing left for the rest of the day, so that won’t work. I guess I’ll be bathing out of a pail. I’ll start by setting aside four liters of drinking water for the day. I probably can’t afford to flush the toilet more than once per day, so I’ll put a brick in the toilet bowl to displace water, and adjust the bobber so it floats higher, shutting off the water sooner. I probably have to get rid of my dishwasher, and wash things quickly by hand. As for clothes, I’d better start turning them inside out once they’re dirty, out I think a load of wash would still torpedo my daily water allowance.
Now that I think about it, I have no idea how I’d make it on 75 liters per day, let alone the fact that many people have much less than that. I suddenly feel a lot more sympathetic towards those who have to walk great distances for their little bit of water each day. Realizing the interconnectedness of this finite resource suggests that, as with all resources, I need to try and live simply that others might simply live.
Now you go...
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