Precious Water

Photo: Rozlan W.

Water is essential to life on earth. We need water to grow food, keep clean, provide power, control fire, and last but not least, we need it to stay alive!

If water is constantly being cleaned and recycled through the earth’s water cycle, why do we need to conserve it? The answer is that people use up our planet’s fresh water faster than it can naturally be replenished.

Runoff from mainland is a source of pollution to ocean water. Besides carrying sediments, runoff transports harmful chemicals such as pesticides. Wastewater and sewage also end up in the ocean. Sooner or later, all waste ends may up in the ocean.

So reducing your water usage is beneficial not only because it saves money and energy but it also saves the ocean.

Saving water is good for the earth, your family, and your community.

Here are some tips to start you off
Bathroom Sink:

• Repair leaky faucets and always turn off your taps tightly so they don't drip.

• Use an aerator and a water-flow reducer attachment on your taps.

• Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or washing your hands.

Shower/Tub:

• Have showers instead of baths and keep them short (5 minutes).

• Install low-flow showerheads.

Toilet:

• Never flush garbage of any kind down the toilet.

• Install a low-flush toilet (that uses 6 litres or less per flush), or place a toilet insert or weighted plastic bottle filled with water in the water tank.

Kitchen Sink:

• Don’t run the water continuously while thawing food, hand washing dishes or while washing fruits and veggies; use a partially filled sink instead with a quick rinse afterward.

Washing Machine:

• Wash full loads and use the shortest cycle.

• Adjust the water level.

• Use environmentally friendly (low or no phosphate and biodegradable) detergents.

Cars and bikes:

• Use a bucket of water to wash your bike or car, then rinse quickly using a trigger nozzle on your hose.

• Wash the family car over grass or gravel to prevent any soapy runoff from going directly into the sewers.

Sewer grates:

• Never throw garbage, oil or chemicals down your toilets, sink drains, the storm drain or onto the ground. Improper disposal leads to contamination of our local creeks, streams, lakes and soil. Take your hazardous waste to your local waste management facility.

DID YOU KNOW?

Plants are an active part of the water cycle—they release moisture from the surface of their leaves to the air through transpiration.

A tap leaking one drop of water per second wastes more than 25 L of water a day!
That’s 9,000 L a year!

Dumping household cleaners, pesticides, oil, gasoline, etc. down the toilet, drain or storm sewer pollutes aquatic ecosystems and harms every creature that depends on them (including humans).

Using a bucket of water to clean the car instead of the hose saves about 300 L of water…each time!

Less than 3% of the water produced at a large municipal water treatment plant is used for drinking purposes.

A five-minute shower with a standard showerhead uses 100 L of water.
A five-minute shower with a low-flow showerhead uses 35 L of water.