Majority of us probably were not aware that ‘National Drinking Water Week’ was observed in India from 5th to 12th May 2012. The intention behind observing this week is to make the common public aware of the importance of the conservation of water, which is an urgent need of the hour. According to a recent study, in the next 20 years, global demand for fresh water will vastly outstrip the reliable supply in many parts of the world. Thanks to population growth and agricultural intensification, humanity is drawing on the shared river basins and underground aquatic sources more heavily than ever before, and this has increased the threat of drying up of these sources.

 

Our science books taught us that 97% of earth’s water was oceanic, which is not fit for drinking, and that the remaining 3% was fresh water which is mostly present in the form of frozen glaciers and polar ice-caps. The reality has changed since those science books were written. Today, the situation is that the fresh water has decreased to 2.5%, out of which about 0.4 percent is available for use. About two-thirds of that is contained in freshwater lakes, with the rest distributed among soil moisture (12%), the atmosphere (9.5%), wetlands (8.5%), rivers (1.5%) and vegetation (1%).

A recent report from US ‘Intelligence Community Assessment of Global Water Security’ has an even more disturbing story to tell. It says, “The Water requirements will exceed current sustainable water supplies by 40%. Absent major policy interventions, water insecurity will generate widespread social and political instability and could even contribute to complete state failures”.

Needless to say, if we do not make all out efforts to conserve water now, we will be witnessing a perennial drought of the world magnitude. We are all ‘well aware’ of the dropping underground water levels, and are ‘more than aware’ about the fall in the available water supply levels, but the question to ask is, what are we doing about it?

Each and every one of us can save water by oberserving the following simple steps:

  •  When washing dishes, don’t let the water run while rinsing. Fill one bucket with wash water and the other with rinse water and rinse dirty dishes with a mug.
  •  Using a mug full of water to use while brushing teeth or shaving saves up to 30 litres of water per use
  •  Using bucket and mug for bathing instead of using a shower for the same saves up to 60 litres of water per use
  •  Use sprinklers in place of pipes for watering your lawn, gardens and crops
  •  Run your washing machine only when it is full. You can save up to 1,000 litres a month by this.
  •  Get any leakages in taps, pumps or water tanks repaired immediately. Report immediately to concerned authorities if you see such leakages happening in public taps, tanks and pumps.

Let’s wake up before it’s too late. And what’s better, by these simple steps, you can contribute a lot to this urgent cause!

We at Sharda swear by this line –
“Preserve water, Preserve life..!”