Fun Water Conservation
Amongst dragon boat and water walking races, Singapore recently launched their International Water Week. To show the effort that some people put into getting drinking water, Arctic natives were shown hacking blocks of ice, and southern women were shown carrying two buckets of water home from a well. School teams competed to build the best and the fastest water rafts using recycled materials including water bottles.
The message behind all the fun is important. If all the world’s water could fit into an 18 litre water bottle, the fresh water available for drinking would only fill three teaspoons, suggests the city of Red Deer, Alberta. So you might think that 1,000 litres of clean North American tap water would cost way more than the price of a one litre bottle of water, at least in Red Deer. Not so.
Perhaps so much water is used for gardens and lawns, and in households, because it’s cheap. Not to worry, though, because you had milk with your breakfast? A dairy cow must drink four litres of water to produce one litre of milk. And then you drove to work? One drop of motor oil can render up to 25 litres of water unsuitable for drinking. Tap leaking? Call a plumber quickly, because not only is it annoying, a tap leaking one drop of water per minute will waste 173 litres of water per week.
Time for a game. The EPA introduces Thirstin in an online Matching Fun Facts Game. He shows up all happy in a rather idyllic looking country scene. Then you are asked to match everyday activities with the amount of water they take. If you get the answer right, Thirstin arrives looking happy. However, if you get it wrong, Thirstin arrives looking sad and carrying a sign that suggests you try again. More details are available if you want to learn more.
Have a happyJuly 4th long summer weekend!
Tags: dragon boat, EPA, game, Singapore, Thirstin, water, Water Week
July 11th, 2010 at 5:41 am
nowadays, we are seeing some water shortage and water conservation is even more necessary”.:
August 2nd, 2010 at 8:55 am
water conservation should be done because we are already having some water shortage these days`*,
October 25th, 2010 at 10:29 am
water conservation is really needed nowadays because of the growing population;;`
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:31 pm
Although a few people surviving in industrial nations take water and sanitation as a given, around 884 million people lack usage of safe standard water as well as a total of greater than 2.6 billion folks don’t gain access to basic sanitation. Each year, greater than two million people die because of not enough drinking water and diseases a result of contaminated water. Diarrhea, mainly due to drinking infected water, is the second biggest root of the death of youngsters below the age of five.
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Hi Danette,
Thank you for such an informative comment. Yes, most people in North America probably take water for granted, although more and more people are beginning to realize the value of water and conserve it. And you’re right, water plays a big role in humanitarian work. Whether it’s handing out bottles of water after a disaster, or digging a well in Africa, it’s important.
Alison
October 22nd, 2011 at 5:25 pm
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