what are the importances of water conservation???

Question

well, as what the question hsa stated, what are the importances of water conservation......well, not only to our country (no matter which country you are living in...), but also to ourselves (individual), our community, our school (university/college), to the world and globally????

Answer 1

PERMACULTURE ANSWER ON WATER HARVESTING AND CONSERVATION
WHY SHOULD WE HARVEST WATER
because there is so little that we can use

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25% of the planets surface is land
75%of the surface is water and it is rising

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97%of the Earths water is salt

fresh water is only 3% of all the Earths water
most of it is beyond out reach

now much ice is melting and running into the seas fresh water lost for ever.

STORAGE or Location of % of the fresh water
ice and glaziers 74%
groundwater 800 meters + 13.5 %
groundwater less than 800meters 11.o%
Lakes 0.3%
soils 0.006%
Atmospheric in circulation 0.0035%
rivers 0.03%


frozen land or permafrost is not included and represent an unavailable storage of 40%

so of the 3% about 11.6 ,is easily available to us ,in rivers, lakes and ground water surface aquifers,more and more of this is becoming contaminated

overpopulation of an extra 70 million people a year (increasing all the time )and expanding agriculture ,which uses 70% of available potable water supplies ,has brought the good(sweet) water supplies to critical levels ,some countries have been in trouble already quite a while .

Now climate change and desertification, because of irresponsible agriculture ,overgrazing and deforestation is damaging world fresh water production .

It is a good reason for concern and if we do not rectify matters by changing agricultural methods ,reforest ,stop deforestation,become more economic with water use ,stop producing more people ,stop wasting and contaminating water, we will be in serious trouble all round
and could end up looking like Mars

And these are some of the things we can do
tp conserve water use

EFFICIENT WATER USE

IN THE HOUSE
one can connect the sink straight to the toilet cistern and so use the water twice ,first to have a shave and then to flush the toilet
also if you bend the ball valve you can regulate the level of the cistern

Always have your Grey water and Black water separate,so that the sink and shower water goes directly into the garden saving on irrigation and at the same time ,making the sewage smaller and easier to deal with ,

This also goes and irrigates the garden but via a cistern of two compartments and a French drain ,on which you plant trees,

ON THE LAND
Economic systems of irrigation, like drip irrigation
and water harvesting design, using a lot of stone walls ,that condense water in the night
and planting leafy plants ,for the same purpose,

Building wind breaks ,to counter act the drying effects of the wind and farm towards Aggro forrestal ,using as many trees as possible to limit evaporation .
Using shade nets before we have tree cover

and use MULCH

By cutting down the weeds before they produce seeds and leave them where they fall.
They will cover the ground add even more organic matter on top,(you can use saw dust,leaves green or dry),

And when you plant make a little space and plant in the mulch.this is the easiest quickest and by far most beneficial way(for the quality of you soil)to prepare the land for planting.

To prevent weeds from coming all you have to do it turn out the lights,you can even use cardboard or black plastic(this is good for strawberries because they will rot if they touch humid ground,and the bugs can get to them).

Mulch is organic material green or dry that covers the ground,the thicker the better the composting process will turn it in to black topsoil

The humidity is preserved underneath and promotes the development of worms(there exists no better compost than their excrements)and a variety of micro biotic life which together within the mulch produce more topsoil.

The mulch also keeps the ground temperature even and guards against the impact of the rain ,which would other wise brings salt to the surface if on unprotected land.

Mulch also prevents the soil from drying out because of the sun and,wind erosion.

WATER HARVESTING

As far as catching rain is concerned ,we do this all the time ,and have done so already since Babylonian times,and is a part of the more advanced Agriculture,that existed with the Egyptians,,Moors, Arabs and probably many more

Central ,and South American indigenous people had this idea coupled to their pyramids ,catching the water of the slopes and leading it into tanks or onto the fields .

And many others ,today we call this WATER HARVESTING.

Only Modern Man is totally extravagant with the rain water given ,and complains of the wetness ,letting it run off into the rivers lost forever ,With out even attempting to hold on to it .

And then later complains of not having water ,when times are dryer


In Permaculture the rule is to harvest water to the point of Zero runoff.
This means that all of the rain that falls on an area is absorbed by the terrain and not a drop leaves it.

By building dams,ponds or Swales, with inter connecting ditches,

If there are enough of these ;the places ,where before ,the rain water ran over the ground into the rivers and on to the sea ,in a matter of hours or days.

It now runs into absorbent dams or Swales and saturates the ground and eventually reaches subterranean water deposits ,taking many months to do so.

Or it fills up ponds that can be used for Aquaculture.

And so a convex situation that repels water is transformed in a concave ,absorbent one and turning the area in to a sponge.

In Spain and Portugal ,which still display many examples of the conquering Moorish influence one can find many remnants of Water harvesting,such as Aqueducts and tanks underneath the patios ,which collect the rain water from the roofs ,to be used in dryer times.

In Arabia ,on a large scale ,land has been shaped to catch and lead,rain water into sandy areas or to agricultural lands.sand is almost as good as dams because it absorbs water and holds it.

Here in Mexico we collect the rainwater in our school for sustainable agriculture,but it is too near Acapulco to trust the rain water for drinking ,and this holds true for most places ,so we use it for irrigation.
the rain water from a gutter runs via a filter into a tank.
In Europe in my parents house ,when i was young ,we had a rain barrel,where the water from the gutter ended up .
this was usual in those days ,but i have seen few in modern times.

We can use this action also in other ways ,
for example the roof water via a ditch can run trough the chicken house ,cleaning it and end up fertilizing the vegetable plot(this is called the creation of energy flow.

this water used to be Ok in times gone by before Air pollution ,
Today i would recommend it only for washing and irrigation

links on Permaculture
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Alqk3gR4q41Icf7XK3_Y7Afsy6IX?qid=20070815183923AA8E0NK

Answer 2

Almost none of the water that exists on earth is in the form of drinkable fresh water.

Almost all of that is underground, and likely to stay there.

Pretty much all of the water used by people ends up in the sea after a single use, and is never returned to us as drinkable water.

Desalinization processes, other than the solar powered, contribute to Global Warming. Desalinization on a scale that would make any useful contribution on a global basis would be prohibitive on that basis. Nuclear is probably the worst option for this purpose, as (1) it is not a net energy producer, depending heavily on fossil fuel technology for it's manufacture and it's supply lines. (2) Nuclear while attractive for certain purposes, comes with unique waste disposal issues that within our political system are no closer to a solution than they were 30 years ago. This has prevented widespread use as an alternative to fossil fuel for all purposes, not just desalinization.

Answer 3

The conservation of water is the most important to all human kinds and animals in this world. Think about peoples and animals were died in the desert because short of drinking water as in the movies and some past events. Water conservation should also look into the quality, taste, and purity. For instance, many parts of industralized countries such as US and China with water in the rivers are contaminated. The water of the Peral River in China is contaminated by the rapid development of chemicals used manufactories along the riverside or chemicals are dumped into the streams and flow into the river. If we drink untreated water, it may cause cancer or other related diseases. The industry in the New York or nearby cities also dumped chemicals into the the rivers or streams then flow into the Niager Falls in Canada. It caused many Canadians had cancer many years ago. Hong Kong just like Singapore don't have enough supply water from the natural resources. Hong Kong depends on China supply and Malaysia provides water supply to the latter. Many Hong Kongers are having cancers because the conteminated water they drink on a daily basis. I think the conservation of the clean minerals deposited water resources is the most important matter in this world. Places just like France, China, and many European countries have minerals rich drinking water. The most impressive one is named Hoinan mineral drinking water with unbeatable taste and probably cheapest in this world. It cost only one Chinese yuan for a small bottle from the local stores. You will love it. If you travel to Hoinan Island in the future, you must drink a few bottles. It is much cheaper than the Coke!

Answer 4

You know, its kinda funny, if everyone do their part in conserving water or environment overall, we do not really need much water filtration.

In my country, Malaysia, it is not uncommon to see each household now have at least water filter, or basic prefilters. Water filters business has boomed in the past 10 years.

As the population on this planet grows, demand for safe drinking water grows too..... The funny thing is, as the population grows, we humans clear more forest and jungles, and as the result, the earth has less safe drinking water. Rivers, which normally cleans itself, can't coup with all the pollutants and in the end, rivers become contaminated,... so you see it is a DARN VICIOUS cycle.


I'm not trying to be pessimistic, ever since the Industrial Revolution from the 19th century (1800's), which is only less than 200 years ago, humans numbers have grown, other species .... declined or extinct.

Humans will probably KO the EARTH before the EARTH goes through another ICE age or whatever age.

Answer 5

A quick rant first: Nuclear waste is actually threatening the safety of our drinking water in Santa Fe and surrounding area thanks to our old friends at Los Alamos. (http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/68665.html) I call Bullsh*t on that idea. Nuclear power should've been outlawed years ago. Los Alamos needs to be used for research and development (you know, the stuff that OTHER countries are so great at), as well as fixing the festering nuke waste pits that already exist!

To the question: My daughter asked me this too. The reason water is an issue is that we are using up fresh water faster than we can replace it naturally! By conserving water, you help the environment, you save energy and you save money.
1) Environment: You save water for fish and animals. You reduce the burden on wastewater treatment facilities. The less water down the drain, the less the treatment plants have to process to put back.
2) Energy: You save the energy the water supplier uses to pump the water to your house and you save the energy it costs your household to heat the water.
3) Money: Somebody pays for the water you use from the tap. It may be you, it may be your landlord who passes the cost to you in rent. Either way, it saves $. Also, if you collect the rain that falls on your roof, it's totally FREE so check into getting a rainbarrel with a screen to keep out bugs and leaves.
Hope that answers it in plain trying-to-not-be-political-on-this English.

Answer 6

First and foremost, your body is composed of 72% water. Even our world, planet Earth is 72%water. Water is an important element to sustain and give life, next to air.
There is no substitute for clean water.
I'll give you and example, if you take a walk at say
the Mojave desert and have no water for at least 3 hours, you will dehydrate and die.

Answer 7

There's not really that much point when with nuclear power one can desalinate sea water without releasing significant amounts of CO2.

Though it is interesting that people keep brining up the discredited argument that nuclear power uses more energy than it produces (it's actually better than solar PV in that regard) or that it has waste problems when in fact it is the only power source that doesn't (ever heard of fossil fuels waste problem? what about solar PV production? both are a lot worse but because they are worse they just get accepted for some reason).

Answer 8

drinkable water in this world is scarce, as you may heard before that 1\7 of Earth is water but only 0.01% of it only is drinkable..which comes from rivers and flowing underground..
some regions in this world have no water at all, so it is a wise thing to do conserving it and don't waste this valuable liquid..

Answer 9

I live near Lake Erie. The great lakes are one of the biggest concentrations of fresh drinkable water in the world. So na na na na na na!

Answer 10

to simply state it ,water is life that is why water conservation is very important.