July 25th, 2021


Water conservation is the implementation of utilizing water resources in an efficient manner in order to reduce nonessential excess. With the usual extending rate of the human population, there has been a huge pressure on water assets. As a result, the biggest issues concerning water are water deficiencies; specifically, deficiencies of clean water and the threat of waterborne maladies.


Water is a finite resource that is reused over and over again, as explained in the water cycle. For example, in soil, a large source of water, only three percent (3%) is fresh water, and of that, 0.5% is accessible to us. The rest is found in icy masses, ice caps, the air, soil or beneath the Earth’s surface. Thus, in the past 50 years, the extraction of new water from icebergs has extended by three folds. The search for water sources grows more prevalent considering 80% of all deaths within developing countries are related to water scarcity. An approximated 0.9 billion to 1.1 billion individuals around the world need clean drinking water and 2.4 billion need essential sanitation.


So, as the need for water expands, what can you, as an individual, do to help?


  • Taking showers: A normal shower uses five to ten gallons of water a minute. If you decrease your shower time to 10 minutes, you will approximately use only 16 gallons of water, only 2.5 gallons per minute.

  • Brushing your teeth and washing your face: To brush your teeth or wash your face takes around four gallons of water each. You can help save water by turning off the water while not needed, and use .25 gallons of water instead.

  • Washing clothes and dishes: Everytime you wash your clothes you use thirty five gallons of water per cycle. Everytime you run your dishwasher you use around twenty five gallons of water. To decrease the amount of water used make sure that both your washing machine or dishwasher are completely full before running it.

  • Watering your lawn: only water your lawn during the cool parts if the day such as early mornings so that it stays damp longer. Water it long enough so that the water is able to seep down to the roots where it is needed and not just constantly wash the top.

  • Double check your taps: make sure your faucet taps are completely closed to reduce any leaks. A faucet that is leaking can drip over 5 gallons a day.


These small things make a huge impact!