In Canada, many of us are fortunate enough to have access to safe, clean drinking water with no limitations. Using water is something that I do very mindlessly. I turn the tap on every day without having to worry about whether or not it will actually work. I think this should be a fundamental human right. If we were less wasteful with our water, scarcity should not be an issue for anyone. Those of us that don’t consider the thousands of litres of water that go into our diet, clothes, and every day lives, need to change our perspective. We need to start treating water as the valuable contribution that it is to people. One way to execute this change would be by implementing laws to force water recycling. In the future I envision, governments in countries where water is readily available, would stop letting us waste water! One example of an effective way to make this happen would be to call for action from the government; governments could start passing laws to force the implementation of water-recycling infrastructure in projected residential and commercial buildings.
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Dear Anonymous Owl,
Thank you for a great idea: asking gov'ts to force water recycling wherever feasible and necessary to reduce stress loads on sewer water, sanitation & septic systems.
Grey water systems might be one answer to the issue of water reuse and recycling!
https://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/c07/E2-16-02-02.pdf
https://www.producer.com/?s=water+consumption+index&c=n
On Greywater Systems, there are lots of videos; Here's one:
If you can engineer it, does it necessarily mean you should do it?
Just do it? Think again! And again! And again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LZf_eQUq4o
This and other articles like it might be available for a comparative study of the literature and media
Water recycling is a great idea. We could also think about reducing water use in general by changing policies for agriculture and industry.
Love your down-to-earth advice on the possible actions that governments could take! In terms of making water recycling mandatory, I was concerned about hygiene since we know clean water is scarce, not water in general. Do you have any thoughts on the specifics of the procedure in water recycling that could be executed to elucidate this concern?
I think you bring up a great point on how first-world individuals often take water for granted. And I agree that, when we do this, we really lose sight of how hard it is for many less fortunate third-world individuals to have access to water. By shifting our attitude to reflect a deeper gratitude for water each day, we can start to begin to understand different perspectives and work towards a common goal.
I completely agree that using water is/was something I did very mindlessly (until we discussed this topic). It's an interesting thought that if we were less wasteful with our water, scarcity should not be an issue. I think that is exemplified in how people reacted to the news about Day Zero in Cape Town. I was also quite shocked to learn about the thousands of litres of water that go into so many different aspects of our lives - in the production of food and agriculture, the dyeing and production of our clothing, etc.
We take what we have for granted. We don't have to worry about clean drinkable water as of right now, so we don't value how important water is. If we were to ask this question to someone in a country where water is not as accessible as it is in Canada, the answers we get to the valuation of water would be different by leaps and bounds.
I think that enhancing the water recycling process would be a wonderful method for saving water and I believe that government ought to play a more crucial part during this process. However, it is still not clear whether the government is able to take the responsibility successfully and there is still a long way to go to empower the government appropriately. Still, we need to take actions first to solve the ongoing water issues but we need to be aware of other side-effects.
This is a great post, I completely agree that those of us who are so privileged to have constant access to clean drinking water often consume it mindlessly. This is something I personally want to change about the way I use water. I hope that going forward I can use less water and when I do use it that I do so in a way that respects it's true value.
Good point, implementing water laws could help raise awareness of our water use and maybe also contribute to higher transparency which products are actually highly water intense.
Its a good point on making laws to force water recycling even in places that don't have a water shortage. I think this will make people appreciate and conserve the water that they have. I know that I haven't though much about where water comes from and how I am very fortunate to have access to clean water.
Yes, governments definitely need to pass certain laws requiring the use of resuse/recycle for water.
I agree that more laws are required to force industries to reuse or recycle water. Even every industry can reuse 30% of the water, it is a big step for water conservation.
I agree with this! Creating a law that enforces water recycling would make sure that no water will go to waste. Recycling infrastructure and improving on the ones we have already for water recycling can also be one of the initiative!
I agree with your points! I can say that I do take water for granted and I'm sure many others in Canada do as well. Enforcing laws regarding water usage would hopefully help people to be less wasteful with water.
That is true; there isn't a sense of urgency placed around water appropriate to its real value :(
I agree, governmental invtervention and laws are definitely needed to protect the world’s water and water sources.
I agree with a lot of points you made in your post! I also think that changes in law need to be made for substantial differences in water quality and recycling.
I can agree that I did not think much about water use prior to learning about the water crisis.
Water-recycling infrastructure is a great intervention. Related to this is fixing old infrastructure in the meantime (for instance, leaky pipes can waste tons of water!).
I agree! we should treat water as if it is scarce and pass laws to do so