Global warming, has led to an indifferent pattern of rainfall, thus resulting in droughts in some parts of the world and floods in the other parts. Certain parts of India are reeling under severe drought. Drought disturbs the normal way of life as the scarcity of water, pinches us the most. The population of the world is indeed increasing, but the sources of water are not. An increase in the world population results in an increased indiscriminate use of water, thus putting the water resources under severe strain. Water, in these water bodies can be replenished only by rain and up to a certain extent through continuous seepage of water through the underground. Till the time, we are unable to find out alternate means of generating water out of nothing, it is best that we take the responsibility of conserving water and using it judiciously.
We need to amend our lifestyle, take certain steps, to reach this goal. First and foremost, our kids should be made aware from a very early age, that they have to conserve water. Water conservation should be a way of life, for our generation and the gen next! As Charity begins from home, so do measures to conserve water.
- Why brush your teeth in the morning, with the tap running in full speed? Open the tap to wet your brush, apply the toothpaste, do your business and then rinse off your mouth with the water again.
- Using washing machine to wash your clothes? Wait till the load is full and then only wash them. Today’s washing machines are water guzzlers. An efficient usage of these machines would go a long way to save water.
- Why wash your car with a hose pipe when a humble bucket and a mop can do the job? In a lighter vein, the practise of bending over and wetting the mop with the bucket water would also burn off those extra calories and keep you fit!
- Do we need to wash our walkway, area in front of our house, our backyard daily with water? Won’t a simple broom, do the job?. It is best to clean these areas daily with broom and then use water, once a week for a final clean up.
- People living in the Western world shower. It is good to borrow, adapt best practices of the West, but blindly adapting all the practices would have its own pitfalls. It is best that Indians, fill up a bucket with water and use it for their daily baths. They should endeavour to use only one bucket of water per person for their daily baths.
- Plug leaks on a war footing. If there is a delay for the technician to come over, then, if possible place buckets, utensils, containers beneath the leaks so that the water, which would have gone waste would be used for other purposes.
- Do not wash utensils, vegetables under a running water. It is best to take out water in a vessel/bucket and then wash it in that vessel rather than under a running tap.
- Always encourage your kids to have a dry Holi. Wasteful water usage in rain dance, sprinklers, etc should be best avoided.
- Why water your beautiful garden under a hot baking sun? This would lead to an increased water evaporation, which would prompt you, to use more water. It is best to water your plants, early in the morning when the sun is not severe.
- There are varying levels of water table across the country. Crops that require lot of water like sugarcane, should not be planted in areas where the water table is low.
- The city planners/municipal corporations should think about rain water harvesting. Instead of using open tracts of land for constructing more buildings, they should set up a dedicated site for rain water harvesting. Huge tanks, capable of supplying water to the entire city should be set up at various locations and then rain water collected in them should be supplied to the city in case of drought. The supply should be only to households and not industries. This may not be feasible for a big city like Mumbai, but this can be tried out on a pilot basis for a small city, or a cluster of villages.
- There have been suggestions about flushing our toilets only once a day, but the establishment of trade-off between water conservation and hygiene, is best left to you!!
Our forefathers have enjoyed the unlimited bounty of water, but our children should conserve water, as this only, will enable them to have a better life in future.
SAVE WATER FOR A BETTER FUTURE!!!
