| 9. Saving water |
 |
Even though we think it is
infinite because it is always present in our lives, water
is a limited resource. We find water in fountains, swimming
pools, wells, irrigation systems, etc. However, in some
places and at certain times of the year water shortages
produce long droughts, and in time there is a danger of
increasing desertification of our planet.
The awareness and efforts of each of us in everyday life
can help save this basic necessity and help us become
more responsible about this shared resource. |
[ enlarge image ] |
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| Assessing consequences. Sometimes
when we make a decision we are not solving things
only in the present, because some decisions also
affect our future and other people's futures. So,
before acting we should assess the possible consequences
of our decisions. |
| Did you know that... |
| 1. |
Leaving the tap open while
cleaning our teeth means using approximately
20 litres of water? |
| 2. |
Washing dishes with the tap
open takes an average of 100 litres of water? |
| 3. |
Every time we flush the toilet
we use 8 to 10 litres of water? |
| 4. |
Washing a car with a hose takes
approximately 500 litres of water? |
|
| Whereas... |
| 1. |
If you just wet the toothbrush
and rinse your teeth you use 1 litre of water.
So, you save.......... |
| 2. |
If you fill the sink to do the
washing up it takes 20 litres of water. So
you save...... |
| 3. |
If you use a low-consumption
toilet, you can save 50% of the toilet water.
If you flush the toilet an average of 5 times
a day, that means .......... litres per week.
And for a family of four that means .........
litres saved per week. |
| 4. |
If you wash your car at a car
wash, it takes 20 or 30 litres. If you wash
it with a bucket of water and a sponge, you
use roughly 50 litres. So, you save .............
And if you wash the car once a week or once
a month, you save ............. |
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| Painting. Toulouse-Lautrec,
1864-1901. La
toilette. |
|
| Find out
what other means exist to reduce excessive consumption
of water. |
|
| © Grup IREF 2003, with the support of the European Commission, DG XXII (Socrates/Comenius 3.2) |
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