Water is arguably the most valuable resource we have on Earth. It is vital for all manner of wildlife habitats, for climate-creating rainforests and, of course, many precious marine ecosystems. 70% of the Earth’s surface is water. Nonetheless, water wastage has serious conservation implications.
In this fascinating guest blog post from Katie Myers, we look at the importance of water and water quality with the help of an eye-catching infographic, which I’m very happy to share at the end of this post.
The Importance of water
Water is an amazing substance and such a fundamental part of our everyday lives that we often take it for granted; the number of ways it impacts our lives every day is impossible to fathom.
It is in everything around us and is crucial for our health, the planet and its wildlife; without water, our planet simply couldn’t survive.
We also couldn’t run our homes or produce lots of the food and drinks products that we enjoy such as bread, fruit and chocolate.Â
Wastage and shortages
Although we use it every day, unfortunately water isn’t an infinite resource: 70% of the Earth’s surface is water, however only a small portion of this is available for human use.
Water scarcity means that there are many people around the world who cannot easily access water that is safe to drink. While there are 1.2 billion people who struggle to access clean water, in other parts of the world, water wastage is a huge issue; 10% of homes have leaks that waste 90 gallons more every day.
For the sake of our planet, it’s important that we understand the value of water so we can be more mindful about how we use it. To show the true value of water, Kind Water have created this infographic that will teach you all kinds of things you never knew about water. Read on to learn more:
Katie Myers is a content writer for Kind Water, who supply, repair and install water softeners. On their behalf, Katie produces a range of online content relating to water that reflects their passion for providing quality water. In the past she has written on a wide range of topics including wildlife, the environment and most recently, the value of water as a global resource.
Very good graphics and for some water shortages are closer to home than we think. In Spain our well is only going us 200 litres a day. So we have really cut use and any wash water has been for the plants. Ironic as I had just got an automatic irrigation system going.
It’s so interesting (and scary!) to hear that water shortages are affecting you in Spain. It’s something I’ve been very conscious of since having my two children. All summer their bath water was used to water the garden afterwards (we can still use the separate baby bathtub for now, but not much longer). If my daughter uses the big bath, the water can be used for soaking their cloth nappies with a bit of detergrent added.
Summer was easier, as handwashing and hanging clothes out to dry outside was easier. Now the weather is rainy and colder here, it’s harder to dry clothes (we chose not to have a dryer, so things get hung out in the house), and we’re using the washing machine more than we used to, as it spins the clothes and takes the worst of the moisture out. Parenting is presenting many eco dilemmas to overcome. We’re problem-solving many of them though!
I’m thinking of getting an outside water butt to collect rainwater in next, now that the weather has changed for Autumn.
Oh you are busy, I feel if individually we all do as much as we can and the bits that are difficult could at least be helped out by others. However, not many still pursue enough to have a lighter footprint. I have a granddaughter of two and there are the challenges I remember and there are now new ones. Good luck with all the drying, easy for us even through the winter and our solar runs the washing machine but hey nothing gives us more water from our well except the rain! I will focus on Doñana in the next few weeks.