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What is water?
Water is made of tiny molecules of hydrogen and oxygen.
Each one is so small that you can’t see it even with the most
powerful microscope.
Pure water has no colour, no taste and doesn’t smell of anything.
Water exists in three forms on the Earth:
> solid (ice, hail, snow or frost)
> liquid (in lakes, oceans, rain, dew, fog or mist)
> gas (steam or water vapour - "invisible" water in the air).
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Where can we get water?
About 97% of the water on the Earth's surface is in the world's
oceans.
This is where you can find most of the other 3%:
> Lakes
> Rivers
> Polar ice caps
> Clouds
> Rain
> Stored in rocks (aquifers)
> Sea ice
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Why do we need water?
To carry nutrients and waste in the body.
To lubricate joints, digestive tract and body tissues.
To cool the body, especially during periods of physical activity.
To be used in factories, agriculture, hospitals, hotels, etc.
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How much water do we need?
Most people need about 6-8 glasses of water each day.
Inadequate fluid intake can lead to constipation and dehydration.
Caffeine-containing beverages (coffee, tea, colas, etc.) should not be
drunk because caffeine actually causes you to lose water.
More water may be needed during times of fever, or illness.
Athletes should drink additional amounts before, during and after
exercise.
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Most common reasons for increased demand
Increase in world's population as more people live cities and big towns.
Increase in farming because farmers start growing more crops.
Increase in money earned because people use a lot more water in their
homes for things like dishwashers and lawn sprinklers.
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Water Shortage
Water shortage happens when an area does not have enough
water to meet the needs of the people who live there.
A shortage is caused by too much demand, or not enough supply.
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Why should we save water?
Of all the water in the world, only 3% is fresh.
Less than one third of 1% of this fresh water is available for human
use.
The rest is frozen in glaciers or polar ice caps, or is deep within the
earth, beyond our reach.
To put it another way, if 100 liters represents the world's water,
about half a tablespoon of it is fresh water available for our use.
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Saving water through education
Read articles or debate water related issues in your local area.
Investigate the role that water plays in various cultures.
Understand the amount of water used in your school and home.
Study the water cycle.
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Saving water in homes
Running water is required for an endless list of uses in and around the
home.
Imagine living in a house without running water...For some this might be a
nightmare but for many it is reality.
This is because some of us are not careful while using water in our homes!
So, others suffer because of us..
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Saving water in gardens
There are lots of easy and effective ways to reduce the use of precious
drinking water on our gardens.
Many gardens contain plants inappropriate for our environment and we
tend to water far more than necessary, because we don’t know what our
plants really need.
We can't afford gardens that require excessive amounts of water.
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Saving water in agriculture
While agriculture is one of our country's most significant water
users, some innovative solutions have been developed to improve
water use efficiency and maintain or even increase yields.
COTTON
Efficient water
management is
vital for cotton
growers to
achieve high
yields.
RICE
Rice is the main
crop of India and it
requires a lot of
water for sowing,
growing, cleaning,
etc.
DAIRY
The dairy industry
uses water for
irrigation of
pastures, watering
stock and cleaning
dairy sheds.
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tips to save water
A dripping tap could waste as much as 90 liters a week.
Brushing your teeth with the tap running wastes almost 9 liters a minute.
Rinse out from a tumbler instead.
Cool water kept in the fridge means you won't have to run the tap for
ages to get a cold drink.
Don't use your washing machine until you've got a full load. A full load
uses less water than 2 half loads.
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tips to save water
Every time you boil an egg save the cooled water for your houseplants.
They'll benefit from the nutrients released from the shell.
Sprinklers can be wasteful. A sprinkler can use as much water in an
hour as a family of four will use in a day!
Trigger nozzles can save water by using it only when needed.
