In the beginning, as recorded in Genesis 1: 9-10, God said, “Let the vapors separate to form the sky above and the oceans below.” So God made the sky, dividing the vapor above from the water below. This all happened on the second day. Then God said, “Let the water beneath the sky be gathered into oceans so that the dry land will emerge.” And so it was. Then God named the dry land “earth” and the water “seas.” And God was pleased.
Throughout the galaxies, Earth is the only planet that has been blessed with water, with the exception of the planet Mars. Life on earth cannot exist without this precious fluid. It has been thought that the molecule of water (H2O) is a single structure, however, it has been found to be a very complex molecule. It has also been suggested that water has a memory and is affected by many external forces in the atmosphere that change its behavior in relationship to our survival.
At the present time, much of the earth is experiencing drought, while in some areas an overabundance of rain is causing devastation to the earth’s surface, thus threatening plant and animal life. It is evident that life on this planet depends on water. Most people believe that water will never run out, and yet history has shown that in many societies throughout the world waters source have been depleted, causing migrations of many people.
In the United States, the government estimates that 36 states will face water shortages in the next five years. If we are to preserve our water supply, we must make an effort to conserve this precious fluid. I would like to suggest the following:
- Turning off the tap during the time it takes to brush your teeth saves almost 5 gallons of water. That is more than an average citizen of Kenya makes do with, throughout an entire day. When a tap is turned on, 2 to 7 gallons of pure drinking water flow out every minute.
- When you wash dishes by hand, fill the sink rather than washing each plate under a continuously running tap. If you use a dishwasher wisely, it will use less water than even careful hand-washing practices.
- The average dishwasher uses 9-12 gallons per cycle. Consider upgrading to a more efficient model that uses only 4-7 gallons. Only run the dishwasher when it is completely full.
- Take a shower rather than a bath. A 5-minute shower uses 10-25 gallons, while a filled bathtub holds 70 gallons of water. The average American wastes up to 30 gallons per day.
- You can reduce water consumption by replacing your showerhead with one that aerates the flow of water to produce a finer spray.
Think of the water that is wasted when you wait for the shower to heat up. Collect the water in a bucket and use it to water plants, mop the kitchen floor or hand wash delicate clothing. - When you boil water for tea or a hot drink, try to boil only what you need. If the British, who are great tea drinkers, did this on just one day, the energy saved could power all that country’s street lamps throughout the following night.
- Teach your children to treat water with respect. The faucet in the bathtub and the garden hose are not toys. Do not let your children play with running water.
- Wait until evening to water your garden. Keep the weather forecast in mind. There is no sense in watering if rain is in the forecast.
- According to the EPA, a faucet that leaks one drop per second can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water per year. A leaking toilet can lose 150 to 200 gallons daily.
- A city of 100,000 people produces nearly 80,000 gallons of wastewater everyday.
- No fewer than 114 great rivers, or half the planet’s biggest watercourses, are severely polluted. As a result, at least a fifth of the planet’s 10,000 species of fresh water fish are either extinct or in danger of extinction.
- Avoid pouring food oils in the sink: vinaigrette, oil from tuna cans and oil used for frying form a film on water that interferes with the functioning of water treatment plants by suffocating the bacteria that remove pollution. It is better to put such oils aside in a closed plastic container that can be discarded with other nonrecyclable wastes.
- Americans go through about 400 million miles of toilet paper each year. If every home replaced just one roll of regular toilet paper with a recycled roll, it would save nearly 500,000 trees.
All of the above suggestions for saving the earth’s water supply were taken from the book 365 Ways to Save the Earth, by Philippe Bourseiller. It is recommended reading for everyone interested in saving our earth.
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