Why is it a good idea to save water?

[ghoti_mhic_uait]

I've seen lots of people saying "Save water, it's good for the environment!" over the years. I've looked and looked and mostly ignored them (although was happy when the dropped 'turn the tap off when you're washing your hands - really not compatible with 'shower, not bath').

Water is a renewable resource, right? It goes through the sewer system, into the rivers or sea, evaporates and returns as rain. Or it goes through the sewer system and returns to our taps.

My region hasn't had a hosepipe ban since the 70s because of our good reserviors.

So why is it a good idea to save water? I've never actually managed to find an explanation, including now through google.

Comments

[axamendes.livejournal.com]

goes through the sewer system

That's the bit that takes energy.

and returns as rain

That's the increasingly questionable bit.

My region hasn't had a hosepipe ban since the 70s because of our good reserviors.

???! There was one two years ago i think.

energy

[ewx.livejournal.com]

It also needs pumping from reservoir to home, and the pipes which it goes through need maintenance (both to keep it clean and to avoid pointlessly transporting it to somewhere useless then leaking it), etc etc etc.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

Definitely not two years ago; last year was when I visited the reservior and got the information.

As for the energy in sewage process, that makes sense! I see now. Thankyou.

[aldabra]

Same reservoirs as the 1970s, but lots more households using the water?

[antinomy.livejournal.com]

Because turning water from the state in which it exists in rivers, full of cow shit and fish, and algae and things, into a state where you'd want to drink it, takes energy and chemicals. And turning used sewer water into a state where you can return it to a river without killing the fish, or growing more algae, likewise takes energy and chemicals.

Also, more people than ever live in the South East, living on all the places you'd want to put the extra reservoirs you need. And although *we* in the South West have plenty of mountains, and rivers, and water, you can't have it, 'cos it's *ours, damnit*

;)

[mooism.livejournal.com]

Yes, there’s no National Water Grid like there is for gas and electricity.

[lisekit.livejournal.com]

Now, why is that?

[philipstorry.livejournal.com]

I would imagine it's for two reasons:
1. Lack of economies of scale
2. Abundance of local water supplies in the British Isles when the water/sewage system was laid down originally

Why build a national grid when the water is collected nearby, stored nearby and used nearby?

Sadly, things are changing, and if not a national grid then some kind of north/south or west/south-east pipeline should probably be considered...

[mooism.livejournal.com]

Rainfall is a renewable resource, but not inexhaustable. There’s only a certain amount of water falls from the sky every year (varying from year to year, just to add excitement). In some places (e.g. Cambridge) the water available is easily more than enough. In others (e.g. London) there isn’t enough water to satisfy everyone’s wants, thus hosepipe bans.

Some places mine their water (aquifers) — this source of water is *not* renewable.

Even if you have enough water, it takes energy to purify it for human consumption. Use less water → use less energy → cause less pollution.

[fivemack.livejournal.com]

Cambridge is famously about the driest place in England, 56cm of rain a year on average; on the other hand, East Anglia isn't all that heavily populated.

[tamsinj.livejournal.com]

i believe east anglia is classified as "arid". there's certainly not very much rainfall

[mooism.livejournal.com]

I was taking on trust Kirsten’s claim that Cambridge hasn’t had a hosepipe ban since the 70s.

She’s not moved somewhere wetter while I wasn’t paying attention, has she?

[djm4]

The rain around Cambridge falls in plentiful supply on chalk, which soaks it up. That's why it hasn't had a hosepipe ban - it hangs on well to what little water it gets.

[rmc28]

Our local water company have included lots of information recently about how low the aquifers are, and how if all their customers are careful with water they probably won't need to do a hosepipe ban, *if* last winter was rainy enough (I was busy with Charles, I didn't notice if it was).

[verlaine.livejournal.com]

Personally I like to hoard water. I have about twelve thousand jam jars of it in my basement. All of you water-squanderers will be smiling on the other side of your faces come the apocalypse!

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Personally I like to hoard assault rifles and leave the hoarding food, water, etc to some other mug.

[tamsinj.livejournal.com]

the water from your tap has had a huge amount of processing to make it fit to drink.. so letting it just run away is a waste to start with. (heck, washing with it is pretty wasteful as it's far far purer than that application requires).

and while, yes - water is sortof renewable .. globally, we're using more and more and more. the amount of water required to make is terrifyingly large, and aquifers all over are just going down and down because we use more than is filling them.

[shermarama]

Shower not bath thing, by the way; this assumes that you are the sort of person who takes an ultraquick shower. Your average bath uses something like 80l of water. The argument used to be that a quick shower uses only 20-30l or so - you get solar bag-showers, heated by the sun, that are only 5l - but given the way modern power showers are, and if you take a long time in the shower too, there's a better chance of using the same amount of water in a shower these days as you would in bath. Apart from the water usage itself, there's also the heating method to consider; if it's been heated in a nice efficient gas boiler and kept in a lagged cylinder or if it's been heated on the spot in an electric flow heater running at at least 7kW, or the equivalent of at least three modern kettles, though this depends on the type of shower.

Umm, and the campaign thing was about turning off the water when brushing your *teeth*, not hands? Because a surprising number of people stick the tap on to wet the toothbrush and then leave it on while they aren't using the water at all, just doing the main brushing bit.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

*nod* the teeth thing still, holds. I was definitely told the hands thing for ages, too. in the nineties possibly.

I did test the shower/bath, and I do use less water in the shower than the bath.

[alison-lees.livejournal.com]

If you are on a water meter, then you know exactly why. I sometimes put water fromt the tumble dryer into the rain butt (which is no longer connected to a gutter, since we had a conservatory put in). We also have one of those flush-saving devices in our cistern. I think, it depends which shower you have, too, because when we had a new shower to replace one that broke, both our water and power bills went down, so I think some showers are more economical without you realising it. Incidentally, I don't think there can be a Lancashire dialect term for 'hosepipe ban', since it rains so much more in the north west (which is why there used to be so much cotton weaving hereabouts; warehoused cotton is very easily combustible, and should not get over dry).

[xanna.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I just have a compulsion to not waste anything (except possibly words, certainly parentheses).
My obsession with turning off taps comes mostly from the horrible noise the cold bathroom tap made in the house I grew up, when my big brother would turn it on and not turn it off, ever, so I could hear it in my room and have to turn it off.
There may be no very good reason to save water (but everything takes energy so I suspect there is) but there is no good reason to waste it, and so I automatically choose not to. It's less effort.