AS THE dry season continues to heat up, public must be reminded to be responsible water consumers. Remember that while the earth is 71 percent water, only one percent of it is available and clean enough for drinking.
This limited yet extremely necessary resource is worth a lot of responsible consuming, especially during the dry season when the heat is up and supply of water is down.
Data from real time statistics Worldometer show that over 700 million people all over the world have no access to safe drinking water. But we need not look far to know this. In Iloilo City for example, several villages suffered from water shortage during last year’s dry season. This forced the city government to ration water.
So how can each one of us be responsible water consumers?
There are many simple ways. For example, never leave the faucet open such as while brushing your teeth. You can waste about five gallons of water doing that.
Never use running water to thaw food, wash fruits and vegetables, or the dishes. Make use of the basin to do the job. Then collect the used water for other cleaning purposes or for watering plants.
Yes, hand-washing clothes is still better than using the washing machine as you can control the amount of water you use, plus the added benefit of exercising your arm muscles and spending extra calories for beneficial use. All the same, when using washing machine, wait until you’ve got a full load before you do your laundry.
Instead of using the shower, make use of the good ol’ timba at tabo duo to do your bath. A 10 minute bath will pour around 40 gallons of precious water down the drain. Better still, stand inside a stable basin as you bathe so you can collect the water and use it to flush the toilet or for other cleaning purposes.
Remember, reuse water for as long as it can be reused. Laundry water can be used to mop the floor, wash the car, or wash recyclable discards like cans and bottles. If you can still collect this water, you can use it further to water ornamental plants or clean the driveway.
Regularly check for possible leaks and immediately remedy them once detected. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting about 100 gallons of water each day.
Lastly, monitor your water bill. That should keep you on your toes to practice water conservation.
