Wasting Water – Background
Background
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In our world of convenience and comfort, we too often take for granted the precious value of water. When we turn on a faucet, we enjoy the result of a process that we seldom consider. That water comes from a local river, lake, aquifer, or reservoir. It travels to a water treatment plant, then to a storage well or tank, and then to our homes. Those whose water comes from a private well are dependent upon the underground water supply.
It is important to conserve water so there will always be enough to supply affordable water to people, animals, and the environment. In any watershed there is a limited volume of water and more cannot be manufactured. Sometimes cities must tap a distant source to maintain their water supply. When Virginia Beach was running out of water, they went all the way to Lake Gaston on the North Carolina border to get more water. The city had to fight several court battles over many years because the people who lived near Lake Gaston did not think it was right for a distant city to take their water.
One of the easiest ways to conserve water is to repair leaky faucets. According to Project WET, "a faucet that drips 160 drops per minute will lose over 6 gallons of water per day." If a school system has more than a dozen leaky faucets, thousands of gallons of water are wasted each month. Not only would repairing the faucets conserve water, but it would also greatly reduce the school system's water bills.
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