re: Think

Water availability and cleanliness is often the single factor that can bring about the most profound change in poverty, hunger, education, women's (and children's) rights, and health crises around the world - proof of the importance and underlying foundation
that clean safe water brings to any group of people.

For more information on the intricacies of
water issues, try these links:

global issues:

World Water Council
water and development issues

local water safety:

get your local drinking water report card
how to read the water report card
how water treatment plants work
sustainable water treatment (check out the case studies)

water ecology:

adopt your local watershed
Stop polluting our water, starting at home
north pacific gyre

water is a finite resource; politics, location, climate, and your own habits all play a role in how much is available, and how clean it is.

Today there are more people using the same amount of water as existed 100 years ago.  Water suffers from the tension between people’s multiple needs for it: as a fundamental resource for life, for transportation, and for agriculture and
other industries.

This page focuses on water as you most likely experience it: drinking water from the tap and used for bathing and household needs. You'll also learn how your choices in food and manufactured products affect water supplies, and what
happens to it after it goes down your drains.

The upside is you will save energy and chemical use– when you reduce water consumption, you automatically have concurrent energy savings due to reduced heating and pumping., and reduce demand for treatment.

chemicals of concern

in drinking water



re: Start simple steps to take today

reduce your everyday use of water:

check for leaky pipes and toilets and repair them immediately

place a brick in the tank of older toilets to reduce the amount of water per flush (before 1992, 6 gallons of water or more could be used per flush). Factoid: the average person pees about 2oz per sitting... if it doesn't make you squeamish, try the old "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down"

don't use the toilet as a trash can

don't run the tap while doing tasks at the sink

fill a bucket and turn the hose off while washing the car

start timing your showers. Shower heads usually run at 2 gallons per minute. How much water do you use? Aim for 10 minutes or less by reducing your shower by one minute each time

Avoid bottled water: removing water from one area of the world and shipping it to another requires an incredible use of energy and resources (water, fossil fuels, chemicals for the plastic bottles, etc.) and depletes the area of origin of an important resource often with deplorably small recompense (listen to an NPR report on this subject). Most municipal water wins over bottled waters in blind taste tests. If you dont like your tap water, consider an in-line filter or (cheaper / immediate) filter-pitcher or faucet-filter such as Britta or Pur. Still not convinced? Watch this slide show

Eat less red meat: thousands of gallons of water are used in the raising of one cow for meat production (check out this visual). A vegetarian diet is 50% more effective at reducing CO2 emissions than switching from a typical gas-guzzler to a hybrid. Watch this video for a great synopsis of the environmental impact of beef.

Do not dispose of chemicals, cleaners, or medicines down any drain. Household cleaners and pharmaceuticals contain chemicals and compounds that react with all the other chemicals and compounds in the waterway (municipal sewer or babbling brook) making a potent cocktail that can weaken local ecosystems or incur the heavier and stronger use of even more chemicals to remove them.

Use up the contents per the instructions, or share leftovers with neighbors until the container is empty

return unused medicines to the pharmacy for proper disposal

Not all street drains lead to the water treatment plant; unless otherwise marked, assume street drains lead directly to local streams. These drains are meant to clear storm water off streets not be used as your personal utility sink.

re: Generate dig a little deeper

Place low-flow aerators on all your sink taps; this reduces the flow from the usual 2.0gpm (gallons per minute) to 1.6 or less (a 20% savings). These do-dads simply screw on the tap and cost a few dollars each, available at your local hardware store

Replace your shower head with a low-flow option, also available at your local hardware store; compare shower heads for lowest "GPM" (gallons per minute). You may want to experiment with different models to find the one that works best with your water pressure and expectations

bottle your own water: start with a ceramic, glass, or steel container and add your own filtered water. Stock your work area with a drinking glass. Click here for a primer on filter types.

Still washing dishes by hand? Revamp your method to avoid running water continuously. The 2-bowl method works best - one side of a double-bowl sink for hot soapy washing water, the other side for cool rinsing water. If at all possible, invest in an Energy Star-labeled dishwasher - one machine will save around 5,000 gallons of water compared to hand-washing, annually

Continue to refine your diet: shop for organically-grown and -raised goods. Small farms, even if not labeled organic, are often more resource-efficient by necessity than their massive agri-business counterparts. Plus, local farms don't have to ship their products as far - reducing transportation costs and energy to boot

Make your own household cleaners (or purchase those with benign ingredients) water and white vinegar can handle most everyday cleaning jobs with ease and dont increase chemical burdens. I like Annie Berthold-Bond's Better Basics for the Home - it's a great resource for recipes and tips for cleaning without synthetic chemicals

Challenge yourself and your family to look at your water habits with a critical eye

re: Imagine now you're talkin' Sustainable

When purchasing new water-using appliances, look for the EPA Energy Star label these dishwashers use 1/3 the water (4 gallons vs the usual 6 gallons per load) and clothes washers with this label save over 18 gallons per load over their non-labeled counterparts.

you may also be eligible for a tax credit when purchasing some Energy Star appliances(see energystar to find out more)

to save even more water with your new dishwasher, scrape instead of pre-rinsing the dishes before they go into the washer. Pre-rinsing can use up to 20 gallons of water, and new dishwashers are designed to handle this task (use the "pre-rinse" setting if dishes will sit overnight; this still uses a fraction of the water you would use hand-rinsinng

Add filters to your shower and tub faucets, to reduce the chemicals (particularly chlorine) you are inhaling in the steam, absorbing through your skin, and putting back into the system during every shower and bath

support efforts to save local wetlands, clean up local waterways, and other local activities that focus on your water supply

Replace your toilets with models that have dual-flush options or less than 1.6 gallons per flush

Invest in an in-line water filter to make tap water safer and tastier (these systems have larger filters that don't need to be changed as often as the pitcher- or faucet-based ones do)

Considering adding a swimming pool or other water feature to your property? A well-designed water feature can
add beauty and efficiency perhaps as part of a rain-water catchment system (as tank or filter) or fire suppression
system (as holding tank) find a pool or landscape designer who specializes in alternative or "green" design

Another major addition worth considering: a Grey-water system separates drain lines so "black" water (from
toilets) goes on to the sewer system while "grey" water is reused for irrigation, filling toilet tanks, etc.