Worth Of Water

  •   Tue, Jun 06 2023
  •   By Sharon D'Souza

June 6, 2023

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry - Thomas Fuller

Water is a precious natural resource that is becoming extremely scarce over the years and climate change is only exacerbating the issue. It is estimated that billions of people still lack access to safe water.

With rapid rise in population, the demand for water is also increasing at a rapid pace. Although coastal Karnataka receives abundant rainfall (3m-4m), water scarcity during the summer months is a common problem that is faced by cities every year. Unfortunately, the problem only seems to get worse year on year. With declining levels of water is dams, receding groundwater levels, dry and contaminated wells are hindering access to safe drinking water.


Phalguni Suspension Bridge, Mullarapattna in Buntwal Taluk, Dakshina Kannada District

Several homes, hotels, institutions, and hospitals are relying on water supplied by tankers to meet their water needs by burning a hole in their pocket. Many educational institutions have resorted to wrapping up exams, semesters early in April to send students home due to shortage of water. Even now, reopening of colleges are being postponed due to lack of water while some others have resumed online mode to restart semesters. We must realize that these are only temporary solutions and we need to think long-term to manage water resources wisely.

The problem is, we often do not think of saving water when we have it in abundance. This often results in mis-management and unnecessary wastage of water. We somehow try to manage the show with tanker water when there is absolutely no water. There is no better time than ‘Now’ for us to realize the importance of this precious resource and it is the need of the hour to devise ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle water at its best as there is no ‘new water.’ Reducing the demand for water is by far the wisest and most important step in our fight against water scarcity.

There are several ways to reduce your water consumption, be it in your home, school, organization, industries etc. Installing water saving devices that are inexpensive (costing much less than a pizza) in all running water points such as taps, health faucets, showers etc., harvesting rainwater, using I.O.T based technologies for monitoring water use etc., are some smart ways that we can adopt to save water.

Use of Waterless urinals can also save up to 1,50,000 litres of water per urinal every year i.e., the drinking water requirement of 14 families for a year.

There are also several behavioural changes that can be adopted to reduce our water consumption, such as judiciously using water, repairing leaks in a timely manner, collecting and reusing water from R.O water purifiers at home to clean vegetables, reuse the water used for cleaning vegetable to water plants, water plants early morning or late evening to minimize evaporation losses etc. are few ways we can be water smart.

Soon it will rain and everyone is going to forget on the importance of saving water. Let this not be our story. Let us choose to invest on water saving devices, harvest rainwater and recharge wells/borewells, practice behavioural changes to save water and spread the word for a sustainable future!!

Always remember, saving water is a choice, an act of being wise when there is abundance. Let us not wait till the well is dry to know the worth of water.

 

 

 

 
By Sharon D'Souza
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Comment on this article

  • Rita, Germany

    Wed, Jun 07 2023

    Sharon well written.Water is important in everyones life.In our body too lot of water is there .Blood self is containing more water .Without water we cant survive ,no animals no trees or nothing.We never thought we would have this problem of scarcity of water.Whole world is suffering due to this.Nothing can survive without water. so everyone should see that what sources we have must preserve and dont waste.Use it with more awareness.When you take the water to wash vegetables ,dont throw it simply into gutter ,but save it to water your plants in garten or in house.But drink enough water to survive .specially school children should drink enough water .

  • Shanon DSilva nee Monteiro, Mangalore

    Wed, Jun 07 2023

    Well written Sharon. The importance of saving water should be taught right from childhood. Rain water harvesting, building more dams is also a good option.

  • Anil, Mangalore

    Wed, Jun 07 2023

    Very well written. Realistic and practical solution. Cost of a medium size pizza is around Rs.200. Considering the amount of water these fixtures can save (even if it is around 50%) it can go a long way in reducing our water consumption. Plus, it will keep on saving water as long as the fixture is present. Considering the amount of money we spend on tankers, i guess, the cost of these fixtures for a family of four can be recovered by avoiding a single water tanker visit. If we are to avoid the water scarcity crises in the future, I think the municipality should take a firm stand at making these water saving fixtures mandatory for mangalore. Please provide contact details where these fixtures are available in Mangalore.

  • Divya, Dubai

    Wed, Jun 07 2023

    Nicely written.. Need of the hour. Thank you..

  • Boney M, Mangalore

    Tue, Jun 06 2023

    A well written article. Thumbs Up to Sharon. I have seen many hotels in the city who don't use the water saving fixtures which hardly costs few bucks. Let us all #BeWise and work towards a sustainable future for our coming generation. Sharon, Please let us know how to contact you to buy & know more about these water saving fixtures. #LetsStartFromOurOwnHome !!!!

  • Stany Jovin Menezes, Muscat

    Tue, Jun 06 2023

    Good Article . The article emphasizes the need to save water and suggests practical measures like installing water-saving devices and adopting behavioural changes to reduce water consumption. It urges people to act now and not wait until water scarcity becomes a crisis.

  • Andrea Monthero, Thane, Mumbai

    Tue, Jun 06 2023

    Well written Sharon! And indeed water is life and we must not preserve it well.


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