Water drought is a weather-related natural disaster; it is caused by a decreased precipitation over an extended period and results in shortage of water reserves and supplies. It has its effect on every aspect of our daily life; there is less water available for growing crops, farming animals, industry in droughts. Droughts also affect our overall environment by destroying animals homes and habitat, causing erosions and increasing the price of food as agriculture is affected by the diminished water supplies.
Drought
The households in the US use an average of 400 gallons of water per day . So conserving water by cutting down on the water usage sounds like a great idea.
Here below are some examples of the amount of water we use everyday. So how much can we actually save?
|
Used |
Liters |
| Taking a Bath |
80 Liters |
| Five Minute Shower (not power shower) |
35 Liters |
| Brushing Teeth with the Tap On |
6 Liters |
| Brushing Teeth with the Tap Off |
1 Liters |
| Flushing The Toilet |
6 Liters |
| Washing Machine |
60 Liters |
| Dishwasher |
40 Liters |
| Car Washing Using a Bucket |
10 Liters |
| Hosepipe/ Sprinkler |
540 Liters |
IN CA, bans have issued on outdoors watering to cut it by as much as 20 percent.
Solutions for cutting the usage of water can be:
- Running the washing machines only with full loads
- Take shorter showers
- Sweeping the driveways instead of watering
If applied this will conserve an average of1000 gallons consumption/ month.
One of the solutions proposed is “Graywater Recycling” (Graywater is non-industrial wastewater generated from domestic practices like dishwashing, showering, laundry any water usage in the houses except the toilet water and comprises 50-80% of residential wastewater) to be used for functions as flushing toilets, watering plants. The good news is that gray water is easy to treat, it’s becoming increasingly popular for people to collect and reuse in their own homes.
It is mostly used to water plants, 2007, EPA announced that irrigation water is 15% of total water consumption in the United States , the same kind of water we consume for human drinking, places like Golf courses consume way more water
But it is important to note that Graywater is not benign as it contains certain degree of contamination that might/will cause sickness or malaise of used by humans.
- Dishwasher water can contain some rotten food particles,
- Washing machines Graywater can contain:
- Useful components like phosphorus and nitrogen used in fertilizers
- Harmful components as Bleach which is a hazardous chemical
- Sodium salts used as softening agents in some products. These salts are toxic to the plants as they poison the soil (this can be avoided by alternating watering Graywater and fresh water or spreading gypsum (calcium sulfate) over the soil at a rate of two pounds per 100 square feet about once a month)
- Bath water contains:
1. Soap that is less harmful since you use it on your own skin which makes bathwater the better water for Graywater plant watering
2. Fecal matter and dead skin cells
3. Gray water is alkaline-rich, it’s not suitable for use in watering acid-loving plants
In some states it’s not legal to collect and use gray water, and in others it’s necessary to obtain permits and observe restrictions first. In some states it is required that the gray water systems remain entirely underground and irrigate plants directly at the roots, using the flood method or drip irrigation systems. So it is advisable to use gray water only for the ornamental plants and lawn and not even spraying or misting it on fruit trees, vegetables or root plants consumed by humans as the roots absorb the harmful components of the gray water. Gray water should be irrigated only on flat ground and avoid steep slopes where runoff into other yards could be a problem
In my next blog (part 2) I will explore how to collect and recycle Graywater
Cheers,
Sahar Andrade
Sahar Cosulting
www.linkedin.com.in/saharandrade
Columnist at EcoChamber
http://www.ecochamber.com/category/columnists/sahar-andrade-columnists/
