News

How To Improve Fresh Water Management

The problem of water stress and scarcity isn’t going to go anywhere any time soon and in fact, it’s likely as time goes on and the global population increases that the issue will only get worse… and worse.

So now’s the time for government and industry to come together to tackle the growing problem, looking at various fresh water management strategies in order to protect our supplies of this precious, life-giving commodity.

Writing for the Guardian, environment correspondent Fiona Harvey explains that although water does appear to be the most renewable of all the resources available to us, the majority of the earth’s water resources are inaccessible… and of those that are accessible, they’re unevenly distributed around the world.

It’s hard to transport water over long distances and every single thing we do needs water, with our requirements growing day by day. For example, one cup of coffee takes 130 litres to make, a t-shirt takes 2,500 litres and a pair of jeans an incredible 10,000 litres. There are currently 7.5 billion people in the world and this is projected to reach over ten billion come the year 2050, so the problem is only going to become more urgent as time goes on.

Water resource management must, therefore, become more effective, with Ms Harvey noting that plugging leaking pipes is a good way of going about this since poorly maintained or ageing infrastructure wastes “vast quantities of water”… with a dripping tap wasting 300 litres a year.

Installing water meters was also suggested because they’re able to provide customers with information about water usage, encouraging them not to waste any, whether that’s through the use of short flush toilets or spray shower heads and taps.

For the agricultural industry, drip irrigation may prove to be a better choice than spraying water on crops, as this latter technique can see the water evaporating before it reaches the roots of the crops.

“But science and technology can only go so far. As with most water issues, the biggest problem is still governance and equity. Farmers will grow what they can to turn a profit, and many have little alternative than to use scarce groundwater resources. Without strong governance, this can lead to disaster as the depletion has a widespread effect on the whole local community,” Ms Harvey went on to observe.

If you and your business want to start doing more to reduce your water footprint and help to protect this much-needed resource, the good news is that there is a lot you can do – which will not only benefit the planet but also help reduce your water bills at the same time.

Analysing your water bills and carrying out a site audit can be a good move, as this will show you just what needs to be improved to alter your water usage. The benefits of prioritising management of your water usage include early water leak detection, assurance that future bills will be right and even possibly being able to claim money back on past water bill errors.