Water is precious, life-giving and we are, sadly, wasting so much of it.
There is nothing better than a nice cold glass of water. Because water is used by every cell in our body, this life-giving substance helps us regulate our body temperature and maintain various bodily functions. Even your brain is mostly water, so a glass of water can help you focus and concentrate better. It also helps to flush toxins out of our bodies.
Though clean, potable water is extremely important to us, there are many things that we are doing as a species to squander this precious resource.
Here in South Africa, the water quality depends on whether you live in an urban area or not. In the cities we have access to fairly clean water. In fact, our drinking water is among the best in the world, and we are one of only a few countries where it is safe to drink straight from the tap!
In rural areas however, the picture isn’t as crystal clear. Millions of South Africans lack access to water and basic sanitation. As a result, the threat of waterborne disease is steadily increasing. The Vaal River, for example, is so contaminated with raw sewage that Rand Water has warned against contact with water in the river.
Pollution of our water makes it unusable for several other applications, making it a terrible waste. There are several ways that people are adding strain to the water system such as urbanisation, deforestation, the destruction of wetlands, industrial run-off, and more. Entire ecosystems are disturbed by the damming up of rivers, which is a double-edged sword. While dammed water allows for the storage of clean water, this is to the detriment of anything downstream that relies on the various nutrients and sediments in the water. Dams also have a large surface area, which leads to increased evaporation of water and the water could experience enhanced eutrophication, which is when water gets excessive plant and algae growth.
While our water quality is good now (in urban areas at least), it is in a fragile state. South Africa is an arid country, with an annual rainfall well below the world’s average. It wasn’t that long ago that the whole of the Western Cape had a water crisis and there were fears that Cape Town would be the first major city in the world to run out of water. For a time, non-essential usage of water was heavily restricted, and grey water usage was encouraged. The rains eventually broke the drought, but it was a good indicator of how fragile the risk management infrastructure was, and what the future could hold.
What can we do?
While it is easy to think about our water situation and what the future could bring and become disheartened, there is a lot we can do to improve the situation. Cape Town’s water crisis showed how being more aware of your water usage and everyone working towards a common goal saved millions of litres of water. Using grey water for non-essential purposes, taking shorter showers, not leaving taps running and fixing leaks all add up over time. In Hong Kong, sea water is used for flushing toilets, which prevents perfectly good drinking water being used.
Think about your water usage? Do you have low-flow showerheads installed, and do you take too long in the shower? Do you collect rainwater off your roof to water the garden, or to top up your swimming pool? There are many ways that we can all work together to save water, which all add up to protecting us against future shortages.