Water Conservation - Facts & Tips

Brought To YouBy BestRainBarrel.com

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com

WATER CONSERVATION - FACTS & TIPS

First Published 2012

Copyright BestRainBarrel.com 2012 The right of BestRainBarrel.com to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Condition Of Sale

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com

Table Of Contents
1. 2. 3. Introduction ....................................................................................................4 Water Facts ...................................................................................................5 Water Conservation Tips ...............................................................................9 3.1. Bathroom ................................................................................................ 9 3.2. Kitchen & Laundry ................................................................................10 3.3. Swimming Pool.....................................................................................11 3.4. Food & Drink......................................................................................... 11 3.5. Cars ......................................................................................................12 3.6. Travel....................................................................................................12 3.7. Outdoors............................................................................................... 12 4. Resources....................................................................................................15

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com

1.

Introduction
Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink is a fairly famous

quotation from The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

On first reading, it doesnt make much sense, and while it was written over 200 years ago, these words have more meaning today than you could possibly imagine.

In this short report, we will present you with some interesting, and maybe startling, facts about water, as well as some tips on how to conserve this precious resource.

We hope you enjoy this free report and find it useful.

BestRainBarrel.com

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com

2.

Water Facts

So, what does the quotation in the Introduction really mean?

After all, water is one of the most abundant resources on earth, isnt it?

Well, yes it is, but did you know that less than 2% of it is actually drinkable? 97% is salt water, which youll find in the oceans and sea, and almost 2% is frozen. (And that means we need to be really careful how we use what little bit of drinkable water there is.)

Water also makes up three quarters (i.e. 75%) of the human body. Thats so much water, youd think youd be able to hear yourself sloshing around when you walk.

Seriously, though, although we humans can last for up to a month without food, we can only go a week, or maybe less, without water - and that water has to be at the very least drinkable, as any old water just wont do.

Sadly however, most people take water for granted, but when you start looking at how much water is consumed in the production of everyday items, the so-called water cost, then it really makes you stop and think.

For example:

a cow needs to drink four gallons of water to produce one gallon of milk a single cup of coffee requires 55 gallons of water to make it, most of which is used to water the coffee beans -5-

Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com whether you agree with it or not, eating a vegan diet consumes about 600 gallons of water per day less than a regular American diet, which requires about 1,000 gallons of water (and thats 100 gallons more than the global average water requirement per person per day for diet, transportation, energy, household use and whatever is consumed in the production of material goods) one gallon of gasoline (or petrol) needs about 13 gallons of water to make it one pound of cotton uses up a massive 100 gallons of water - and on average, one American buys approximately 35 pounds of new cotton clothing every year

And when you look at the water cost of travel, the figures get really amazing.

Lets take a relatively short plane trip, from San Francisco to Los Angeles and back, which is only 700 miles or so. Are you ready for this? That one round trip eats up a massive 9,000 gallons of water! (And thats enough for nearly 2,000 dishwasher loads.)

When you calculate the water cost of longer plane trips, then you can multiply these numbers several times - fly from New York to LA and back and thats the same as flushing your toilet over four times per day for an entire year!

Heres one final water cost fact for you: to produce one days newspapers in the United States consumes a massive 300 million gallons of water.

What other water usage facts can we tell you? -6-

Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com

If every household in the United States had just one faucet that dripped once per second, then over 900 million gallons of water would be wasted - every single day!

When you consider that Americans only drink just over 100 million gallons of water per day, an 800 million-gallon drip is an awful lot of wastage.

In some states, most notably the Golden State (i.e. California), landscaping uses up around half of the water in most homes, which is something well return to later on. (Flushing the toilet uses up another 20%, and taking showers an additional 18%.)

Staying in the bathroom, a full tub uses up about 36 gallons of water, whereas a shower only requires 15 - 25 gallons.

Instead of buying a six-pack of soda, you could fill 15,000 8oz glasses of water for the same money - and it would be a lot healthier for you too!

The fact is, however you look at it, you can no longer ignore the water cost of everything you do and consume on a daily basis.

More and more chemicals are being dumped into the worlds waterways, whether it is canals, rivers, lakes, seas or oceans. These figures are somewhat old, dating back to 1990, but even then, 197 million pounds of toxic chemicals were

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com dumped by industry that year, so imagine what its like today - prescription drugs, industrial waste, fluoride, mercury, and who knows what else?

So, what can we all do to help? After all, and this may be a bit of a clich, but we have to ask, what sort of world are we leaving for our children, and our childrens children?

If we dont want to bequeath them some sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland, then we need to do something now, before its too late.

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com

3.

Water Conservation Tips

In this section, well be looking at a variety of ways in which you can reduce your water footprint.

Individually, they may not amount to much, but if we all do our bit, then it adds up to something truly significant.

Whats important is to do something, any little bit that you can, because that will be a step in the right direction.

3.1. Bathroom
Generally speaking, having a shower uses a lot less water than having a bath - and its probably a more effective way of getting clean anyway.

If you make sure your shower has a low-flow showerhead, you can save up to 15 gallons of water during a 10-minute shower.

Make sure your toilet is a low-flush unit. The older standard toilets use about 3.5 gallons of water per flush, whereas the newer ones save substantial amounts of water during the course of a day by only using 1-2 gallons/flush.

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com

If you dont have such a toilet, as soon as you can swap out the inefficient water hogs for a more water-friendly model. technology has been around for a while. The price is not that bad as this

And dont flush the toilet unnecessarily. For example dont throw waste paper or dead bugs down it and flush - put that sort of stuff in a trash can instead.

When its time to clean your teeth or have a shave, dont leave the water running all the time - turn the faucet off when you dont need the water, and turn it on again when you do.

3.2. Kitchen & Laundry

Provided that you run your dishwasher full, youll use from 4 - 6 gallons of water compared to up to 20 if you wash the dishes by hand.

If youre in the market for a new washer, try to go for a front-loader, as these washers use about half the amount of water of top-loaders 20 gallons vs. 40 gallons. (They are also

typically more energy-efficient too.)

Also, you should try to buy an energy-efficient appliance, as this will save energy, water and money. In fact, this is something you should do no matter what

appliance youre getting.

On your dishwasher as well as any other appliances, use the energy saving program wherever possible too.

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com 3.2.1. Faucets

Make sure that none of your faucets are leaking, as every little drip adds up to a lot of wasted water (up to an amazing 100 gallons per day), and money too, of course.

3.3. Swimming Pool

If you are fortunate enough to have your own swimming pool, then make sure you cover it when its not being used. If you dont, hundreds of gallons of water can evaporate into the air every month. Need some ideas?

3.4. Food & Drink

Although your water footprint will be smaller if you eat less meat and dairy products, however, if you are going to eat beef, its better to go for grass-fed rather than grain-fed. This is because grain requires a lot more water than grass. (Another advantage is that grass-fed beef is better for you, as its typically not full of chemicals such as pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics.)

When youre washing fruit and vegetables, dont run water from the faucet over them use a bowl of water instead (which you can then re-use, of course).

Rather than letting the tap run for a few minutes whenever you want a glass of cool water, which is wasteful, its better to store your drinking water in the refrigerator.

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com In fact, you should never throw water away down the drain without thinking first if there is something else you could use it for, such as putting it on the garden or flower beds or house plants.

Try to reduce your coffee consumption. Again, not only will you probably feel better for it, but youll use up far less water.

3.5. Cars
Try to wash your car less frequently, especially if you use a hose, as this can consume up to 150 gallons of water.

An even better approach is to use a bucket of water and soap for the main wash, and only use a hose (with a shutoff nozzle) for the final rinse.

3.6. Travel
As we said earlier, air travel requires an inordinate amount of water, so try to make sure you fly only when absolutely necessary.

3.7. Outdoors
You should only water your lawn when it needs it. How do you tell when? Well, if you stand on the grass and it springs back up when you walk away, then it doesnt need water; if, on the other hand, it stays flat, then it does indeed need water. - 12 -

Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com

And when you do need to water your lawns, its best to do so early in the morning, or during the evening, when both the wind speed and temperature are lowest, as this will minimise any water loss through evaporation.

If you use your water hose to wash leaves and other debris off your driveway, youll waste hundreds of gallons of water. Why not just take a broom and sweep it clean instead?

And finally, did you know that just half an inch of rain falling on a 1,000 square foot roof yields somewhere around 300 gallons of water?

Thats

why

we

strongly

recommend using a rain barrel (or two, or three) to catch that water, which you can then use for watering your lawn and flowers. (Note that you must NOT use this water for drinking!)

This means you can catch water during the wetter months of the year and use it on your garden during the hotter months. By using rain barrels, its estimated you can save around 1,300 gallons of water during that vital growing season when plants and flowers most need it.

Not only is this water free, and not only does it conserve drinkable water that would otherwise be used, but its also better - it contains fewer chemicals, no calcium or lime, had less sediment, and its softer too.

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com Now, one point to bear in mind with rain barrels is the need for a tight cover - the last thing you need is for the barrel to become a breeding ground for diseasecarrying mosquitoes or algae.

Remember too that if you live somewhere where it freezes during winter, then youll need to move your rain barrel indoors so that it doesnt crack.

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Water Conservation - Facts & Tips By BestRainBarrel.com

4.

Resources

If youre looking to save water and/or lead a healthier, greener more fulfilling life, then here are a few more resources that you will find useful:

Food & Diet Green Cookware - green cookware not only helps the environment, but its also healthier for you too as youre not poisoning your body with chemicals and toxic metals Healthy Eating - discover facts about healthy eating, lifestyle fitness, exercise programs as well as healthy recipes you can easily make at home Healthy Snacks For Kids - children are frequently hungry, but rather than stuff them full of junk food that will cause problems for them in later life, why not check out this great variety of healthy snacks that you wont feel guilty about giving them

Green Living Being Green - youll find all sorts of products on this site to help you live a greener, more planet-friendly life, including household cleaning products, solar-powered appliances, wind turbines and even fun projects for children Rain Barrels - if you want to do your bit for planet Earth, why not invest in a rain barrel (or two) so that you dont have to waste regular tap water

This free report was brought to you by BestRainBarrel.com

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