3 Misconceptions About Saving Water and the Truth Behind Them
Utilities.buzz
3 Misconceptions About Saving Water and the Truth Behind Them
Diving into the world of water conservation can be a maze of myths and half-truths. This article demystifies common misconceptions about saving water, backed by hard facts and expert insights. Discover how small actions can lead to substantial changes and why some well-intended habits might not be as effective as thought.
- Turning Off Tap Overhyped for Conservation
- Individual Conservation Influences Others
- We Waste Electricity, Not Water
Turning Off Tap Overhyped for Conservation
One big one: "Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth saves a ton of water and is a game-changer for conservation." People love this-it's the poster child of eco-tips, pushed everywhere from school PSAs to green blogs. The truth? It saves water, sure, but the impact's overhyped. Letting the faucet run for two minutes might waste 2-4 gallons tops (per EPA estimates, assuming a standard 2 gallons-per-minute flow). Brush twice a day, that's 4-8 gallons daily. Sounds decent, right? Except household water use averages 300 gallons a day in the U.S. (USGS data), and the big hogs are showers (20%), toilets (24%), and leaks (12%). That 4-8 gallons is a drop in the bucket-2% or less of your total. Meanwhile, irrigation and industry guzzle way more globally; agriculture alone sucks up 70% of freshwater (World Bank stats). Twitter posts hype this tip like it's saving the planet, but it's small fries next to, say, fixing a dripping pipe (10-20 gallons daily) or cutting lawn watering. Don't get me wrong-turn off the tap. It's easy, and every bit counts. But the real kicker is thinking it's a heavy hitter when it's not. Focus on the fat leaks or that 10-minute shower instead. What's your water-saving pet peeve-got one you want me to dissect?
Individual Conservation Influences Others
It has literally always been my dream to say this out loud. The misconception is that 'even if I work on my own water conservation, it won't move the overall needle.' The truth is, have you ever taken the time to calculate just how much water you consume? On a daily basis? During your morning routine? Have you ever considered not only making the choice to change your habits, but to influence the habits of those closest to you? Have you thought about what might happen if then those people also influenced their circles? While I may have learned this spending time both in places of water deficiency and sufficiency (obviously not always depending on drought conditions), it has been obvious for a long time that individual water conservation does, in fact, matter. Man, that felt great.
We Waste Electricity, Not Water
This has always been a tricky one. Fact is, we never waste water. It never goes away. We have the exact same water on our planet now as we did when it was formed. We waste clean water. When water goes down the drain and it is "wasted" (because we leave the faucet running when brushing our teeth or the 30-minute shower) the water that goes down the drain does not go into the abyss. It joins the other wastewater that is being discarded from the toilet, washing machine, etc. It dilutes the chemicals or bad stuff in the water. It makes the process easier to solve (cleaning the wastewater to make it drinkable again). We don't waste water- we waste electricity. It takes a lot of electricity to purify water- whatever method you choose and the fact is to move that water from the drain back to the sink supposedly safe takes a lot of energy to move. If we looked over the distance traveled from drain back to the plant, processed and sent back to the faucet you would realize the waste is energy not water. The water issue isn't the issue- it's clean, safe water where we need it most. That's the problem. Now turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth. Our tax water bills are paying the cost of delivering it back to your faucet.
