Professor Hall
Philosophy 101
8/4/2014
Saving Water
Water is a natural resource that many take for granted; yet it is one we are quick to mourn when it is not present when we need it, such as for drinking, or when a disaster occurs that thrusts its vulnerability to the forefront of our daily news.
Twenty years from now, will you have abundant, clean water? Unfortunately, the answer may be no, unless you want to buy water at $3 per gallon. People are already starting to conserve water. Many communities are putting restrictions on water usage, but this is not enough. If we don 't change our habits, in the next 20 years fresh water rivers and lakes may run dry. The adult human uses on average about 100 gallons of water a day. Utah’s population as of 2009 is about 2.8 million, making domestic water usage about 278 million gallons per day. This is only about 0.3% of Utah’s overall daily water usage. The other 99.7% goes to public supply, aquaculture, industrial work, and irrigation. This is only a small percentage compared to what the rest of the world is using. Only about 2.5% of earth’s water is fresh and only 1% is actually attainable for usage. The available water on earth has not changed. The same water we have today has been recycled for millions of years, we are not gaining any more. I don’t believe putting up restrictions would help to conserve water, rather people could take certain steps that would help build a water-secure future.
Water is an important resource for life and living. We drink water, we use water to bathe, we use water to cook, and we use water to stay hydrated. In turn, it’s very important to conserve water and use it when needed. Many people use water today without asking these questions: ‘What would I do without water?’ or ‘I wonder what it would it would be like to not have water directly inside of our houses, what would we do if we had to go out and find the water ourselves?’ That is the epidemic people in this world are
Cited: Why Conserve Water?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.farnellfamily.com/cfarnell/why/ Elder, M.B. (n.d.). Freshwater Studies. Retrieved from http://mathinscience.info/teach/612_science/biolife_envisci/freshwater/fresh_water.htm Saunders, D.L., Meewig, J.J., & Vincent, A.C.J. (2002). Conservation Biology Vol.16 . : Wiley for Society for Conservation Biology. Human Impacts on Water Quality. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.atlas.keystone.edu/edu/Community_Resources/basics/04humanimpacts.htm Water Conservation: A Guide to Promoting Public Awareness. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.unep.org/training/programmes/Instructor%20Version/Part_2/Activities/Interest_Groups/Public_Awareness/Supplemental/Water_Conservation_A_Guide_to_Promoting_Public_Awareness.pdf http://www.teenink.com/hot_topics/environment/article/4399/Will-You-Have-Water-in-20-Years/ http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/reasons-protect-conserve-water-resources