Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CONSERVATION
The protection, development, and efficient management of water resources for
beneficial purposes. Nearly every human activity—from agriculture to
transportation to daily living—relies on water resources and affects the
availability and quality of those resources. Water resource development has
played a role in flood control, agricultural production, industrial and energy
development, fish and wildlife resource management, navigation, and a host of
other activities. As a result of these impacts, natural hydrologic features have
changed through time, pollution has decreased the quality of remaining water
resources, and global climate change may affect the distribution of water in the
future. See also Hydrology.
Worldwide, nearly 4000 km3 of water is withdrawn every year from surface and
ground waters. This is a sixfold increase from the levels withdrawn in 1900
(since which time population has increased four times). Agriculture accounts for
the greatest proportion of water use, with about two-thirds of water withdrawals
and 85% of water consumption. It also accounts for a great proportion of the
increase in water use, with irrigated cropland more than doubling globally since
1960. However, in Europe and North America particularly, industry consumes a
large proportion of available water; industrial uses for water are anticipated to
grow on other continents as well.
Ground-water resources have been depleted in the last century, with many
aquifers or artesian sources being depleted more rapidly than they can be
recharged. This is called ground-water overdraft. In the United States, ground-
water overdraft is a serious problem in the High Plains from Nebraska to Texas
and in parts of California and Arizona. See also Ground-water hydrology.
Streams have traditionally served for waste disposal. Towns and cities,
industries, and mines provide thousands of pollution sources. Pollution dilution
requires large amounts of water. Treatment at the source is safer and less
wasteful than flushing untreated or poorly treated wastes downstream.
However, sufficient flows must be released to permit the streams to dilute,
assimilate, and carry away the treated effluents. See also Water pollution.
The increasing utilization of the continental shelf for oil drilling and transport,
siting of nuclear power plants, and various types of planned and inadvertent
waste disposal, as well as for food and recreation, requires careful management
of human activities in this ecosystem. Nearshore waters are presently subject to
both atmospheric and coastal input of pollutants in the form of heavy metals,
synthetic chemicals, petroleum hydrocarbons, radionuclides, and other urban
wastes. Overfishing is an additional human-induced stress. Physical transport of
pollutants, their modification by the coastal food web, and demonstration of
transfer to humans are sequential problems of increasing complexity on the
continental shelf.
Finally, dredging waters to fill wetlands for house lots, parking lots, or industrial
sites destroys the marshes that provide sanctuary for waterfowl and for the
young of estuarine fishes. As the bay bottom is torn up, the loosened sediments
shift about with the current and settle in thick masses on the bottom,
suffocating animals and plants. In this way, the marshes are eliminated and the
adjoining bays are degraded as aquatic life zones. The northeast Atlantic states
have lost 45,000 acres (182 km2) of coastal wetlands in only 10 years, and San
Francisco Bay has been nearly half obliterated by filling. Dredging to remove
sand and gravel has the same disruptive effects as dredging for landfill or other
purposes, whether the sand and gravel are sold for profit or used to replenish
beach sand eroded away by storms. The dredging of boat channels adds to the
siltation problem, and disposal of dredge spoils is being regulated in coastal
areas.
Replacing an 18 liter per flush toilet with an ultra-low volume (ULV) 6 liter flush
model represents a 70% savings in water flushed and will cut indoor water use
by about 30%.
11. Use your dishwasher and clothes washer for only full loads
Automatic dishwashers and clothes washers should be fully loaded for optimum
water conservation. Most makers of dishwashing soap recomend not pre-rinsing
dishes which is a big water savings.
With clothes washers, avoid the permanent press cycle, which uses an added 20
liters (5 gallons) for the extra rinse. For partial loads, adjust water levels to
match the size of the load. Replace old clothes washers. New Energy Star rated
washers use 35 - 50% less water and 50% less energy per load. If you're in the
market for a new clothes washer, consider buying a water-saving frontload
washer.
13. When washing dishes by hand, don't leave the water running for rinsing
If your have a double-basin, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water.
If you have a single-basin sink, gather washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse
them with a spray device or a panful of hot water. If using a dishwasher, there is
usually no need to pre-rinse the dishes.
14. Don't let the faucet run while you clean vegetables Just rinse them in a
stoppered sink or a pan of clean water.
15. Keep a bottle of drinking water in the fridge. Running tap water to cool it off
for drinking water is wasteful.