Water is essential to human existence, to our food and health, to industry and agriculture, and to all the ecosystems on which we all depend.
There are many different issues impacting on water and the way we use it, and many are complex and interconnected. Clean water is often thought of as a free resource, and taken for granted in this country, but it is indeed precious and its abundance is threatened. So what can we all do to ensure sufficient good quality water is available for our families and communities, now and into the future?
Southern Water offer FREE home visits to talk about your water use and fit water-saving devices in your home so you can reduce your use and save money on your bills.
During the visit, an engineer will talk to you about your water usage and fit a variety of free water-saving devices – worth over £100 – such as tap inserts, water-efficient showerheads and dual-flush converters.
South East Water provide water saving devices free (some discounted) to customers. These include items for toilet, shower, taps & garden.
Items like a shower timer will help you to change habits whilst easy to install tap inserts will convert your taps to use less water.
We live in a country where every household has access to a tap full of clean drinking water and yet in 2019, approximately 2.8 billion litres of bottled water was consumed in the UK!
As well as the packaging that is needed for the water, it also uses energy and factories to process the water, lorries and boats to move the water around and retail space and sometimes refrigeration to sell the water to the consumer. Not only that, an estimated two gallons of water are used, for every gallon of water purified to put into the bottle!
For more information about bottled water, this online booklet from Sustainweb.org is very interesting.
It it crazy that we choose to buy bottled water when 1 in 3 people globally do not have access to clean drinking water. (Unicef)
Find out how charities are helping to provide access to clean drinking water in areas that need it and how you can help.
Wateraid
Oxfam
So in a country with cheap, clean drinking water. Please carry a refill bottle with you and use the Refill App to find businesses who will refill your bottle for free.
Find out how and where you use water in your home and discover easy ways to reduce your use, small steps at a time.
GetWaterFit provide an online survey where you answer a series questions to calculate your household water usage and cost. It compares your usage to the national average and gives you some useful pointers if you want to same water, energy and money!
The Sussex Flow Initiative (SFI) is a Natural Flood Management (NFM) project working with and restoring natural processes to reduce flood risk within the River Ouse catchment, in Sussex. It formed by a partnership between Woodland Trust, Sussex Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency with support from Lewes District Council.
With wetter winters and increased heavy rainfall events it is important that the flow of our rivers is decreased preventing flooding. SFI are always looking for volunteers you would like to learn more by helping.
If you look on the back of your household cleaners, you’ll probably see a symbol. Have you ever thought whether we should be putting these chemicals down our drains? It must be ok or they wouldn’t sell it, right?
Even after passing through water treatment plants, small quantities of chemical compounds from cleaning products can find their way into rivers, ponds and lakes and have adverse effects on aquatic life. Phosphates in laundry and dishwasher detergent have a fertilising effect, triggering the widespread growth of algae that saps away the water’s oxygen, reducing biodiversity.
Soap added to water allows other pollutants in water bodies to be absorbed more easily by plants and animals. Many other compounds can be toxic to wildlife, or affect growth and reproduction, for instance by mimicking the effects of hormones in mammals and fish.
By Alexandra Franklin-Cheung of BBC Science Focus
During heavy rain, untreated sewage can enter rivers and the sea from storm drains. This has become increasingly common: www.theguardian.com
Sewage wastewater discharges by water companies into rivers account for damage to 36% of waterways: www.theguardian.com
Soap and water is just as effective as antibacterial cleaning products: www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au
Most cleaning tasks can be completed with a few environmentally friendly ingredients – bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, citric acid, soda crystals and liquid soap. Dri-pak who produce these ingredients have many cleaning tips on their website: https://www.dri-pak.co.uk/
One tip I like which saves transporting bulky goods and unnecessary packaging is to dilute citric acid and use in place of vinegar in cleaning tasks:
www.dri-pak.co.uk/ making a white vinegar substitute
Dri-pak products can be found in Home Hardware.