Celebrating World Water Day

With 22 March known as the World Water Day and it is an annual United Nation observance day that focuses on the significance of freshwater. The day is used to promote the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Monash South Africa’s Water Node has gathered some water-conserving guidelines and strategies one can take on as an individual, family or an organisation.

These include (but not limited to):

• Installation of water-saving shower heads – a study has indicated that a water-conserving showerhead utilises up to 50 per cent less water than a usual free flow shower head.
•  Taking shorter showers (five minutes or less is best) – The US Federal Plumbing Standards stipulate that shower taps have a flow rate of not more than an equivalent of about 8.3 litres per minute. If our taps were to follow this regular for a five-minute shower, one would use close to 42 litres of water. Even though, with water-efficient shower head you can save almost 40 per cent of this.
• Installation of water-saving aerators on your taps – Bathroom and kitchen sink taps take about 20 per cent of water utilised in a normal home. Installing water-effective aerators can save up to 40 per cent of water utilised by sink taps. As a method of enhancing the use of water taps, the relevant authorities have to improve plumbing standards in regards to associated water-flow rates for sink taps. The United States of America Federal Plumbing Standards insist that kitchen taps should not use more than an equivalent of about 9.5 litres per minute.
• Use a shut-off nozzle on your garden hose – If we were to utilise the above US standard flow rate, nearly 10 litres of treated water can be wasted in a minute. The savings that result from setting up a shut-off nozzle will balance the initial cost.
• Water your garden and outdoor plants early or late in the day to minimise evaporation – Water your garden early in the morning or later so that less intense sunlight will reduce the quantity of evaporation.
• Use a broom not a hose to clean your driveway(s) – The practice of using a hosepipe to clean your driveway is discouraged as it wastes water, instead, you can use a broom to save water.
• Turn off the tap when scrubbing dishes and pots; turn off the water when soaping your hands or brushing your teeth – The longer your taps are running the more the water you lose which could otherwise have been saved when you are not using it just close it.
• Install toilet cisterns that use less water per flush, less than 5 litres is superlative
• Wash only full loads when using washing machines – This will save energy and also save water as a full load turns to more efficient washing cycle in terms of water and energy usage.
• Not filling swimming pools – A swimming pool can lose water to leaks, although when swimming pools are exposed to the elements they lose a lot of water through evaporation. Add this to the volume of water utilised to fill up the swimming pool at regular intervals can result in the usage of water about 24 kilolitres for the pool only.

It is vital for households to follow these saving water guidelines to conserve the usage of water on a daily basis.

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