Tips for Conserve Water

Dear Readers,

We are entering the Summer, already water crises are started in major cities. So, we should start saving the water we have and use the water we have, economically. Here are a few ideas on how to conserve water.

1. Almost all of us have reverse osmosis (RO) system installed at home for water for drinking and cooking. I am sure everyone knows that it lets out almost one litre water to produce one litre drinking water. So, keep a bucket to the outlet and store this water. This can very well be used for cleaning the floor, for toilet etc. What they normally say is, the bacteria which is there in this water will die in half an hour time when get exposed to normal air.
2. Similarly, a bucket can be placed in the AC outlet. Everyday morning this water can be used for the plants in your flat, to clean your cars or even be drained into the rainwater harvesting system so that the ground water can get charged. In fact, these outlets can be connected on a regular basis to get drained there.
3. Stop using running water for cleaning utensils and use water from bucket. By this practice lot of water can be saved.
4. Similarly use shower for bathing. This also would reduce water consumption.
5. Use your washing machine when you have a full load because washing machines are designed in such a way that it uses almost the same amount of water for washing low load to very high load.
6. If your washing machine's outlet is not connected to the closed drain. That is if the machine's outlet is let out in the bathroom, then the soap water which comes out of the machine can very well be used to soak your utensils which you have used for cooking.
7. 
   Some of us face a problem with dust in the water. For example, the borewell water may turn slightly muddy when the water bed goes down or because of the accumulated dirt in the overhead tank, the water may come with dust. Please don't waste this water. Keep a block of Alum in the bathroom. Just dip this in the bucket that has the muddy water and allow it to dissolve by rotating your hand. A few rotations will do. After about 10-15 minutes you will see the dust and muddy substances settled in the bottom and crystal-clear water in the top! This Alum would be available in all medical shops.

Save Water

We should start saving the water we have and use the water we have, economically. Here are a few ideas on how to conserve water..

1. Almost all of us have reverse osmosis (RO) system installed at home for water for drinking and cooking. I am sure everyone know that it let's out almost one litre water to produce one litre drinking water. So keep a bucket to the outlet and store this water. This can very well be used for cleaning the floor, for toilet etc. What they normally say is, the bacteria which is there in this water will die in half an hour time when get exposed to normal air.

2. Similarly a bucket can be placed in the AC outlet. Everyday morning this water can be used for the plants in your flat, to clean your cars or even be drained into the rainwater harvesting system so that the ground water can get charged. In fact these outlets can be connected on a regular basis to get drained there.

3. Stop using running water for cleaning utensils and use water from bucket. By this practice lot of water can be saved.

4. Similarly use shower for bathing. This also would reduces water consumption.

5. Use your washing machine when you have a full load because washing machines are designed in such a way that it uses almost the same amount of water for washing low load to very high load.

6. If your washing machine's outlet is not connected to the closed drain. That is if the machine's outlet is let out in the bathroom, then the soap water which comes out of the machine can very well be used to soak your utensils which you have used for cooking.

7. Some of us face a problem with dust in the water. For example the bore well water may turn slightly muddy when the water bed goes down or because of the accumulated dirt in the overhead tant, the water may come with dust. Please don't waste this watter. Keep a block of Alam (padigaram in tamil) in the bathroom. Just dip this in the bucket that has the muddy water and allow it to dissolve by rotating your hand. A few rotations will do. After about 10-15 minutes you will see the dust and muddy substances settled in the bottom and crystal clear water in the top ! This Alam would be available in all Naatu marundhu shops.

These are some of the ideas.

If you come across any good ideas to save water please do share. Little drops of water make the mighty ocean.

Water saved is water produced.

Water Properties

This is in continuation with my previous post on World Water Day

Drinking water standards

For Physical and chemical properties of  drinking water and acceptable limit please refer below tables

Table-1

Click on Picture to enlarge

Table-2

World Water Day

World Water Day, celebrated annually on March 22, was established by the United Nations in 1992.

An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day.

UN-Water is dedicating World Water Day 2010 to the theme of water quality “Clean water for a Healthy World “

Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. Please note that a brief overview of the different themes that have been the focus of World Water Day celebrations.
2009: Transboundary Waters (Shared Water - Shared Opportunities)
2008: Sanitation (coincided with the International Year of Sanitation)
2007: Coping with Water Scarcity
2006: Water and Culture
2005: Water for Life
2004: Water and Disasters
2003: Water for Future
2002: Water for Development
2001: Water for Health
2000: Water for the Twenty-first Century
1999: Everyone Lives Downstream
1998: Ground Water – The invisible Resource
1997: The World’s Water, Is There Enough
1996: Water for Thirsty Cities
1995: Women & Water
1994: Caring for our Water Resources is Everyone’s Business

Worldwide water quality is declining mainly due to human activities. Increasing population growth, rapid urbanization, discharge of new pathogens and new chemicals from industries and invasive species are key factors that contribute to the deterioration of water quality.

Sufficient quality of water is critical to ensure a healthy environment and human health. The basic requirement per person per day is 20 to 40 liters of water free from harmful contaminants and pathogens for the purposes of drinking and sanitation, rising to 50 liters when bathing and kitchen needs are considered.

Source. www.unwater.org