Worth of Water will be known, When it`s gone

Water is being wasted by millions of people on earth. They use water so haphazardly that water is deteriorating.

There are several examples that water is being wasted:

• Letting the water run when shaving or brushing your teeth.
• Not using a stopper when filling the sink to wash dishes by hand.
• Taking long showers without using a low flow showerhead. Reducing your shower time by just 1-2 minute can save up to 700 gallons per month. Using a low flow showerhead can save up to 800 gallons of water per month.
• Not repairing leaky faucets.
• Not regularly checking and repairing leaks inside the home (e.g. bathtubs, faucets, and toilets).
• We left the tap uncluttered once washing our hands.
• Using the toilet as a wastebasket. Wastes up to 5 gallons per flush
• Not using a pool cover which reduces water loss due to normal evaporation.
• Not using compost or mulch to reduce water runoff and evaporation.
• Not seasonally checking the irrigation systems for leaks.
• Not watering between 9:00 a.m. and Noon or after 8:00 p.m. when water evaporation is minimal.
• People overwater the lawn.

Now I tell you how water is beneficial for us:

1. It lubricates the joints: Cartilage is found in joints and the disks of the spines that contain around 80 percent of water. Long term dehydration can reduce joint pain and shock absorbing ability.
2. It forms saliva and mucus: Saliva helps us digest our food and keeps the mouth, nose, and eyes moist. This prevents friction and damage. Drinking water also keeps the mouth clean. Consumed instead of sweetened beverages, it can also reduce tooth decay.
3. It delivers throughout the body: Blood is more than 90 percent water, and blood carries oxygen to different parts of the body.
4. It boosts skin health and beauty: With dehydration, the skin can become more vulnerable to skin disorders and premature wrinkling.
5. It cushions the brain, spinal cord and other sensitive tissues: Dehydration can affect brain structure and function. It is also involved in the production of hormones and neurotransmitters. Prolonged dehydration can lead to problems with thinking and reasoning.
6. It regulates the body temperature: Water that is stored in the middle layers of the skin comes to the skin’s surfaceas sweat when the body heats up. As it evaporates, it cools the body.
7. It flushes body waste: Water is needed in the processes of sweating and removal of urine.
8. It helps maintain blood pressure: A lack of water can cause blood to become thicker, increasing blood pressure.
9. It prevents kidney damage: The kidneys regulate fluid in the body. Insufficient water can lead to kidney stonesand other problems.

We should store or save water in any possible way to avoid wastage of water.

Now I’ll tell you how we can conserve water:

1. Check your toilet for leaks: Put a few drops of food coloring in your toilet tank. If, without flushing, the coloring begins to appear in the bowl, you have a leak that may be wasting more than 100 gallons of water a day.
2. Stop using your toilet as a waste basket: Every cigarette butt or tissue you flush away also flushes away five to seven gallons of water.
3. Take short showers: A typical shower uses five to ten gallons of water a minute. Limit your showers to the time it takes to soap up, wash down a rise off.
4. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth: before brushing, wet your brush and fill a glass for cleaning a mouth
5. Keep a bottle of drinking water in a refrigerator: This puts a stop to the wasteful practice of running tap water to cool it for drinking.
6. If you wash dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running for rinsing: gather all your washed dishes in a dish rack, then rinse them frequently with a spray device or a pan of water.
7. Tell your children not to play with hose and sprinklers: Children love to play under a hose or sprinkler on a hot day. Unfortunately, this practice is extremely wasteful of precious water and should be discouraged.

“Not too late to save water’s fate”

Ibraheem Rasheed

Grade 6

Millennium Education

Regents Park Campus , D-18  Islamabad