If it is a water cycle isn't "Wasting water" a redundancy?

Question

I had a thought today. So if you run water and it goes down the drain, it goes back into the ground and hence back where it came from. Where it goes to the ocean and the sun evaporates it and puts it into the air to be dumped back on the ground for you to run back through the faucet again. If you drink it, it still eventually goes back where it came from when you sweat it or pee it. Eventually you may even re-drink the exact same water molecules you drank before, though statistically unlikely.

Which begs the question again, "Exactly how is it can you 'waste' water?"

Answer 1

In some locations there is a limited amount of freshwater available and water that is "wasted" is no longer available for use. For example, watering a lawn could be considered a waste of water because most of that water will be transpired into the atmosphere. While it will eventually return as rain, it will not be in the same place as it came from, so that water is lost to that community.

Answer 2

no, because tap water and shower water dont go through the cycle as easily, they are more thick

Answer 3

I think they mean that it takes energy to pump that water and clean it etc after it goes down the drain. And this energy comes from burning fuels and giving off greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. The drain cannot detect whether the water is clean or not so it all goes to the sewage system and goes through its various processes anyway.

Answer 4

we don't waste water, we waste energy moving and storing water where we want it.  Think of the fossil fuels or other means it takes to pump water from the ground and treat it so it is safe for whatever use you'd like, drinking, irrigation, cleaning, etc.  

And being an anthrocentric kind of guy, I am partial to the parts of the water cycle that directly keep me alive, and like water to linger in those stages.

Answer 5

it may be a cycle, but you're paying for that water usage, and not all of it returns through the same cycle. sometimes it transfers to another.

Answer 6

Your wasting "clean water"

some places do have naturally "clean" water, but a lot of places don't so we are supposed show we appreciate it by not wasting it,

kinda like throwing out your leftovers, their are starving people in the world, so some think we should honor them by finishing all our food, but in reality you can't send them you last bite of a sandwhich, so we throw it.

Answer 7

Well, there are many things that are wasted when you use more water than needed.

  A. It takes a certain amount of energy to get the water to your house -- even if the water is gravity fed.  The water had to get up into the tower somehow.

  B.  The water that comes to your house has been cleaned.  That takes raw materials, energy & man power and a water cleaning facility itself that can handle the water demands.  If demands are higher because of a lot of waste, then the water treatment facilities would presumably be larger than needed.

  C.  The water that leaves your house may be treated before it goes back into the environment -- again, more energy & raw materials

You must live in a place that has plenty of water.  There are places that water is scarce.   You can tell everyone to wait until the wasted water runs through the water cycle before they can get a drink -or- you could just not let extra water run into the sewer or on to the ground.  Then, they could have a drink right away. . .

Water is  most likely a lot more scarce than we would like to think -- here in Seattle it rains A LOT, but a few years back, we had the beginnings of a water crisis because of drought & mismanagement of the resource. . .

Waste not, want not!!

Answer 8

WOW..this is a great question. SO, when my kids let the water run...and run....and run some more down the drain and my bill is TWICE what it SHOULD be...isn't that "Wasting water"? ..WATER that we COULD have used NEXT month. ;)

Answer 9

I understand what you are saying but I don't think redundancy is the word you are looking for. :)

Our bodies hold water for a period of time, it takes time for the water to go through the cleaning system when going to the sewer, and it takes time to go through the natural evaporation cycle.  Imagine if you have a pot of water and you place a cup in it.  When you pull the cup full of water out the water level in the pot goes down.  You might eventually pour that water back in and the level would return to its original state.  But what if, before you did, someone else pulled a cup of water?  Would there be enough water left for a fish to live in the pot, if it had to?  

I think that is the idea behind "wasting water”.  We are not technicaly 'wasting' the water, we are hoarding it...I'm gonna tell my kids "Quit hoarding all the water!"  LOL. You are right about the fact that it would eventually get back to where it came from, but I think it takes a long time.  The more people on the earth, the more water they are retaining.  The more houses and buildings that are built, the more water being taken out of the ocean.  Basically, the more cups that are pulling water out of the pot.  We are pulling it out faster that it is getting back via evaporation or treatment.  Hence the phrase, "Save some for the whales"

Answer 10

My dad and I were talking about it. WE CAN CLEAN SALT WATER. WE NEVER WASTE WATER.

Answer 11

that is why they say you cannot waste water.

yes they have a system to purify the water, but it goes at an extremely slow pace!!!!!

we need to conserve the water because if something bad happens and we cannot make the water or as global warming approaches, we will be in deep trouble!!!!

Answer 12

It takes TIME for it to get through the entire cycle and become available for use again.  If you waste it, you have to wait for mother nature to clean it out.  During droughts, nature is cleaning it very slowly, so it may not be available when needed.

Also, the water that comes out of your tap is purified by the city's sanitation department, which costs money.

Answer 13

It takes time for the water to be cleaned and re-absorbed into the water table. If we are using water faster than it's being returned they we will hit a point at which there is no water currently available. So "Wasting" water is using water at a rate faster than it can be replenished in the water table unnecessarily.

Also, it's possible for water to be contaminated beyond the capacity for recovery via chemical means. That water would be completely "wasted".

Also the system isn't completely closed, some new water is introduced into the atmosphere by ice chunks burning up on entry.

Answer 14

There is no shortage of water.  However, there is a shortage of treated, POTABLE water.  You're right about the water cycle, though.  Water molecules are almost never destroyed.  In other words, the same molecule you drink today could've been in a dinosaur's body 80 million years ago.  Or, Abraham Lincoln could've drank it and then peed it out while he was writing the Gettysburgh Address.

Kinda cool, huh?