Isn't water forever renewable?

Question

I learned in grade school that water we used would evaporate, and be cleaned in the air and come back as precipitation. So why are we told not to waste water? Doesn't everything we use come back to us?

Answer 1

Yes, water runs in cycles as you were taught.  It doesn't happen overnight however, and a given location only has a limited amount of useful water available.  it will be replenished, in time.  In time is the key.  It takes time.  If you use it faster than it is replenished, you will find yourself at a point where there is not enough for your needs.  This happens all the time, all around the world.  Now we have so many people and we are taking water from so far away that we are using good water faster than it can be replenished by the natural cycle.  Add waste of the available water and pollution of what water there is to be used, and you have a problem.  

Kind of like hot water in your house.  The water heater will keep heating that water, but if five people in a row take showers, you may run out of hot water and have to wait for the system to heat it up again.  The water cycle is like the water heater, it is always returning water but you can run out of good water if you use it too fast, and then you will have to wait.  Unfortunately, waiting may mean dying, and not just a cold shower.

Answer 2

comes back to different places.

mostly NOT to us

Answer 3

Yes here are some sites that may help you with your reserach.

http://www.solartoday.org/2005/july_aug0...

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/...

water is always being "recycled". And sooner or later, every drop we take into our bodies- we return to the environment. The "issue" with water is not its availability (there will be enough water for the people on Earth), it's the matter of its distribution & cleanliness that is in question. Because by our polluting & wasting the clean water we have- we are "using up" the clean water we need to survive.

Answer 4

You are correct, the earth pretty much has as much water as its ever had, the only reason why they tell you not to waste water is because this water isn't spread evenly around the world.

Some places experience much higher than average rainfall, and other places (where I live) experience much less.

So the water you use today, might end up falling as rain in another country. So yeah, it will come back to someone... just maybe not you.

Answer 5

yes it is.

However, it is possible that we can run out of water that we can drink.

The ocean is a HUGE water supply, but we cant drink the water safely, and the equipment, time, and amount of money that it costs to filter large quantities of it would make it almost an impossible option.

You also have to consider the contaminated water that yes, is water, but applies to the same reasoning as the ocean as to why we cant depend on it.

With droughts, and pollution, and waste, there is a big possibilty of one day running out of water as a resource.

Hope I could help you out. =]

Answer 6

it comes back not in the form that we can drink in but the form we can't...salt water...also because water just keeps getting used and it goes in a cycle but...the water comes from what we allready have so once it's all used NO MORE WATER...also some places have less water than others...

Answer 7

Yes It is renewable.Don't worry we have plenty of contaminated water.Only thing we should find cheap purifying methods.The water available in the world was not reduced or increased.It is available in different forms only.