What are some easy to use tips on water conservation?

Question

i am doing a project for my schools yacht club. i go to Newport Harbor High, and instead of just cruising the harbor after school my teacher is making us do a project. I need to know some quick facts and tips on saving water in everyday tasks.

Answer 1

Turn off the water while you brush your teeth.

Answer 2

This website has 100+ ways to preserve water, depending on what region of the USA you live in.

http://wateruseitwisely.com/100ways/inde...

Answer 3

Flush every other time. Save shower water for the plants. Drink more soda or beer instead of water.

Answer 4

PERMACULTURE ANSWER ON WATER HARVESTING AND CONSERVATION

WHY SHOULD WE HARVEST WATER

because there is so little that we can use

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25% of the planets surface is land

75%of the surface is water and it is rising

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97%of the Earths water is salt

fresh water is only 3% of all the Earths water

most of it is beyond out reach

now much ice is melting and running into the seas fresh water lost for ever.

STORAGE or Location of % of the fresh water

ice and glaziers 74%

groundwater 800 meters + 13.5 %

groundwater less than 800meters 11.o%

Lakes 0.3%

soils 0.006%

Atmospheric in circulation 0.0035%

rivers 0.03%

frozen land or permafrost is not included and represent an unavailable storage of 40%

so of the 3% about 11.6 ,is easily available to us ,in rivers, lakes and ground water surface aquifers,more and more of this is becoming contaminated

overpopulation of an extra 70 million people a year (increasing all the time )and expanding agriculture ,which uses 70% of available potable water supplies ,has brought the good(sweet) water supplies to critical levels ,some countries have been in trouble already quite a while .

Now climate change and desertification, because of irresponsible agriculture ,overgrazing and deforestation is damaging world fresh water production .

It is a good reason for concern and if we do not rectify matters by changing agricultural methods ,reforest ,stop deforestation,become more economic with water use ,stop producing more people ,stop wasting and contaminating water, we will be in serious trouble all round

and could end up looking like Mars

And these are some of the things we can do

tp conserve water use

EFFICIENT WATER USE

IN THE HOUSE

one can connect the sink straight to the toilet cistern and so use the water twice ,first to have a shave and then to flush the toilet

also if you bend the ball valve you can regulate the level of the cistern

Always have your Grey water and Black water separate,so that the sink and shower water goes directly into the garden saving on irrigation and at the same time ,making the sewage smaller and easier to deal with ,

This also goes and irrigates the garden but via a cistern of two compartments and a French drain ,on which you plant trees,

ON THE LAND

Economic systems of irrigation, like drip irrigation

and water harvesting design, using a lot of stone walls ,that condense water in the night

and planting leafy plants ,for the same purpose,

Building wind breaks ,to counter act the drying effects of the wind and farm towards Aggro forrestal ,using as many trees as possible to limit evaporation .

Using shade nets before we have tree cover

and use MULCH

By cutting down the weeds before they produce seeds and leave them where they fall.

They will cover the ground add even more organic matter on top,(you can use saw dust,leaves green or dry),

And when you plant make a little space and plant in the mulch.this is the easiest quickest and by far most beneficial way(for the quality of you soil)to prepare the land for planting.

To prevent weeds from coming all you have to do it turn out the lights,you can even use cardboard or black plastic(this is good for strawberries because they will rot if they touch humid ground,and the bugs can get to them).

Mulch is organic material green or dry that covers the ground,the thicker the better the composting process will turn it in to black topsoil

The humidity is preserved underneath and promotes the development of worms(there exists no better compost than their excrements)and a variety of micro biotic life which together within the mulch produce more topsoil.

The mulch also keeps the ground temperature even and guards against the impact of the rain ,which would other wise brings salt to the surface if on unprotected land.

Mulch also prevents the soil from drying out because of the sun and,wind erosion.

WATER HARVESTING

As far as catching rain is concerned ,we do this all the time ,and have done so already since Babylonian times,and is a part of the more advanced Agriculture,that existed with the Egyptians,,Moors, Arabs and probably many more

Central ,and South American indigenous people had this idea coupled to their pyramids ,catching the water of the slopes and leading it into tanks or onto the fields .

And many others ,today we call this WATER HARVESTING.

Only Modern Man is totally extravagant with the rain water given ,and complains of the wetness ,letting it run off into the rivers lost forever ,With out even attempting to hold on to it .

And then later complains of not having water ,when times are dryer

In Permaculture the rule is to harvest water to the point of Zero runoff.

This means that all of the rain that falls on an area is absorbed by the terrain and not a drop leaves it.

By building dams,ponds or Swales, with inter connecting ditches,

If there are enough of these ;the places ,where before ,the rain water ran over the ground into the rivers and on to the sea ,in a matter of hours or days.

It now runs into absorbent dams or Swales and saturates the ground and eventually reaches subterranean water deposits ,taking many months to do so.

Or it fills up ponds that can be used for Aquaculture.

And so a convex situation that repels water is transformed in a concave ,absorbent one and turning the area in to a sponge.

In Spain and Portugal ,which still display many examples of the conquering Moorish influence one can find many remnants of Water harvesting,such as Aqueducts and tanks underneath the patios ,which collect the rain water from the roofs ,to be used in dryer times.

In Arabia ,on a large scale ,land has been shaped to catch and lead,rain water into sandy areas or to agricultural lands.sand is almost as good as dams because it absorbs water and holds it.

Here in Mexico we collect the rainwater in our school for sustainable agriculture,but it is too near Acapulco to trust the rain water for drinking ,and this holds true for most places ,so we use it for irrigation.

the rain water from a gutter runs via a filter into a tank.

In Europe in my parents house ,when i was young ,we had a rain barrel,where the water from the gutter ended up .

this was usual in those days ,but i have seen few in modern times.

We can use this action also in other ways ,

for example the roof water via a ditch can run trough the chicken house ,cleaning it and end up fertilizing the vegetable plot(this is called the creation of energy flow.

this water used to be Ok in times gone by before Air pollution ,

Today i would recommend it only for washing and irrigation

links on Permaculture

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

    * 5 months ago

Source(s):

for more information on Water Harvesting

read The Permaculture designers manual by Bill Mollison,which cost about 40 dollars.

and is the best all round book you can get,on Environmental design,.(tagiari publishing, [e-mail])

It has a lot of drawings on water harvesting systems and all kinds of filters,for all kinds of situations.

Some other writers that are on the internet are

david Holmgren

Larry Santoyo

Kirk Hanson

Masanobu Fukuaka has written ,

One-Straw Revolution

The Road Back to Nature

The Natural Way of Farming

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 5

1. Never flush your toilet unless its overflowing with c**p.

2. Bathe in nearby streams/ creeks but dont let the beavers bite you there teeth are real big!

3. Drink your urine only when fresh and repeat until dark orange and salty.

4. If you must drink water collect water from gutter.

Answer 6

Water-saving technology for the home includes:

    * Low-flow shower heads (sometimes called energy-efficient shower heads as they also use less energy, due to less water being heated).[citation needed]

    * Low-flush toilets, composting toilets and waterless urinals, which can have a dramatic impact in the developed world, as conventional Western toilets use large volumes of water.

    * Faucet aerators, which break water flow into fine droplets to maintain "wetting effectiveness" while using less water. As a bonus, they reduce splashing while washing hands and dishes.

    * Wastewater reuse or recycling systems, allowing:

          o Reuse of graywater for flushing toilets or for the garden, and

          o Recycling of wastewater through purification at a water treatment plant. See also Wastewater - Reuse

    * Having 4-minute showers using an hourglass timer.

    * Waterless car wash

Answer 7

Plant trees, bushes and ground covers in your yard to avoid using a lot of water on the lawn.

Answer 8

don't let the water run while you're brushing your teeth. Wait until you have a full load of laundry to wash your clothes. Wait until the dishwasher is full before you run it. Take 5 min showers instead of 15 min showers. Let the rain wash your car for you.

Answer 9

-Turn water off when brushing teeth

-Take quicker showers

-Don't flush the toilet as often

-Dont' leave the hose on

-Only do full dishwasher loads

-Buy energy star dishwashers and front load clothes washers

Answer 10

Use sprinklers,do not leave the taps open when not  in use,try rain water harvesting.

Answer 11

Turn off the water when you aren't using it: in the shower, while washing dishes, when brushing your teeth.  If any of your faucets leak, then put a bucket under to catch the excess water (or have it fixed) and use the water for watering your plants, or any other water tasks you might have.

Answer 12

Water that is usable to man is in a natural cycle. Rain- evaporation, and then rain again. Some water is held in "storage" for awhile and is temporarily removed from the natural cycle. Some  of this "storage" would be plants, human and animal bodies, and ice. Leaving the tap running or any other conservation methods mentioned above  does nothing to conserve water. It only conserve treated water that we are storing in all the pipes that delivers it to your tap.