What Can Water Conservation Look Like?
Fresh water is a valuable and precious resource, and there is only a limited amount of it available for use. When we think of water conservation, we often think of direct ways to save water, such as shutting off the tap and taking shorter showers. While those methods of saving water are impactful and important, water can also be conserved indirectly. Since most forms of energy production, including oil, natural gas, and nuclear require huge amounts of water in their processes, saving energy plays an important role in conserving water. Additionally, many industries that manufacture common products such as paper, metals, plastic, and fabric also heavily rely on water in their production processes.
Did you know that it takes approximately:
- 3 to 6 gallons of water to produce a gallon of gasoline.
- 22 to 28 gallons of water to produce a pound of plastic.
- 3,190 gallons of water to produce a single smartphone.
- 700 gallons of water to produce a cotton T-shirt.
- 25 gallons of water to produce 1kWh of electricity from fossil-fuel fired power plants.
The Hidden Water in Everyday Products
Brainstorming
Brainstorm five or more ways you use water directly in your daily life.
- Example: Cooking food, brushing teeth, flushing toilet, washing vehicles
Brainstorm five or more ways you rely on water indirectly. What energy, materials or devices do you use in your daily life that rely on water in the production process?
- Examples: Electricity, clothing, vehicle gasoline consumption
Discussion
Water conservation is more than just turning off your tap, though that is an important first step. Water usage is also crucial to enjoying the products and energy that provide us with a high quality of life.
Review the brainstormed lists from Part 1 (direct and indirect water usage).
Discuss practical ways to reduce water and energy consumption based on these lists.
Measurable Conservation Plan
Develop a plan outlining at least one specific action you will take to conserve water and energy. Your solution should be creative, practical and most importantly, measurable. You will implement your conservation plan at home and school for at least two weeks, and keep a daily journal to record your actions and any challenges you may encounter. Keep in mind that you will need to measure your average water consumption before and after the challenge to track the water that you saved.
Examples: (ranging from simple to more complex)
- Taking shorter showers and measuring the approximate amount of water saved each minute the shower is shortened.
- Refraining from buying unnecessary new clothing items (e.g. a new pair of jeans). Calculate approximately how much water you saved this way.
- Turning off lights when not in use and implementing other electricity-saving steps; then reviewing utility bills. Calculate electricity saved; then approximate amount of water saved.
Journal Chart Example
My Water Conservation Plan
| Action: What action will you take to conserve water? | Example: I will carpool with my friend’s family to and from school instead of getting my mom to drive me there and pick me up. |
| Measure: How will you calculate water consumption before taking action, and after? | Example: I’ll calculate gasoline saved with the miles traveled to and from school and the average miles per gallon of gasoline of my mom’s car. Then I’ll calculate how much water is saved based on the amount of gasoline saved |
| Calculation & Results | Example: School is 1.8 miles from my house – round trip is 3.6 miles. The gas mileage on my mom’s car is 30 miles per gallon. 18 miles per week = approximately 4.5 gallons of water to produce a gallon of gasoline. Over two weeks, we saved 1.2 gallons of gasoline. We saved approximately $3.60 and 5.4 gallons of water! |
| Reflect: Long-term | Example: Over a year, what would this look like? 180 school days = 648 miles. 648 miles = 21.6 gallons of gasoline. That is $64.80 and 97.2 gallons of water saved. |
Results
After the two weeks, bring your journal to class and engage in a discussion sharing your experience, actions taken, and results. How much water were you able to save and how could this affect your community and environment in the long term?
Reflection
Share insights and ideas for further conservation efforts. How can individual actions create a significant impact on water and energy conservation?