5 tips for not wasting water

The scarcity of drinking water is already pointed out by experts as the main source of confrontations between countries in the near future. According to the Instituto Socioambiental, Brazil concentrates around 12% of all surface fresh water available on the planet – this “treasure” needs to be taken care of so that this amount does not run out quickly.

Although the concentration of fresh water in Brazilian soil is high, its distribution throughout the national territory is not egalitarian. The Amazon region, which has a low population rate, holds 78% of the available fresh water, as a result of the Amazon River, according to data from the Institute, while the Southeast region, much more populous, holds only 6% of the total.

To preserve this natural resource, some individual measures need to be taken. It is important to remember that, although it seems like a drop of water in the ocean, the effort of every human being is essential to prevent the misuse of this type of resource.

1 – Use a bucket in the shower

By waiting while the shower heats up enough for your shower, a lot of water runs down the drain without actually being used. To avoid this waste, put a bucket under the shower, next time, this way you will be capturing the water that would be useless – and you can use it for something useful.

2 – Capture rainwater

A cistern or even a barrel placed under the gutter can do wonders for capturing rainwater. If you don’t want to spend a lot, opt for a simpler and cheaper system – any effort is worth it, in that sense. The gutter will help you capture more water with each storm.

3 – Reuse

When cooking pasta, do not throw the used water away. Place the colander over another pot to store the water, and after it cools, water your plants with it.

The kitchen, by the way, is a great place to exercise recycling water. Not only the one used in pasta cooking is useful, and when washing vegetables – fruits and vegetables – you can place a basin under them and, later, reuse all that water that would be thrown away.

4 – Install a system to reuse “gray water”

Gray water is all waste water – that is, water that has already been used once – that does not contain sewage, for example the water used for bathing, washing clothes or when you wash your hands.

There are professional systems for capturing and reusing this water, such as some that send shower water to the toilet flush. However, if you don’t want to spend on installing a professional system, you can simply dedicate yourself to capturing the gray water from your washing machine using buckets, basins and even the clothes tank itself. This water can then be used to wash the sidewalks or wet areas of the house.

5 – Don’t throw drinking water away

This is for those glasses and other containers containing water, which can be forgotten around the house. When finding them, the natural attitude would be to throw the content away, but it’s worth thinking about it: watering the plants, for example, can be a good way to avoid wasting H2O.