Why There Is a World Water Day
Some of you may have heard of World Water Day before, and some of you may even have celebrated it in the past. But many people aren't familiar with this international observance and may wonder what it’s all about and why it exists at all.
And because World Water Day is coming up on March 22, we’re going to give you some answers to these questions, plus tell you how you can get involved.
Taking Part in the Day of Action
One of the most important things you can do to participate in World Water Day is to take action at home to reduce your water use. The average American uses about 100 gallons of water per day when humans can survive on as little as 5 gallons—that includes for sanitation and consumption.
Among the biggest contributors to wastewater at home is dripping faucets, leaking pipes and irrigation, and running toilets. You can save thousands of gallons of water every year by addressing such issues immediately, and by calling a plumber to fix any leak or problem, you can't tackle on your own.
In terms of making changes to wasteful habits, there are lots of ways you can save more water at home, including:
- Garden: Collect water in a rain barrel, reuse grey water for the garden, replace grass and water-heavy plants with drought-resistant plants and xeriscaping
- Bathroom: Take shorter showers, turn off the water when you're lathering in the shower, turn off the taps when you're brushing your teeth, and flush the toilet less
- Kitchen: Fill the sink to wash dishes (don’t leave the water running), only use the dishwasher when it’s full, and reuse pasta and vegetable water in the garden or for soups
- Outside: Wash the car with waterless car cleaner, and check sprinklers and hoses for leaks regularly
Why Was World Water Day Created?
World Water Day exists because there is a global water crisis. About 663 million people around the world don’t have access to safe water, and many of them have to travel or line up just to get water to drink. A third of the people in the world don’t have access to a toilet or sanitation, and a quarter of the world only has access to disease-ridden water.
Drinking this water leads to nearly a million deaths each year. Furthermore, half of the world’s working population relies on water directly for employment, and pollution and other related issues are making this work more and more dangerous.
So What Is World Water Day?
It’s an annual international day of action and observance that was created in 1993 in an effort to end the world water crisis. Ideally, the UN would like to see every human on Earth have access to clean water by 2030, and World Water Day is all about making that happen.
The theme changes each year, and this year’s theme is wastewater or water that’s been used in a residential, industrial, or agricultural setting. In a perfect world, all of this wastewater would be treated, processed, and recycled, but as it is, over 80 percent of the world’s wastewater makes its way back into the ecosystem dirty, polluted, and untreated.
Here in Chicago, IL, we’re no strangers to taking action and doing our part for a better world, so this World Water Day, Captain Rooter Emergency Plumbers Chicago invites you to participate in water conservation efforts that will help end the water crisis. For more information, more water-smart tips for the house, or to book an appointment to fix a leak, give us a call at 773-840-7800.
