Ten Steps to Prevent the Next Urban Water Crisis - Part 1
Some of these five actions are immediately possible; others are long-term fixes that will depend on the water issues in a specific region, as well as local political and economic factors.
1. Design, construct and operate non-residential buildings to reduce water use, including reducing energy use (in large buildings, this also reduces water use in cooling towers).
2. Reduce household water use, starting with water audits, installing efficient technologies and changing behavior. Do the easy stuff first: shower heads, faucets and toilets. Then look at dishwashers and laundry water use. Finally, look at reusing graywater and rainwater for irrigation. Home water audits include an analysis of personal behavior as well as the efficiency of fixtures and appliances in the home.
3. Recycle, capture and reuse water more than once; this is the basic principle behind graywater, rainwater and blackwater recycling technology and practice. The key is to match water quality from the supply with required water quality at the point of demand.
4. Reduce water use in landscaping both homes and buildings, with effective irrigation technology and revised plant choices, emphasizing native and adapted vegetation. For more information on home landscaping water conservation, contact any local Extension Service, typically associated in each state with a land-grant (public) university.
5. Water pricing should be structured so that rates rise steeply with use, resulting in significant economic penalties for water waste and excessive water use. Bringing the marketplace into the picture and avoids having to institute severe restrictions on individual choice and employ “water cops” during drought emergencies.
Systematically applied these five steps begin to move us away from the cliff of future water shortages. Next post, I’ll add the final five steps.
At the €2 million DEUS 21 research project in Knittlingen near Pforzheim, Germany, the Water House not only cleans rainwater and recycles wastewater from the connected households, but it also produces biogas and electrical power. Courtesy of Klaus König.
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