As far as important things go in our life, I don't think anyone would argue that water isn't at the top. Yet most Americans take it for granted. That's what happens when it comes pouring out of faucets, spigots, water fountains, sprinklers, toilets, etc. Thanks to the wonders of modern plumbing, water is all around us, and cheap! Extremely cheap. It's so easy to get and so plentiful, that most Americans feel it is their right to have cheap, clean water.
They don't realize how much money has been spent building dams, investing in drinking water plants and piping, investing in sewers and waste water plants (ewwwww), cleaning up our rivers, pumping the water anywhere we need it, etc, etc etc. All most people know is that water comes from the sky when it rains, and somehow shows up at our doorstep all neatly dressed (with some fluoride as a nice little present for our teeth).
carrying water in Africa
And yet a large portion of the rest of world doesn't have this luxury. While not all the people have to walk for miles with water on their head, they don't always have access to water that is as clean as ours. Or they do have access, but it's in extremely limited supply. Yet we are extremely lucky. We are able to build oases in our deserts complete with 18 hole golf courses, dancing fountains, and pirate battles on fake oceans.
But as this article points out, Las Vegas may not always have that endless supply of water that the city is gambling on (pun intended). Closer to home, Atlanta is struggling through a drought first hand, yet all we've had to sacrifice is no watering of our grass, lower lake levels, and no more free car washes with my oil change. (This isn't entirely true. Some counties have had rate hikes but I haven't seen a united effort to curb usage in response to rate hikes. I have seen a local college actually be forced to pay their water bill.....)
My goal is to get readers to think about water as something that is actually worth conserving, and not something we complain about when we can't use it because our shrubs are looking a little down in the dirt (pun number two!). Most sites out there only give a few water saving tips (shut off the faucet, take shorter showers, etc.....duh!). We're going to do that and more. Not only do we want to provide methods to conserve water, but we also want to help change a reader's way of thinking about one of the most valuable resources we have.
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