The upcoming decades will hold in them a water crisis- the aquifers are emptying, many reservoirs aren’t re-filling as they used to, and there will be continually less snow runoff in the spring to keep them at their current capacities. The better prepared we are for this, the easier it will be to get through it relatively unscathed as individuals and communities. One of the biggest ways to prepare is to conserve water. How does one do this? Pretty simply, actually. First think of all the things you use water for that aren’t drinking. Ask yourself why you’re using potable (that means safe to drink) water for these purposes. Do you need to? For all the ones where the answer is “no,” think of ways to re-use water for these purposes.
#1- The lawn. You don’t need to use drinking water for your lawn, even if you water it! Set up a rain barrel (pretty much a 55gallon barrel that sits under your gutter). Use that water to water your lawn- and do it in the early morning (like 5-6AM) or at dusk to maximize the amount the grass gets before it evaporates.
Same idea for your houseplants- use a smaller barrel (5gallon bucket, garbage can, etc.) and fill your watering can there instead of at the sink.
#2- The toilet. Think about it this way- you take a couple of gallons of perfectly drinkable water, and you shit in it. Literally. I would argue the person who decided we would universally use potable water to contain our urine has done more damage to the earth than nearly anyone else in history. Ok, maybe I wouldn’t go that far, but pretty close. Remedy? Set up a greywater system in your house. You could reroute your used sink water into the toilet via direct or indirect ways. If you can’t afford that you could use a bucket to retain some of the water from a shower and manually flush by pouring some of it into the bowl. Not the ideal for many of us, but absolutely functional- and you can hide it with the shower curtain when company comes over.
An intermediate remedy for toilet use is to use less potable water in it. This is easily done by filling a half gallon or gallon jug with water and sticking it in the tank of your toilet so that it doesn’t touch any moving mechanisms. Alternately there are products you can buy to sit inside your tank to do the same thing (more effectively, I might add), or if you need to replace your fixture for other reasons- more efficient fixtures.
Get creative, but DON’T USE post-sink water on your plants directly if it’s soapy. The soap, even friendly biodegradable and organic soaps in higher concentrations, can damage plants.
http://cometherevolution.org/2008/04/potable-water-everywhere/
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