Water

What Matters Most

Here are the top 10 things you can do that will make the biggest difference in the area of water:

1. Reduce the amount of outdoor watering you do or find alternatives (drip irrigation for plants, reduce the size of your lawn, plant native plants).
2. Use organic fertilizer on your lawn.
3. Install porous surfaces outside instead of pavement.
4. When disposing of anything into your drains, consider its impact on our watersheds. Use calcium magnesium acetate (CMA) to deice your sidewalks and driveways (For more information on proper cold weather practices and other storm water tips check out the Clinton River Watershed Coucil- CRWC-website). Try to recycle, compost or take to SOCCRA's hazardous waste site. Pick up after your dogs.
5. Check your home's water meter for leaks. Leaks from a toilet bowl alone can use up to 200 gallons of water a day.
6. Think about how you can reuse water (gray water, rain barrel, uses for furnace humidifier water, hot water recirculation, use water collected from your shower to flush your toilet or water plants).
7. Make sure you have low-flush toilets and low-flow showerheads and faucets.
8. Do not purchase bottled water. Buy a Brita or Pur filter instead.
9. Don't run your washing machine, dishwasher, etc. on rainy days.
10. Don't leave water running while washing dishes, brushing teeth, shaving, etc.

Featured Ideas

• River Day Home Tour
• Rain Barrel Workshop Presentation page
• Storm Drain Marking Project page
• 7 Simple Steps to Clean Water page
• Pipe Dreams This is an article from the New York Times that challenges us to think about how our water system works, and questions why we feel the need to purify all of it when less than 1% is used for drinking. Great suggestions at the end, such as utilities installing point-of-use filters. Interesting idea.
• Rainwater Harvesting
• Harvesting Rainwater by Not Letting It Go To Waste NPR story.
• Aquaduct Watch this video - what a great idea!
• Tap Project
• Water Cycle Explanation - from Treehugger

Did You Know...

• Although 70% of the earth's surface is covered with water, 97.5% is salt water and 2.5% fresh water, with less than 1% readily available for global human consumption. (source:Global Green)
• 1.2 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water (almost 1 in 5), and 2.4 billion lack proper sanitation facilities. (source:DiCaprio site)
• Out of 191 nations in the world, 10 nations share 65% of the world's annual water resources. (source:Global Green)
• The average household uses 350 gallons of water per day, and, depending on the region, 20-60% of this use occurs outside. (source: American Water Works Association)
• Leaks account for, on average, 14% of water use. (source: American Water Works Association)

More Great Sites

There is an abundance of water-related material on the web. Here are some sites we'd highly recommend:

• Water Use It Wisely A very comprehensive site. Have you seen the traveling "Water Use It Wisely" red cap?
• Public Citizen: Water For All Declaration of universal right to access clean, healthy water
• Leonardo DiCaprio Eco Site: Fresh Water Overview
• 7 Steps to Clean Water SEMCOG
• Global Green's Simple Ways to Use Water Wisely
• EPA's How To Conserve Water and Use It Wisely
• Water Saver Home Website
• Clean Water Action
• Water and Health from freedrinkingwater.com
• Water - Things You Can Do EPA.

...And here are some videos:

• After The Storm Video EPA and The Weather Channel
• Water Warriors Video about the battle for privatization of water in Highland Park, MI
• Democracy Now video dealing with World Water Day