Is reducing household water usage worthwhile considering the large-scale quantities used commercially?

Question

I need an argument to counter those who say that trying to save water use in the domestic household water is useless when the big businesses and factories are using and wasting far larger quantities of water.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, and we are currently experiencing a drought, with our dams at severely low levels. There are public water restrictions in place about watering lawns and washing cars, and there are recommendations about conserving water usage in the house. Despite all this, a member of our family snubs these guidelines and says that the amount of water we are saving is trivial compared to the amount the commercial businesses use and waste, refusing to help with the water saving schemes in our family.

I believe it is a duty to contribute and give back to the community when it is needed, and if everyone saves water domestically it will make a world of a difference. But without statistics this argument is weak, so I would like to ask, what would be your argument to support the importance of domestic water saving efforts against the large-scale water usage of commercial businesses?

Answer 1

In INDIA we are one billion people.

If every person saves 10 liters of water in india the savings will be 10X 1Billion litres of water saved which cannot be compared with say 10000 big businesses and factories.

I feel every domestic household water user must save water to the extent possible and it will result in huge savings of precious water which is the LIFELINE of living people.

The other simple thing which can be done by everyhoushold is to spend some money in installing RAIN HARVESTING which is an excellent solution for conservation of precious water.

This simple but elegant method is to connect a pipe to the roof and route the water falling on the roof to a plastic tank kept on the ground and if you add a filter you have an tank full of water which can be used for washing your car,clean your house with this water,use this rain water for gardening,even dirty clothes can be washed except for drinking. Now as you use this pure rain water for general purposes automaticallly you are saving precious tap water which you were using earlier. Hope this answers your question.

Answer 2

The biggest FACTUAL argument I can muster for families to save water when business' may not be saving water:



People easily outnumber business!

People use water every single day.

Business' may not use water everyday if they are closed (like on weekends).



Many businesses do not over consume water:

Most offices have just a bathroom and a water fountain, some may have a sink or small cafeteria (plenty don't).



Many businesses do not even have public restrooms!



Deferring blame to businesses is a weak argument.



If you want to counter with a stronger argument (rebuttal), just google something like - "Earth Water Supply Problems". It may be depressing to read, but you will get some facts (find a good source though)



Last I heard reported in the news (TV) was 20 years from now we will have drastically less fresh water for everyday use. Possibly an epidemic where at least 25% of the populated Earth will not have fresh water. I heard this on the news and am just repeating it, if true then it's very freightening.



World population increases every day - water supply doesn't. There is only so much water on the earth to go around.



Fact:

What was the biggest invention in the 1900s to prevent disease and extend lifespan?

Not a heart monitor.

Not an air conditioner.

Not a hospital.



Simple: Access to clean water supply.

Why? People were able to bathe with fresh water. Cook with clean water. Wash clothes. Something so simple - WAS VITAL TO LIFESPAN!

Answer 3

i've got replaced my carbon footprint albeit in procedures i might in no way have predicted. 3 years in the past i became into eco-friendly concious yet nonetheless left a reasonably super print with my SUV and wasteful potential prepare. I washed and dried outfits after in undemanding terms one positioned on, left the A/C on when I wasn't residing house and that i drove my SUV everywhere, even to the nook marketplace. This all replaced whilst my frustration with US politics and predatory comercialism reached a element the place I fled the rustic. Now I stay in, of all places, China. Now I dont stress a motor vehicle, I holiday an electric powered motorcycle. I dont wash my outfits till they choose them and that i line dry them (no dryers in so China), My new spouse has pushed residing house the choose for water/potential conservation, no longer out of any eco-friendly time table, yet extremely from a life-time of being too undesirable to arise with the money for such luxuries. the undeniable fact that we are able to arise with the money for it incredibly is beside the point, it extremely is only no longer mandatory. i've got found out the lesson that intense potential intake is a cultural disese. particular, China is the main polluted place I extremely have ever lived. The undesirable air high quality sometime is so undesirable my eyes burn and the poisonous waters have me swearing off fish and fending off untreated eating water. do no longer blame the worry-unfastened individual although, the issue back is a societal one. Deng Xiao Peng instructed the masses that to be wealthy is wonderful and then he got rid of any obstacles to unscrupulous procedures of achieveing stated glory. China is increasing on the fumes and exhusts from 10000 factories all dumping unhindered. possibly the question being asked ought to be directed at a bigger entitiy. Say governments and mega companies. the worry-unfastened guy is doing what he can.