Save on water

In one of his official appearances last week, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. confirmed there is a water crisis besetting the country. Although the magnitude of such crisis is yet to be felt by Filipinos, the effect is already quite apparent.
For instance, the delivery of water in each and every household is per schedule. Water is rationed at most three times a week. In some areas, it is only available once a week, hence, the necessity of stocking and amassing water in tanks, buckets, jars, and any available containers for storing. Still, there are areas where water is unavailable.
Baguio City used to abound with springs and brooks where clean water flow freely. Residents enjoyed the sparkling water that is supplied by these springs and brooks. Alarmingly, these have all dried up. The remaining few are polluted and whatever water there is, is useless.
Despite the affirmation from the President regarding the water situation and all the warning signs accompanying it, it does not seem to bother most consumers. They are not alarmed by the water shortage. The wayward ways of using water proliferate in wanton disregard of the imminent shortage, especially that summer is upon us.
Science has taught us that the volume of water on Earth remains the same. That the amount of water here today is the same amount of water during the time of Jesus Christ. It only circulates by the natural cycle of evaporation and other means by which nature circulates water. However, the density of water becomes smaller depending on the temperature. With global warming a reality, water evaporates faster, turning it into gas and, therefore, becomes unavailable for consumption. This is the reason why we are encouraged to save on water in its useful form.
While two-thirds of the Earth’s area is covered with water, only 10 percent is potable and only two percent of potable water is drinkable. No wonder, a sizeable number of our population have no access to clean water. We count ourselves lucky since we have water. This luck carries with it the consequent responsibility of using water wisely and avoiding wasting it.
Since nature will not produce more water than what is already here, it becomes incumbent upon each and every one of us to observe ways and means to save on water. There had been advisories from experts on how to do it.
For starters, we have to be conscious about our individual responsibility to save on water. Avoid using running water. Turn off the faucet when not in use. Fix all leaking pipes even if it is hard and expensive to find a plumber. Use buckets when using water for non-essential functions like washing your car. Water your plants during the coldest part of the day. Recycle water by using what was used to wash kitchen items for flushing toilets.
Unless we confront the reality that we have to do our part to save on water, there may be nothing left in the future. And, when this happens, life as we know it will never be the same.