Comenius Multilateral School Partnership:Comenius Multilateral School Partnership:

WaterborneWaterborne IdentitiesIdentitiesKatharina Tancré, Gymnasium am Wall VerdenKatharina Tancré, Gymnasium am Wall Verden

Structure

I. Water As A Resource

II. The Problem

III. Conserving Water

IV. Personal Water Consumption

V. Family Water Consumption

VI. Knowledge on Water Consumption

VII. How Can I Conserve Water?

VIII. Sources

Water As A Resource

● Although around 70% of planet Earth's surface is covered in water, 97.5% of this water is salt water not safe for human consumption

→ only 2.5% of the water found on our planet is fresh water

● However, most of this fresh water is either groundwater that cannot be accessed or frozen in icecaps (e.g. in Antarctica or Greenland) → This leaves only 1% fresh water that we can directly access

Water As A Resource

● For many, water is a scarce resource. Nearly 1 billion people all around the world do not have access to clean drinkable water

● Especially people in developing countries with physical or economic water scarcity have to suffer from water shortages on a daily basis

The Problem● Our planet's population is increasing rapidly → more demand

for water

● Not every country has efficient wastewater treatment plants which means wastewater can contaminate fresh water supplies

– A lot of water used in households, agriculture, factories, etc., is contaminated and can cause severe illnesses when ingested

Conserving Water● Fortunately many countries in Northern Europe are not

affected by water scarcity, although this adds to the misconception that we do not need to conserve water since we seem to have plenty of it

● Saving water in Europe might not be beneficial for those suffering in Africa, Latin America or Asia, but:

– You can save money in the longterm

– You can help save energy needed to filter and purify water in wastewater treatment plants

● Apart from using less water, you can also look into the amounts of water needed to produce the foods you consume → up to 21.000 litres of water are needed to produce one kilogram of roasted coffee beans

Personal Water ComsumptionIn order to determine the amount of water I personally use on a daily basis, I wrote down how many times I washed my hands, took a shower or generally used water for a couple of days:

Water used (in litres) Frequency of activity

Showering 100 litres for 10 Minutes

Daily→ 700 litres per week

Washing hands Up to 2 litres Up to seven times a day → 98 litres each week

Brushing teeth 0.5 litres Two times a day → 7 litres each week

Drinking water 2.5 litres each day (mostly bottled water)

Around 17.5 litres each week

Washing face Up to 4 litres Two times a day → 56 litres each week

Personal Water Consumption

I've always assumed I did not use too much water, however, my weekly water consumption of at least 878.5 litres proved me wrong. I am frankly quite shocked and thought about ways to reduce the amount of water I use.

● I could shower 5 Minutes instead of 10 → reduce the amount of water needed by half

● Use less water while washing my face

Family Water Consumption

I also estimated how much water my family uses for doing daily chores such as doing the dishes or laundry.

Surprisingly, we would save a lot of water if we used the dishwasher instead of doing the dishes by hand

Water used (in litres) Frequency of activity

Doing the laundry Around 70 litres At least twice a week → 140 litres each week

Doing the dishes (manually)

30 litres Once a day → 210 litres each week

Dishwasher 15 litres 3 times a week → 30 litres

Knowledge On Water Consumption● Where does the water I consume come from?

Most of the water in Verden is groundwater that has been extracted from an aquifer.

● What happens with my wastewater?

Wastewater travels through sewage lines to a wastewater treatment plant where the water is purified and sterilized.

How Can I Conserve Water?

● Turn off your faucet while brushing your teeth, washing food or doing the dishes

● Install water-efficient shower heads and faucets

● Take shorter showers

● Use the dishwasher and washing machine only for full loads

Sources

http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml

http://sustainability.about.com/od/Sustainability/a/Why-Save-Water.htm

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/freshwater_supply/freshwater.html

http://thewaterproject.org/

http://www.tag-des-wassers.com/vier-mythen---wasserverbrauch/index.html (German source)

http://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2012-04/wassersparen-verbrauch-replik (German source)

http://www.ifad.org/english/water/key.htm

http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/FIELD/Venice/pdf/special_events/bozza_scheda_DOW04_1.0.pdf