In case you havent noticed, our mother nature has soved this problem for us! She is trying to take care of us! On a regular basis (in most areas) she provides us with plentiful amounts of water which she showers down upon us from the sky.
Yet still, so many people are bathing with the water that comes out of their bath tub spickets. Why not use the water that mother nature has provided for us, and not let it go to waste?
I find it a wonderful thing to collect this rain water and use it to bathe in. If your extra resourceful and caring, as I am, this water can be kept and used to water your plants.
Do you make use of the wonderful gift of water that mother nature gives to us? if not, wont you please consider it?
Those of you who care about the earth-Do you realize the dire importance of reducing water consumption?
Haleluyah ,here is my contribution to support your question.
WATERSHORTAGE
Why should we all be responsible for saving water?
because there is so little that we can use
------------------------------...
25% of the planets surface is land
75%of the surface is water and it is rising
------------------------------...
97%of the Earths water is salt
fresh water is only 3% of all the Earths water
most of it is beyond out reach
now much ice is melting and running into the seas fresh water lost for ever.
STORAGE or Location of % of the fresh water
ice and glaziers 74%
groundwater 800 meters + 13.5 %
groundwater less than 800meters 11.o%
Lakes 0.3%
soils 0.006%
Atmospheric in circulation 0.0035%
rivers 0.03%
frozen land or permafrost is not included and represent an unavailable storage of 40%
so of the 3% about 11.6 ,is easily available to us ,in rivers, lakes and ground water surface aquifers,more and more of this is becoming contaminated
overpopulation of an extra 70 million people a year (increasing all the time )and expanding agriculture ,which uses 70% of available potable water supplies ,has brought the good(sweet) water suplies to critical levels ,some countries have been in trouble already quite a while .
now climate change and desertification because of irresponsible agriculture ,overgrazing and deforrestation is damaging world fresh water production .
it is a good reason for concern and if we do not rectify matters by changing agricultural methods ,reforrest ,stop deforrestation,become more economic with water use ,stop producing more people ,stop wasting and contaminating water, we will be in serious trouble all round
and could end up looking like Mars
WATER POLUTION
FIRSTHAND CONTAMINATION
Rivers and Lagoons
millions of batteries are thrown in the rivers and Lagoons by night fishermen
1 small penlight battery contaminate 10.000 litres of water
raw sewage added to water flows like cannals and rivers ,
trash dumped on rivers edges ,
Industry contaminates practically unchecked
farmers using agro chemicals (fertilizers ,herbicides %26amp; pesticides)then deforrest and the rains washing the topsoils impregnated with contaminants into the rivers
thousands of women that do the washing in rivers using harmfull detergents.
farmers dump acidic coffee husk into the waters which kills millions of fish ,
on the coasts
oil spills that contaminate coastal waters,
Oceans
industrial wastes that are dumped into deep oceanic trenches
SECONDARY POLUTION
changes in water temperature enhances harmfull algae,(remember the red tide)
and kills many fish who are critical to temperature ,when sea water enters lagoons here in Mexico many fish die ,due to sudden temperature changes
and these are some of the things we can do
SOLUTIONS
wetlands like swamps have always been Natures natural filters for natural water flows,aquatic plants clean the water ,the anchored plants as well as the floating ones
we should redesign wetland flora with in natural water systems to help contra contamination.
stop sewage systems that connect to natural water flows ,forbid and police the dumping of rubbish on waters edges ,
the best way is through the educational systems ,starting at kiddy schools and rising in intensity with progression.
but in Mexico this is not accepted because this kind of education is not in the ciriculum.
In short the ways to protect the waters is
laws and punishment ,government vigilence ,education ,
alternative farming methods away from using chemicals ,which eventually end up in the ground water supplies
to merely clean polution or try to clean is never effective because of population growth ,it gets worse by the year ,an impossible task
we must attack at the roots and that is the contaminating mentality
EFFICIENT WATER USE
IN THE HOUSE
one can connect the sink straight to the toilet sistern and so use the water twice ,first to have a shave and then to flush the toilet
also if you bend the ball valve you can regulate the level of the sistern
and always have your grey water and black water seperate
so that the sink and shower water goes directly into the garden saving on irregation and at the same time ,making the sewage smaller and easier to deal with ,this also goes and iregates the garden but via a sitern of two compartments and a french drain ,on which you plant trees,
ON THE LAND
economic systems of irregation like drip irregation
and design using a lot of stone walls ,that condense water in the night
and planting leafy plants for the same purpose
building wind breaks ,to counter act the drying effects of the wind and farm towards agro forestal ,using as many trees as posible to limit evaporation .using shade nets before we have tree cover
and use MULCH
by cutting down the weeds before they produce seeds and leave them where they fall,they will cover the ground and put even more organic matter on top,you can use saw dust,leaves green or dry,and when you plant make a little space and plant in the mulch.this is the easiest quickest and by far most benificial way(for the quality of you soil)to prepare the land for planting
to prevent weeds from coming all you have to do it turn out the lights,you can even use cardboard or black plastic(this is good for strawberries because they will rot if they touch humid ground,and the bugs can get to them).
mulch is the same principal as compost but it includes the whole garden surface
the top part of the soil where the topsoil is being produced houses a world or microbiotic life.
Mulch is organic material green or dry that covers the ground,the thicker the better the composting process will turn it in to black topsoil
the humidity is preserved underneath and promotes the devellopment of worms(their exists no better compost than their excrements)and a variety of micro biotic life which together with the mulch produce more topsoil.
the mulch also keeps the ground temperature even and guards against the impact of the rain ,which would other wise brings salt to the surfave if on unprotected land
Mulch also prevents the soil from drying out because of the sun and,
WATERHARVESTING
the natural way of nature is to evaporate moisture for clouds and this gets blown to places with less water any way ,what obstruct the clouds from getting to deserts ,tend to be mountains that are in the way,
but generally speaking ,the normal weather patterns spread rain evenly over the planet to balance out the temperatures and humidity.
As far as catching rain is concerned ,we do this all the time ,and have done so already since Babylonian times,and is a part of the more advanced Agriculture,that existed with the Egyptians,Central ,and south American indigenous peoples,and many others ,today we call this water harvesting.
In Permaculture the rule is to harvest water to the point of Zero runoff.
this means that all of the rain that falls on an area is absorbed by the terrain and not a drop leaves it.
by building dams,ponds or swales, with interconecting ditches,
if there are enough of these ;the places ,where before the rain water ran over the ground into the rivers and on to the sea ,(in a matter of hours or days),It now runs into absorbant dams or swales and saturates the ground and eventually reaches subteranean water deposits ,taking many months to do so.
Or it fills up ponds that can be used for Aquaculture.
And so a convex situation that repels water is transformed in a concave ,absorbant one and turning the area in to a sponge.
in Spain and Portugal ,which still display many examples of the conquering Moorish influence,One can find many remnants of Waterharvesting,such as aquaducts and tanks underneath the patios ,which collect the rain water from the roofs ,to be used in dryer times.
in Arabia ,on a large scale ,land has been shaped to catch and lead,rain water into sandy areas or to agricultural lands.sand is almost as good as dams because it absorbs water and holds it.
to find out more about Water harvesting I recomend:
the designers manual by Bil Mollison,which cost about 40 dollars.
and is the best all round book you can get.(tagiari publishing, tagariadmin@southcom.com.au)
some other writers that are on the internet are
david Holmgren
Larry Santoyo
Kirk Hanson
Masanobu Fukuaka has written ,
One-Straw Revolution
The Road Back to Nature
The Natural Way of Farming
http://www.context.org/iclib/ic14/fukuok...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/masanobu_fu...
Simon Henderson
and Bill Molisson.
a representitive of the concept in USA is
Dan Hemenway at YankeePerm@aol.com
barkingfrogspc@aol.com
http://barkingfrogspc.tripod.com/frames....
http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/ypc_catalo... Source(s) http://spaces.msn.com/byderule
Reply:Yes
http://h.webring.com/hub?ring=savetheart...
Reply:So if you%26#039;re using rainwater for your bath, you%26#039;re depriving some grass and plants of that rainwater. I%26#039;m sorry, but I don%26#039;t follow your logic. You make it sound like water is a single-use substance, like once you%26#039;ve bathed in it, it%26#039;s gone from this planet forever.
Reply:I enjoy bathing in acid rain with mold and pollen and dust and smog in it. And the added benefit of bacteria growth, when it is collected and sets around for a while, adds to the spring fresh smell that makes my skin and hair feel so alive and crawling. This is truly the water that makes sun tea so inviting. Why would anyone use filtered chlorinated tap water with all the hazards it has to offer?
Reply:Do you???
Collecting rain water is all very good, but unless you %26quot;care for%26quot; your water, all you are doing is taking pure rain water, making it dirty with soap and bacteria from your body, then releasing it untreated back into the environment.
You may be saving money, but you are NOT saving the environment. You are not reducing your consumption one drop. All you are doing is collecting a small amount of rainwater before it flows into a municipal reservoir or aquafer. Collecting rain water is NOT reducing your consumption.
Mother Nature gave you a gift of clean rain water and you gave her back contaminated water. I think you need to learn a lot more about water usage and environmentalism.
Reply:i live in an apt i can%26#039;t use rain water to bathe as you so carefully put it so you take baths for the both of us ok?
Reply:Nothing to worry about. Global warming is melting the polar ice caps providing us with way more water now.
Water never dissapears, it is constantly recycled over and over. So it is never %26quot;wasted%26quot;. Didnt you ever learn about the water cycle in 4th grade? The next glass of water you drink just might have been the same water that passed through a Dinosaurs pee hole.
Reply:Yes, I will consider it. Thank you for the information. You are a very great person.
Reply:I am into water conservation as well. No grass, no trees, no leaky faucets, %26quot;military showers%26quot; etc. etc.
Reply:I take less showers
Reply:yuppies?
Reply:YES!!!!!!! we need to save water help in anyway stop using water during toothbrushing and bring bottled water for the whole day.
Reply:ok so
1 there are others in the world that collect their rain water. but in the US its mostly to save money and they use the collected water for their lawns
2 water is a naturally occurring substance H2O hydrogens bond with oxygens to make water. that stuff doesnt magically come from the sky
3 cirrculation. water from the ground (including the water people use for their bathing) evaporates into the air and condenses and falls back to the ground. and repeat
computer
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