WATER UNITY

The Worldwide 'Thirst' For Clean Drinking Water

JUST IN TIME...!

""We use purified drinking water to flush our toilets and water our lawns. That doesn't make any sense," says Charles Fishman. "In an era of scarcity, we won't need to limit whether we have water to boil pasta or take a bath. But we will think differently about a whole portfolio of water. There will be different kinds of waters for different uses. And water itself will get smart."

Yesterday, NPR fresh air featured an interview with the author of 'The Big Thirst,' Charles Fishman. They talked about the future of a natural resource that, Fishman says, we can no longer take for granted.

"One of the big problems of water is that the success of the golden age of water has created an invisible system. We don't even take [water] for granted because taking it for granted would suggest we pay attention to it. That hidden system is corroding, and as it corrodes, it even corrodes our support for public water. We think, 'Why should I pay more for water? I'll just go buy bottled water.' But, in fact, we don't actually spend that much money supporting the system. In the U.S., we spend $21 billion a year buying bottled water, and we spend $29 billion a year maintaining the entire water system — pipes, treatment plants, pumps. We spend almost as much on crushable plastic bottles of water as we do maintaining the water system."

Stop taking water for granted!

Listen to the interview: NPR fresh air

More about the Book: The Big Thirst

Saving Water 101

Start today!

US Water Consumption

Do you know how you use water? 

•400 billion gallons of water are used in the US per day

•American residents use about 100 gallons of water per day

•95% of the water that enters a household ends up down the drain

•US water usage has increased 127% since 1950

Compare to how other countries...

•Residential Europeans use approximately 50 gallons per day

•Sub Saharan Africans use about 2-5 gallons per day

•More than 1 billion people live on the amount of water we use to brush our teeth

World Water Day!

Birthday Campaign

Is your Birthday coming up? You might consider celebrate it with saving lives!

The birthday campaign started 4 years ago when Scott Harrison (founder of charity water) celebrated his birthday and asked his friends to donate money instead of giving him gifts. The year after he asked other September birthdays to join as well. In 4 years, the Birthday Campaign has raised over 1 million dollars for 16 countries. These donations go directly to build sustainable water solutions in the field.