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Why, you might ask, would we worry about WATER? Well, in this
country we use 70% more water now than we did 40 years ago and in some areas
of the UK the rivers are being damaged because too much water is being taken
out of them.
Some places have loads of water - too much sometimes, some
get floods and downpours, whilst other places haven't got enough water,
they get droughts and deserts.
Water is the stuff of life, nothing on this
planet can survive without it, and yet, even though this planet is
covered with 70% water, only 0.008% is drinkable by humans! |
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This country is very lucky - we all of us have access to fresh
clean water all the time, there are about 22 water companies in the country
and they take our dirty water and give it a good clean and re-distribute it
about the country.
But water is not an unlimited resource
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When we have a drought the wildlife in our
rivers can die because the water levels drop too low for them to
survive. |
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The groundwater level in this country is
dropping - because we waste too much water and pollute a lot too. |
Remember - it takes energy to clean and distribute water!
(which can lead to climate change) and we are running out of fossil fuels to do this for us.
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Some of the ways of helping are simple - some are more
complicated..
There are two main things to remember about water
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Using biodegradable cleaning products
helps fish and aquatic life live in our rivers by protecting our
water system from pollution. |
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It is possible to save vast amounts of
water! |
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The thing about lots of washing powders and surface
cleaners and fabric conditioners and shampoos that are not biodegradable
is that they often have phosphates in them, foam building chemicals,
petroleum based detergents and perhaps even chlorine bleaches! |
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Phosphates can over
fertilize the algae in lakes and rivers, the water gets covered in a
green slime (the algae) , which blocks the oxygen out. Then the living
things in the lake or sea suffocate. |
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Foam building chemicals
are thought to stir up lead and mercury that is in the riverbed - which
is terrible because they are toxic! |
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Petroleum based chemicals
- well, they are oil based - and oil and water don't mix, so it takes
ages and ages to break down and sometimes they contain toxic impurities
too. |
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And chlorine bleaches can
be bad because when they break down they can release chemicals that lead
to cancer. |
So it's always better to buy biodegradable!!
If your shop doesn't sell biodegradable products, then you
could ask them to.
If you are feeling belligerent then go elsewhere to buy
biodegradable and tell your shopkeeper that that is what you are
doing.
If you are feeling argumentative then you could write to
the companies that make non-biodegradable products and ask them to try
and justify it to you. |
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If you are feeling argumentative and angry then
write to your MP and demand that there be laws passed to make it illegal
to sell non-biodegradable products. So there!
Here is a list of things that you can do to save water!
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Switch off the tap when you are brushing your teeth!
(yes - that tiny thing helps!) |
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Have a shower instead of a bath - or share the bath! |
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Fill a plastic bottle with water, seal it and put it in
the toilet cistern - you'll use less water that way! |
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Don't let any taps drip. |
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If you have to buy a new loo, or washing machine or
dishwasher then buy a water saving one. |
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Use rainwater or grey water or plant plants that don't
need so much water (like lavender, lilacs, tulips, sunflowers,
carnations, wall flowers, jasmine, holly, broom, buddleia and crocuses,
climbing roses, thyme, red hot pokers, rosemary and cat mint, sage,
poppies, cornflowers and alliums...) |
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Try not to use a sprinkler or
hosepipe on your garden, that's drinkable water you'd be using! |
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Stick mulch (organic bark or
grass cuttings) over the soil to keep the water in. |
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Put a rain barrel on your
drainpipe for watering your plants. (very good one) |
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Divert the water from sinks and
baths into a water barrel for watering the garden. (even better) |
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Put a pond into your garden or
into the playground (hurray!) to give the wildlife somewhere safe to go |
Here are some things that we can all do to help keep water clean.. |
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Always use biodegradable products, they are
the only products that break down properly and don't leave pollutants in
our water. |
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Don't pour oil down the sink. |
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Did you know that drains are different to
sinks? Stuff down the sink goes into the sewage system which gets
treated, but water down the drains goes straight back into our rivers. |
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So.. Never ever pour chemicals or cleaning
products or oil or anything but water down an open drain. (Even alcohol
and fruit juice pollute our watercourses unless they get sent to the
sewage works!) |
If you wanted to do something truly fantastic that will
make a BIG difference, then you could club together with some other
people and clean up a river or a stream near you. You could turn it from
a smelly horrid dump to a wildlife haven! If you are in Calderdale, for
example then ring Calder Future on and they will help you start the
project.
Your school could put reed beds into the school grounds to
clean the school's grey water. |
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Not only would you be recycling and cleaning you water, but
because you would be growing common reed, bullrush, yellow flag and reedmace
in the beds, loads of wildlife would come and live there too, especially
dragon flies and reed warblers - oh, and water voles!
Also, Water is amazingly useful for something else. Did you
know that we use water to generate electricity? We call it hydropower and it
is a completely clean, non-polluting and never-going-to-run-out way of
making power. And, we also use the power of the sea to make electricity, we
use wave power and tidal power. These and other ways of making electricity
in a clean and non-polluting way are called renewable energy.
Can you find any other forms of renewable energy on the
SUSchool poster?
Don't forget - water is incredibly good for you, remember to
drink at least 6 glasses a day!
Then come on further into our web site...
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