Make the Invisible Visible. World Water Day 2022.

On 22 March 2022 was World Water day.

Those who know me most probably are surprised why I did not post anything as they know I am passionate about water. I did it on purpose. I want the flair and the excitement of the day, the excessive promotion and publications on all social networks, to pass so that my message will not be lost in translation.

“Water is the driving force of all nature” (da Vinci, L.)

Water is essential for life. Water is scarce. It is a finite resource, a commodity that we do not see as limited, as we, in developing economies, open a tap, and water flows freely for all our usages. However, there are places on earth where this is not the case. In 2021, there were an estimated 2.7 billion people without water and sanitation (35% of the world population). Once I was on a volunteer mission for Water for People in Nicaragua, with the scope of providing drinking water for a population of 76,000. When the mission ended, people were thrilled that they could open the tap and have water flowing. So happy that they would not turn off the tap as they were afraid the water would stop running forever. This how precious this liquid of life is and was for people.

This year the UN (United Nations) dedicated World Water Day to groundwater, making the invisible visible. Groundwater is essential for drinking water supplies, sanitation systems, farming, industry and ecosystems. Human activities over-use and pollute groundwater in many places, such as open-air defecation. In other areas, we do not know how much water is down there in geological formations of rocks, sands and gravels that can hold water.

What is our progress?

”The wars of the XII century will be fought over water” (Serageldin, I.)

Clean water and sanitation is the UN's sixth sustainable development goal. The goal calls for clean water and sanitation for all people by 2030, which means 8.6 billion people. The UN's last progress report in 2021 reported that 2 billion people (26% of the World's population) lacked safely managed drinking water services and that 3.6 billion people (46% of the World's population) lacked safely managed sanitation services. We still have a lot of work to do privately and publicly.

We can help reduce water consumption to 110 to 150 litres per day. How?

What we can do to support and help the UN in providing water for all, we can use it carefully. As we all know, most of the water is used in agriculture, followed by industry and then domestic use. Reducing, reusing and recycling are critical.

UN and most institutions define that to have a sustainable water supply as our global population grows, forecasted to reach 8.6 billion by 2030, we should be living with 110-150 litres per day. Another day, in Portugal, as we face extreme drought due to climate change, the news said that 65% of the population, around 6.7 million people, were taking action to save water. Really?! Let me show you what it looks like living with 150 litres per day:

• One shower of 4 minutes takes 36 litres, reduce your current shower time with a timer, start slow and walk your way down
• You consume 2 litres of water per day to ensure a healthy body, mind and soul
• You use 0.5 litres of water per day for brushing your teeth without the tap running
• Washing your hands takes 3 litres per day. Make sure you do not have the tap running while washing your hands
• And going to the bathroom, you use 9 litres per day for a short discharge three times per day. You do not need to discharge every time you urinate. Skip one of your discharges
• One simple coffee takes up 129 litres of water, including embodied water, so reduce your coffee consumption by one or two coffees and tea, and you can save up to 129 litres of water

So I ask, are you sure you are taking the measures you need to save water?

Closing thoughts

Water is critical for life. We are water, and it makes 60% of our body, 70% of our brain and 80% of our blood. In 2021, according to the UN, every 15 seconds, one child under 12-years old died due to diseases caused by poor water quality. These are 2 million children per year! Today 2.3 billion people live in areas of water scarcity, and women and girls lose 200 million hours every day to find water.

Groundwater is critical for our survival. We must protect it from overuse and pollution. Living with 150 litres per day means sacrificing our habits and changing them to ensure we have water for everyone.

What are you doing to save water? Have you tried to live just one day with 110 to 150 litres of water per day?

Let me know in the comments below.