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Little Actions You Can Take for World Water Day

Happy World Water Day! Celebrated every March 22nd, World Water Day serves to raise awareness about the challenges facing water cleanliness, conservation and management around the world. As you can imagine, we take water pretty seriously here at FWS. It’s one of our most precious resources and one of the easiest to pollute. It’s also easy to use more of it than we intend to.

This year’s theme is Accelerating Change. Many people tend to think of change as a broad and sweeping thing enacted by huge movements of people. While that’s a great way to effect change and raise awareness relatively quickly, little changes are often some of the most effective and long-lasting interventions for complex and ongoing problems. When you make that change into a habit, that’s a win that will have far-reaching effects further down the line. No change is too small to help.

So, what can you do to help accelerate change? We’ve got a handy little list of suggestions here that are easy to do from home.

  • Find and Fix Leaks.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American household will lose up to 10,000 gallons of water a year to leaks. Fixing leaks will go a long way towards not only saving water, but also saving money on your water bills, too. If it’s been a while since you checked on your FWS system hookup, it can’t hurt to take a look every few months to nip leaks in the bud.  

For more information, you can check out the EPA’s Fix a Leak Week. (Yes, it’s a real awareness event going on through March 26th.) Their website is a great way to learn more about finding and fixing leaks.

  • Take Shorter Showers.

Look, we understand that everyone loves a long, relaxing shower, and we’re not saying you should cut them out entirely. However, you should know that an 8-minute shower can use up to 16 gallons of water. Yikes! For daily showers, try to get in, get clean and get out in a reasonable time if you can manage.   

  • Turn Off Water While Washing Hands.

Handwashing and toothbrushing are both basic tenets of human hygiene. However, many people leave the tap running while they wash, wasting several gallons in the process. Once your hands are wet and soapy, turn off your faucet and lather up before turning the water back on for rinsing. If you’re brushing, the same goes for your toothbrush.

  • Don’t Pour Chemicals Down the Drain.

Every year, tons of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and other common contaminants are poured down the drain, thus contaminating the water cycle. As we’ve learned, water treatment systems typically do not factor these substances into their procedures, which causes them to linger and spread in our drinking water. Be sure to check a substance’s packing or research online before you pour it down to make sure you’re doing the right thing. And if you’d like another layer of protection from these substances, consider getting yourself a Freedom Water Systems system.

We hope we’ve given you some ideas of easy changes to make in your life today. Remember: Even little things can make a big difference! If you’re looking for other bigger ways to effect change, visit the World Water Day website and see what else you can do to help. 

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