Lakhasly

Imagine going to get a drink of water and discovering that the faucet is dry; or jumping into the shower to cool off on a steamy hot day and discovering that there's no water. Most of us simply take water for granted. We think there's plenty of it-in oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams. But this is not the case. The water we are using now is the very same water that the dinosaurs used millions of years ago. It is simply recycled over and over again. There will never be any more water on Earth than there is now. Most of the water on our planet (97%) is salt water stored in oceans. The remaining 3 percent is freshwater-and most of that is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. In fact, less than 1 percent of the planet's water is usable freshwater. It's alarming that at the projected rate of population growth, humanity will use up more than 70 percent of all accessible freshwater by 2025. Water is essential to people in more ways than we might think. We need water for cooking, bathing, transportation, and recreation. We eat aquatic plants and fish. We use water to irrigate our crops, to produce hydroelectric power, and to manufacture products. Water is indispensable for human health and well-being. People can live for two months without food, but will die in less than a week without water. One of the greatest challenges facing the world in the twenty-first century is to preserve our natural reserves and to provide safe drinking water to the 20 percent or more of Earth's population that currently lacks easy access to it. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the years from 2005 to 2015 as the International Decade for Action "Water for Life." One of the solutions to the problem of water conservation is to recycle wastewater. Stensund Folk College near Stockholm, Sweden, for example, is putting wastewater to good use. The school treats the wastewater in a greenhouse, where it is then used to provide water to plants and fish in an integrated cultivation system. In Lima, Peru, ponds full of algae and other small organisms clean up the wastewater. After 20 days, it is safe for reuse. Currently many factories, hotel chains, and apartment buildings around the world are installing water recycling systems. We all need to be part of the solution, too. We need to learn how to use our water wisely. So the next time you have a drink or take a shower, think of how fortunate you are, and save water for life. Stensund Wastewater Aquaculture