Centuries ago, one source of drinking water came from collecting rainwater in clay pots and barrels set outside during the rainy season. But with technological advancements over time, the increased pollutants and chemicals in the atmosphere have made rainwater an inviable source of potable drinking water. This has, in part, contributed to our over-reliance on freshwater sources for our drinking an ...
Whether we like it or not, foreseen and unforeseen circumstances such as accidents or natural calamities like bushfires or simple wear and tear lead to the degradation of rainwater tanks. These may come in corrosion for steel rainwater tanks or cracks and leaks in plastic or concrete rainwater tanks, which means routine repair or outright replacement is due. With proper care and maintenance, most ...
In today’s climate, many businesses, farmers and individual homeowners are looking for ways to conserve freshwater. Many dig deep wells, reduce their water consumption and even try harnessing one renewable resource readily available to us—rainwater. As one of the many ways of collecting and storing rainwater, rainwater tanks are becoming more popular across society’s sectors. While most rainwater ...
An average household wastes 900 litres of water every day, which means more than 300,000 litres of water is wasted annually by one household. Chores account for most of this wasted water for a family of four, and 20,000 litres of which is wasted in doing the laundry and loading washing machines. As our world’s freshwater reserves continue to decrease every day, one way to help conserve precious, c ...
As rainwater is a renewable natural resource, it makes a great deal of sense to use this in everyday household chores such as watering a small flower or vegetable garden in homes. For most home gardeners, however, the most common method of rainwater harvesting isn’t too effective. By using water barrels, which typically hold only 50 or 60 gallons (about 300 litres) of water, and using the water as ...
Unknown to many, washing machines are one of the largest water wasters in the home. This results in you paying a considerable cost for using treated municipal water normally used for drinking. One of the numerous ways people are looking to save water is by investing in rainwater harvesting systems, with rainwater tanks at its centre. With a family of four using rainwater for laundry and in their w ...
Rainwater collection has long been practised by communities all over the world. Not only is rainwater stored for outdoor use in farms or general household maintenance, but stored water (well water, specifically) has also been used for drinking in recent years and in far-off rural communities. Since the quality of rainwater has regressed due to the increasing number of pollutants mixed in the air t ...
In recent times, droughts and expanding deserts, erosion from runoff, over-reliance on depleted water sources and the increasing costs of rural irrigation and water treatment facilities have all contributed to water scarcity. And if not addressed immediately, according to American environmental scientist Peter H. Gleick, an estimated 135 million people will suffer from water-related diseases by th ...
The tourism industry—specifically hotels, restaurants and some residential establishments—consumes approximately 84–2,000 litres per person per day and up to 3,500 litres per bedroom per day. Suffice to say hotels and restaurants are dependent on water, second only to air, for their day-to-day operations. But what happens in times of drought or service interruptions? Do establishments stop operati ...
Water is vital to life, as are air and food. As most of history has shown us, a source of water is key in establishing human civilisation, transforming us from migratory hunter-gatherers to, eventually, fixed farmers. Where freshwater was easily abundant and made available to us at all times, times have certainly changed as major droughts resulting in scarcity of all kinds have affected our qualit ...
