Why is it important to take care of the water

There are many reasons why water is important to us and that is why we must take care of it. Here are some of them, which also reflect the reasons why it is important to take care of it.

Water is important for our health

Doctors, scientists, nutritionists and other health specialists recommend drinking between a liter and a half and two liters of water a day, but why? The answer is that water is the most necessary element for our life. Our body is made up of 70% water, 95% of the weight of our brain is water, our blood contains 85% water and our lungs 90%. Each cell in our body contains around 70-80% water. But water also fulfills functions apart from hydrating our cells and organs. Water is the medium where chemical reactions occur, such as in the manufacture of proteins, it is also the means of transporting ions and nutrients, it helps to cleanse our body of toxins by dragging our excretion products, it participates in digestion, and regulates our temperature. body and performs other functions. As we see it, water is essential to our lives because we are partly water.

Water is scarce

Another reason why it is very important to take care of water is its scarcity. Fresh water is scarce, but fresh drinking water is even more scarce and is not equally distributed on the planet. Here we tell you more about what drinking water is and its characteristics .

If you were born or live in a country where there is no shortage of water, you are fortunate and you should value, respect and take care of this precious commodity, since in other parts of the planet people die for not having access to water. Since ancient times, water has been a source of conflict because the person or the people who controlled the water source had the power. To date, 343 wars have been documented in the world over access to water and there are many more that could occur if we do not take care of the water we have left. The first conflict dates back to 2,500 BC in Mesopotamia when the king of Lagash built a series of canals that diverted water from the river and prevented it from reaching the city of Umma, present-day Baghdad. But today, many of the conflicts present are caused by the same reason, see the case of Israel, Palestine and Jordan, where Israel controls all sources of water limiting access to it to other countries. In the case of the war in Syria, water has also been one of the reasons for the war, the drought and consequent poverty promoted the popular uprising against the country’s regime. And there are many more conflicts such as that of the Nile River between Egypt and Ethiopia due to the construction of a dam at the source of the river, or the case of the hydroelectric plants built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Turkey that leave the rest of the countries downstream. without power and water, and other cases in East Asia, Latin America, Central Africa or even between the United States and Mexico. The fight for control of this resource undoubtedly shows that water is very important. In the case of the war in Syria, water has also been one of the reasons for the war, the drought and consequent poverty promoted the popular uprising against the country’s regime. And there are many more conflicts such as that of the Nile River between Egypt and Ethiopia due to the construction of a dam at the source of the river, or the case of the hydroelectric plants built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Turkey that leave the rest of the countries downstream. without power and water, and other cases in East Asia, Latin America, Central Africa or even between the United States and Mexico. The fight for control of this resource undoubtedly shows that water is very important. In the case of the war in Syria, water has also been one of the reasons for the war, the drought and consequent poverty promoted the popular uprising against the country’s regime. And there are many more conflicts such as that of the Nile River between Egypt and Ethiopia due to the construction of a dam at the source of the river, or the case of the hydroelectric plants built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Turkey that leave the rest of the countries downstream. without power and water, and other cases in East Asia, Latin America, Central Africa or even between the United States and Mexico. The fight for control of this resource undoubtedly shows that water is very important. And there are many more conflicts such as that of the Nile River between Egypt and Ethiopia due to the construction of a dam at the source of the river, or the case of the hydroelectric plants built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Turkey that leave the rest of the countries downstream. without power and water, and other cases in East Asia, Latin America, Central Africa or even between the United States and Mexico. The fight for control of this resource undoubtedly shows that water is very important. And there are many more conflicts such as that of the Nile River between Egypt and Ethiopia due to the construction of a dam at the source of the river, or the case of the hydroelectric plants built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Turkey that leave the rest of the countries downstream. without power and water, and other cases in East Asia, Latin America, Central Africa or even between the United States and Mexico. The fight for control of this resource undoubtedly shows that water is very important. Central Africa or even between the United States and Mexico. The fight for control of this resource undoubtedly shows that water is very important. Central Africa or even between the United States and Mexico. The fight for control of this resource undoubtedly shows that water is very important.

We also recommend you learn from this other post Why water is a renewable but limited resource .

Water in the environment

If water is important for human beings, it is also important for other living beings. Plants need water to photosynthesize and animals need to drink water just like us to hydrate themselves and for their bodies to carry out the rest of its functions.

But not only that, water is the medium where many living beings such as animals, bacteria, plants, protozoa, fungi, etc. live. In addition, water helps regulate the temperature and climates that exist on the planet, it is a sink for CO2 and a source of oxygen, it is also the means of transport that carries nutrients to all areas of the planet so that they are used by all organisms and of course it is a source of energy. Energy that can be used to produce movement, electricity and heat.

Water quality matters too

As we have seen, the existence of water and its quantity is very important and, therefore, it is necessary to take care of it. But water quality is even more important, as drinking contaminated water can be worse than even having no water. Polluted waterit is a source of diseases, infections and even causes death. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) 844 million people do not have access to a minimum service of drinking water and about 2 billion people drink water from drinking water sources contaminated by feces. According to this same organization, contaminated water can favor the appearance and transmission of infectious diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, polio and dysentery or gastroenteritis. With all this, it is estimated that the contamination of drinking water is responsible for more than 502,000 deaths a year.

Humans are mainly responsible for the deterioration of the quality of all the waters that exist on the planet. The discharge of untreated wastewater, polluting substances such as radioactive, industrial waste, oil and other fuels, insecticides and fertilizers, drugs, drugs, hormones, nanoparticles, plastics and any other waste of artificial origin are polluting the water, this such an essential resource without which we could not live. Therefore, if we want to live on this planet, we must take care of the quantity and quality of our fresh, surface and underground, and salty waters.

Learn all about the Causes and consequences of water pollution , and much more information on this topic, in this other article.

We could say that there are two main reasons why you have to save water, the first as mentioned before is that water is scarce and the second is that there are many of us who inhabit the planet and we need water to live .

In relation to human beings and the water we can drink, it is necessary to remember the following: of all the water that exists on the planet, 97% is salt water and, therefore, is not suitable for human consumption. This leaves 3% of the total amount of fresh water on the planet , but not all of it is available, that is, 2.5% of that water is found in glaciers, in the atmosphere, soil or as groundwater. Therefore, we only have 0.5% of water for human consumption and if we count on that water to be also drinkable, the percentage is even lower. To this we must also add that water reserves and rainfall are unevenly distributed throughout the planet.

On the other hand, we are currently more than seven billion people on the planet, this means that 0.5% of available water must be distributed among seven billion people and adding up. These two facts alone would be enough to think that you have to save water , whether you live in a country with a shortage or surplus of water.

But there are more reasons to save water, such as climate change or water pollution. Water pollution makes many water sources no longer available for our consumption and today the waters have pollutants that we are not yet able to eliminate. Some hundreds of years ago and in the present in some countries the main cause of mortality from drinking contaminated water was the lack of water purification and the discharge of feces and urine and, therefore, people died from infections, diarrhea and other diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms. Fortunately, and especially those of us who live in the developed world, we have managed to combat these diseases by disinfecting the water we drink and improving hygiene and sanitation systems. Here we explain theTypes of wastewater treatment .

But now, in addition, we are dumping into the waters toxic that we cannot eliminate and there are already studies that show this impact when finding substances such as caffeine or microplastics in tap and bottled water. Saving water is also important so that the one that remains clean does not acquire these pollutants, because as we have said, we must also take care of the quality of the water .

Once we know why water is important and also why it is important to take care of it and save it, we are going to talk about what ordinary citizens can do to take care of water. The simplest thing is to save water and recycle. In AgroCorrn we are going to give you some simple advice, but the imagination is infinite and it may be that you come up with new alternatives. If so, the best idea is to share it so that others can too.

There are many ways to save water at home and some of them are:

• Shower instead of bathing.
• Turn off the tap while we are washing our face, teeth or hands and the same should be done when washing dishes.
• Do not throw waste such as papers or wrapping down the toilet, throw them into a bin and recycle whenever possible.
• Put washing machines and dishwashers when they are completely full in order to make the most of the water. In addition, it is advisable to put short programs to save even more water.
• Water the plants with a watering can or by drip systems instead of using the hose through which more liters of water are lost. It is also important to water early or late in the day so that the plants have water for longer hours and it does not evaporate as much as in the central hours of the day. Here you can easily learn how to make a homemade drip irrigation system .
• Do not wait for the tap water to cool down or warm up while it is open. You can put water in the fridge or collect the water in a bucket while it reaches the temperature you want and then use it to clean or water the plants.

In addition, to take care of the quality of the waters we can also do the following:

• Spend less soaps and fabric softeners, or buy them phosphate-free. Most soaps contain phosphates that increase the eutrophication of the waters .
• Wash clothes cold and also in the washing machine. Most of today’s fabrics are synthetic and have some plastic component, so high temperatures degrade the plastic and break the fabric, the fibers escape through the pipes and reach rivers and oceans, increasing the amount of plastics in them.
• Do not throw garbage into rivers, lakes or the sea as it pollutes the environment and can also endanger other living beings. Save the waste until you find a bin or the relevant containers and if you can recycle, all the better.
• Do not flush feminine hygiene products down the toilet. They should be disposed of in the bin as they contain plastic, contain biological material that can be polluting and can also clog pipes. If you don’t want to waste so much plastic, there are alternatives such as the menstrual cup that is made of natural silicone is reusable and can be sterilized several times.
• Avoid the use of unnecessary medications. Do not take antibiotics if your doctor has not prescribed them and avoid the use of anti-inflammatories and analgesics if it is not strictly necessary, such as ibuprofen or paracetamol, since they pollute the waters, apart from being more beneficial to your health. Recent scientific studies have discovered alarming concentrations of antibiotics and drugs in natural waterways and effects on aquatic organisms. To reduce inflammation and / or relieve mild or medium pain, you can replace them with natural therapies based on medicinal plants (look for reliable sources of information or specialists) or relaxation and rest techniques.
• Do not buy cosmetic products that contain plastic microspheres such as toothpastes or scrubs. There are also organic scrubs that contain salt or almond skin that have the same effect and do not pollute.
• And, above all, do not throw dangerous and polluting liquids down the sink, toilet or directly into rivers such as oils, solvents, paints or fuel. Clean points exist to get rid of these substances in a more appropriate way.

If you want to read more articles similar to Why it is important to take care of water , we recommend that you enter our category of Other environment .