Water, Water everywhere and not a drop to drink....

Well this week we go swimming and I keep thinking about how much water there is in the pool at the Y and how little water some people have. I was looking at some facts about water and here are a couple of interesting things I found: -*70% of our Earth's surface is covered by water but before you get excited 97.5% of all water on Earth is salt water, leaving only 2.5% as fresh water and les than 1% of that water is accessible as drinking water. -*In Mozambique the average water use is 3 gallons per person per day and in Canada the average water use is 209 gallons per person per day. -*It's estimated that bottled water is between 240 and 10,000 times more expensive than tap water and some companies pay little or nothing for the water they take out of groundwater streams and aquifers. -*A tap leaking one drop of water per second wastes more than 25 L of water a day - that’s 9,000 L a year! -*A five-minute shower with a standard showerhead uses 100 L of water where a five-minute shower with a low-flow showerhead uses 35 L of water. -*Only 10% of our home water supply is used in the kitchen and as drinking water but a whopping 65% of it is used in the bathroom

Here are a few water conservation tips: **Repair leaky faucets and always turn off your taps tightly so they don't drip - even a small drip can waste tons of water. **Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or washing your hands. **Have showers instead of baths and keep them short (5 minutes). **Install low-flow showerhead. **Install a low-flush toilet (that uses 6 litres or less per flush), or place a toilet insert or weighted plastic bottle filled with water in the water tank. **Don’t run the water continuously while thawing food, hand washing dishes or while washing fruits and veggies; use a partially filled sink instead with a quick rinse afterward. **Wash full loads and use the shortest cycle. **If you water your lawn, do it in the cool morning to avoid evaporation and be careful not to water the pavement. **Plant trees, shrubs, herbs and flowers that are native and generally require less care and water.

Swim Night 6:30-8:00 Meeting @ the KUC Youth Room - Swimming at the Kamloops Y.

Where you can find more info on water issues: http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/water/story_of_water/water_tips.pdf www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/enrichment/africa/lessons/HSgeog01/Hsgeog01sup01.pdf http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/freshwater_supply/freshwater.html http://www.united-church.ca/getinvolved/waterfocus#involve http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/ecology/water/10concerns.asp