For decades, when we thought of being sustainable, we thought of using less electricity or gasoline or paper. Now there are fantastic alternatives to those: solar and wind energy, electric cars, everything paperless. But we’re missing something.
There’s no such thing as the global electricity crisis. Or the global gasoline or paper crisis. We are smack in the middle of a global water crisis, though. Water is a non-renewable resource with no alternative. Water is life and we’ve been living like there’s no tomorrow.
So, why isn’t water sustainability higher on our radars? Since my grandma first got indoor plumbing, America has enjoyed a golden era of water prosperity. Water has been cheap and abundant, seemingly magical. For all those years we’ve believed shorter showers, automatic faucets, and low-flow toilets are enough to keep our water use at a reasonable level.
What if we’ve been wrong?
While we’ve been focused on other important facets of sustainability, one game-changing fact has slipped by us: Water is what makes all other things possible. It takes a tremendous amount of water to generate electricity, drill for oil, and create paper. This is both good and bad news. Good news because as we conserve energy and other resources, we also conserve the water needed to make them. That’s no small thing! But unfortunately, the bad news is that our nation’s water supply is dwindling quickly. At the current rate of use, it will reach a point where we don’t have enough water to keep the electricity running via traditional methods.
You can see in the graph below comparing the cost of utilities that water is rising radically faster than any other utility. That’s because it is the most essential resource on Earth and people are finally beginning to realize that we don’t have an endless supply. Other utilities will follow its trend. As water becomes even scarcer, the cost of other water-dependent resources will skyrocket.
What can we do about it?
In dry climates, outdoor water use can be up to 70%, and a frightening 50% of that is wasted due to outdated or poorly managed irrigation systems. So while we’re budgeting to upgrade all of our bathrooms to the latest water-saving technology, the real culprit is outside our windows.
Thankfully, the solution is simple and affordable. A free analysis of your property’s water usage and irrigation system can tell you how much precious irrigation water has been slipping away unnoticed. A user-friendly, cloud-connected smart irrigation system with real-time water usage reporting can decrease your annual water usage by 20-70% and allow you to check up on it at any time, from any web device. Your landscape doesn’t have to suffer for water conservation.
Maybe your sustainability program hasn’t been focused on water management, so far. Many of our customers have found that their incredible water savings in turn saves them thousands – if not millions – of dollars on other utility costs. If you’re looking to make the biggest impact on the planet and your expenses, start with water.
Water matters more. More than energy, more than oil. Because water is life.
Water matters more because it is the one resource we cannot reproduce.
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