OBLIQUE ANGLE : On your role in saving water

Did you know? Every March 22 is World Water Day. This year, it was celebrated on Wednesday. May be you knew and participated, maybe not. See? Most of us take water for granted. Yes. We take it for granted.

Some of us think that it’s always there. Why? For the lucky few, whose homes are connected to a reliable water distribution network, and whose office always has running water … we don’t give a damn, do we?

We can’t imagine that there is a woman out there who has to walk four, five kilometres just to get a bucket of this precious liquid. Did I say ‘precious liquid’? Sorry, for some of us who take water for granted, we can never imagine it as being precious, can we?

2010 data on water access in Tanzania show that about 79 per cent of urban dwellers and 44 per cent of their rural counterparts do get water. The figures don’t look pretty, do they?

Did you know? One of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals is to make sure everyone in the world has access to safe water by 2030. How many years do we still have to that deadline? Thirteen.

Now, compare that to the number of years we, in independent Tanzania, have been trying to provide our people with water? This is the 56th year. And look at where we got? 79 per cent of Urban dwellers and 44 per cent of our rural folks. And, can we ensure 100 per cent water access for all by 2030?

Let’s not lose hope. You can play a role. Control wastewater. Don’t waste water. There are some little things you can do to help.

Some experts suggested the following: Turn off the tap while you’re brushing your teeth; Turn off the tap while washing up or scrubbing vegetables; Put rubbish, oils, chemicals and food in the bin, not down the drain. The dirtier your wastewater, the more energy and money it costs to treat it; Collect used water from your kitchen sink or bath and use it to water your plants; and, You can also collect and use this water to wash your bike or car.

And, here are a few slogans that you can use as food for thought: “Water Covers 2/3 of the surface of the Earth but Only 0.002% is Drinkable. Save Water.”

“Every drop in the ocean counts.”

“When you conserve water, you conserve life! The wars of the twenty-first century will be fought over water.”

So, let’s do all we can to protect water sources, which unfortunately keep dwindling by each passing day.

As we fail to properly plan land use in both urban and rural areas, we are causing untold damage to water sources.

And, let’s harvest rain water. We shouldn’t let it flow to waste.

A drop of water is worth more than a sack of gold to a thirsty man.