March 23, 2009
Hope we all had a great WORLD WATER DAY.
I thought I would share with you some fun/disturbing facts about water and why it should become a priority in our buildings.
1) An American taking a five-minute shower uses more water than the typical person living in a developing country slum uses in a whole day.
2) 3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease.
3) 84% of water-related deaths are in children ages 0 – 14.
4) 98% of water-related deaths occur in the developing world.
5) The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
6) At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.
Sanitation
1) Only 62% of the world’s population has access to improved sanitation – defined as a sanitation facility that ensures hygienic separation of human excreta from human contact.
2) 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, including 1.2 billion people who have no facilities at all.
3) At any one time, more than half of the poor in the developing world are ill from causes related to hygiene, sanitation and water supply.
Now some fun facts about buildings and waters in the US
Average Home Water Usage:
toilets 28%
clothes washers 21%
showers 17%
faucets 15%
leaks 14%
other 5%
It’s pretty amazing to me that 14% of our water use is because of leaks!
Here are some easy ways to help out
• Fix your leaks
• Install water saving aerators or spring loaded valves on all faucets.
• Install water saving shower heads.
• Retrofit flushometer toilets and urinals with low consumption valve replacement kits.
• Replace existing higher consumption toilets and urinals with Low Flush (ULF) toilets and urinals which use 1.6 gallons per flush (gpf) and 1.0 gpf respectively.
• If only replacing a limited number of toilets, replace heavily used fixtures located in high traffic areas first.
• When remodeling, such as for ADA compliance, replace fixtures with ULF models.
Just a couple suggestions for the year ahead.
I really do believe that we must stress the importance of our lack of water and create a sense of urgency out there. It is a problem that we can solve but we must take action soon. I want to thank organizations like the WORLD WATER DAY for advancing our knowledge and spreading the word about the shortage of water.
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