Saving water

Think of how water is wasted at home: while washing hands, clothes and utensils, bathing, cooking, gardening and brushing teeth. Ways to waste less:

• turn off taps when not in use;
• fix leaks;
• recycle water;
• harvest water.

We must also keep water clean. Plastic bags and wrappers floating in rivers show the problem: people pollute freshwater by throwing trash into it. Waste from homes and industries pollutes water when it is dumped into rivers, lakes and ponds. Polluted water is not fit for living beings to use.

Freshwater is limited, and rain does not refill it as fast as we use it. There is a shortage of water in many parts of India; in some places people walk long distances to fetch drinking water. So we must save water, use it wisely and keep it clean.

Rainwater harvesting means collecting rainwater and storing it for later use, in homes, housing societies, schools and other buildings. Typically, rain falling on a roof runs down a pipe with a mesh that keeps out leaves, passes through a filter that holds back sand and grit, and collects in a tank.

It is an age-old practice in India. Stepwells, called Bawadi in Rajasthan and Vav in Gujarat, were built to harvest water in these dry regions. They store rainwater, and also water that seeps in from nearby lakes, ponds and rivers. One is Toorji ka Jhalra in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.