Water, water everywhere

It has been raining again over the past couple of days and the week ahead looks unsettled too. Sometimes with so much water everywhere it is easy to wonder why it should be an issue to use it wisely. For those living in remoter places with no access to mains 'water works' such as on Knoydart and Eigg there has long been an understanding of the preciousness of the resource. Many of us however just take for granted the water that comes out of our tap.

I attended a conference run by the Scottish Sustainable Development Forum. This was looking at the results of the Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Survey

The first part of the event was various Government officials commenting. Nothing very interesting - mainly grey suits with stock answers - but the second part of the event saw three different but challenging presentations by women (not in suits) with a more practical focus. A provocative input from Tania Flasck, Head of Sustainability at MWH Global Engineering Company got me thinking about water:

She suggested we need to think again about how we use water and what kind of water is used where. For instance - do we need top quality water that is fit for drinking for everything we do? Some countries have a system where the quality of water they use depends on what it is for - so drinking quality isn't used for flushing toilets. Other countries have a de-centralised approach to water so water is delivered close to the source of production. Something to think about for rural areas. Maybe water metering would make us think about our water use?

Why does water use matter?

It took a while for me to understand.

The answers to these questions may surprise you - as they did me:

Who is the largest user of electricity in Scotland?

Scottish Water! The main cost is that of pumping water to us, compounded by the fact there are lots of leaks in pipes on the way. A reduction in demand for water would decrease energy use thus reducing Scotland’s green house gas emissions.

What would the impact be of only boiling the water we needed each time we made a cup of tea or coffee?

The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs say: "If everyone boiled only the water they needed instead of 'filling' the kettle every time, we could save enough electricity to run practically all the street lighting in the U.K."

What is the average number of litres each person uses per day in the UK?

25 litres; 50 litres; 75 litres; 100 litres; 150 litres

At present, the average UK home currently uses 150 litres per person per day. In Scotland it is 146 litres per person per day according to Scottish Water ( that is about 32 gallons).

How much water is used in the average shower?

12 litres - more than 2.5 gallons. See Waterwise for more information.

Apart from the energy that could be conserved if we conserved water better sometime we have e too much water too quickly: Large coniferous plantations add to fast water run off . This contributes to flooding: broadleaf woodlands slow down the rate at which water runs off and lets it reach the water table in a more measured way.

Water may be everywhere but there are lots of issues that relate to water that will affect us all in the future: how much we use; how much energy we use to get it to us; what we do to reduce the chances of flooding and drought;how we prevent it becoming polluted. I could go on and on....