Water is life and every drop counts, so it is important that we treat water and water resources as our most treasured resources.
COMMENT
It’s the festive season and everyone is in high spirits and looking forward to the new year. My message is quite simple: take care of our water resources, use it sparingly and wisely.
We need to treasure every little drop, because South Africa is a water scarce country and is ranked among the 30 driest countries in the world. It is crucial that we take water conservation seriously to prevent a water shortage crisis. We must make sure that every little drop of precious water is used in an efficient and beneficial manner. We need to prevent unnecessary water losses at all costs.
Water is life and every drop counts, so it is important that we treat water and water resources as our most treasured resources. If you treasure something, you go all out to protect it as if it was the last drop on Earth. This can be achieved through our responsible actions and attitude. .
Let us treasure our water resources and keep them clean, free-flowing and healthy by preventing them being used as dumping sites. Pollution is one of the major problems threatening water security. Polluted water is unfit for human consumption, for livestock and for the natural environment. Let us be responsible and advocate for a clean environment for healthy watercourses.
The climate crisis is upon us and it has brought with it drastic changes in our weather patterns, making it difficult to predict when we will get good rains to fill our dams, rivers and other watercourses. On top of that, climate change brings with it serious heatwaves that lead to high evaporation, depleting the little that we have.
The little responsible actions that we show in our households, such as fixing all leaks, using a bucket to wash a car, using a cup or glass of water to brush our teeth, using grey water on our gardens, taking a shower instead of a bath, removing invasive alien plants and avoiding flushing the toilet unnecessarily can go a long way in conserving much needed water and ensuring water security.
As this period is a rainy season in most parts of the country but we are not receiving much rainfall, it is important that we practice rainwater harvesting to relieve the pressure and stress on our water resources and supply systems. The water we collect through rainwater harvesting can be used on our gardens and for domestic chores.
Let us this festive season be responsible in our water use and educate each other on the importance of water conservation and how to use water wisely. Let us stop water wastage and promote responsible water use at all times.
With climate change it is more important than ever that our actions and behaviour are water savvy to ensure water security for all in this water scarce country.
If you treasure something, you love it so let us love our water and treat it with the utmost care and respect to help ensure water security for our generations and future generations.
Themba Khoza works for the communication services in the Mpumalanga provincial office of the department of water and sanitation