The problem with water scarcity is that, it does not hit you as long as there is running water in front of you. When we say “water scarcity”, odds are that you are probably thinking of a desert or a drought struck village but the truth is that water scarcity is most prevalent in urban areas and is more common than one might think.

With a growing population and dwindling resources, the problem is much bigger than we believe it to be. Contrary to popular beliefs or what the seemingly never ending supply of water at your house might suggest, water resources are fast depleting.

For instance, in our country, with a rapidly growing urban population and not enough resources to match it, water scarcity is going to be a frighteningly real issue. This clearly indicates that the demand for water is going to outnumber the supply by a margin that is scary.

Can you think of going a week without water? Can you imagine how life would look like if you had only a bucket of water to sustain an entire week? The truth is, there are many people for whom this is the reality. We have a moral responsibility to preserve and conserve water for future generations. Water as such is the elixir of life and it goes without saying that we need water on a day to day basis. Whether it is for sustenance of the human life or the daily practices we indulge in, water is undeniably at the crux of everything.

Water resources today are drying up for a variety of reasons – climate change, over-usage, mismanagement of resources, lack of awareness and wastage. River water is also continuously contaminated from industry pollutants that render them useless. While efforts to clean-up water bodies and manage waters at the level of a country are one side of the story, there is a dire need for each person to take responsibility and understand their role in water conservation.

On an average, in urban life, right from brushing our teeth to cleaning our cars, we expend a lot of water.

What are some steps that we can take towards controlling this usage?

At a personal level, it would obviously include double-checking that you are not being wasteful. From turning off tap water to ensuring you take shorter showers, the steps are quite obvious and plenty. At the level of a household and a community, it is important you ask yourself questions like whether the equipment you have are efficient enough and are not causing water wastage. Are you using the most efficient technology? Are there water conservation techniques that you should be adopting? It is important for every person to look into this and immediately adopt techniques that change the way you consume and conserve water – after all, they don’t say without reason that –

“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water!”