Will there be enough water for a more crowded world? The adult human uses on average about 100 gallons of water a day. Utah’s population as of 2009 is about 2.8 million, making domestic water usage about 278 million gallons per day. This is only about 0.3% of Utah’s overall daily water usage. The other 99.7% goes to public supply, aquaculture, industrial work, and irrigation. This is only a small percentage compared to what the rest of the world is using. Only about 2.5% of earth’s water is fresh and only 1% is actually attainable for usage. The available water on earth has not changed. The same water we have today has been recycled for millions of years, we are not gaining any more. The time to do something is now. In this essay I would like to remark on the past, present, and future of water conservation.


We use much more water today than we ever did in the past. With new technologies and fashions, we use more and more water every year. Not only do we have luxuries that we didn’t have a hundred years ago, our world population has more than tripled since then. Yet our supply of water is not changing. Water has gone through the same replenishing cycle since our world began, and we are using more then ever. Now is the time to make sure we conserve.

Small fixes can make a big difference. This could be not leaving the faucet running while brushing teeth, or not allowing a leak to continue unchecked. However, it is just as important, if not more, to fix the big things. For example, 81.1% of Utah’s freshwater usage goes to irrigation. I have personally observed this water being wasted, such as farmers leaving their sprinklers watering crops all day, nonstop, rain or shine. Much could be done to fix this problem such as low-pressure sprinkler systems, rain sensors, and cost-sharing programs that can improve farm water delivery systems. If we use to much to fast, the earth will be unable to replenish her supply quickly enough to fulfill our needs. If we don’t take the needed steps now, it may be to late.

We have an obligation to our future. With world population growing at the rate it is, we must take precautions that those ahead of us don’t suffer because of our negligence. Water is life; the number one necessity for survival. Not only must we conserve now to prevent future problems, we need to teach the coming generations the importance of our water, that they in turn can make sure nothing will ever happen to bring about disaster in the form of water shortage.

As we can see, water conservation is a much larger issue now than it ever was in the past. What we do now makes a difference. We must do all we can to make sure our future is safe.