It is estimated that by 2035, half of the people in the world will live under severe water shortages. Discuss three specific strategies for conserving water
What will be an ideal response?
Since approximately 70% of the water that humans use goes to irrigate agricultural crops, improved technologies that can reduce evaporation and runoff from agricultural lands are essential. Drip irrigation, a process of delivering water to the roots of individual plants through a network of perforated tubes at the soil surface, has made a significant impact in reducing evaporation and runoff. A second strategy might be to reuse municipal wastewater, recycling it to irrigate crops and/or for landscape watering. An essential consideration is to ensure that this wastewater is not contaminated with industrial by-products (heavy metals) if it is to be reused for human agriculture. Since wastewater is naturally high in nitrogen and other nutrients, using it to irrigate crops reduces the need for additional fertilizers. A third strategy involves personal water conservation approaches. Reducing shower time, using a low-flow shower head, and for home yards, using native plants that are adapted to the region where one lives, rather than exotic grasses that require large amounts of water in order to thrive.
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