Kids Conservation

What Can You Do To Save Water?

With all that water in the oceans and around the world, why do we need to conserve water? The truth is most of the water on the earth is saltwater. Saltwater cannot be used for drinking because it has too many minerals in it, plus it doesn’t taste good. Why can’t we take the salt out of the water? Well, we can, but it is a very expensive process called desalination.

We can only use fresh water, which is found in lakes, rivers and underground. This fresh water represents only 1% of all the water on the earth.

It is also important to conserve water because we rely on rain, sleet and snow to bring us water and since the weather is unpredictable, it sometimes results in a drought when there isn’t enough water available.

Online Interactive Conservation Games

  • Visit the Water Use it Wisely website to play the Tip Tank game and keep the fish afloat while learning water saving tips in a fun way.
  • The EPA has a Save Our Water has a coloring book that you can download and print so you can color with your own crayons or pens.
  • Project WET, one of the country’s premier water education organizations, has an interactive water festival. They offer many fun videos that help you discover more about the role of water in our lives.
  • Project WET also has a fun video called Healthy Water Healthy People where you learn how important water is to the human body.

Conservation Facts

  • FACT! A leaky faucet can waste 3,280 gallons of water a year. That is equal to 165 bathtubs of water.
  • FACT! You use 5 gallons of water a minute when you shower. If you take a 10 minute shower you use 50 gallons of water. A full bathtub uses only 36 gallons of water.
  • FACT! When you let the water run while you brush your teeth, 3 gallons of water go down the drain each minute.
  • FACT! Washing small loads in the dishwasher uses the same amount of water as washing full loads.
  • FACT! A running hose can use 8 gallons of water per minute. Make sure you have a shut off nozzle on the end of your hose.
  • FACT! Don’t use the toilet as a trash can. Every time you flush, you use 3 to 6 gallons of water.
  • FACT! Water your lawn or garden during the coolest part of the day and don’t water on windy days.