What's Your Water IQ?

The earth's surface is 74% water. 97% of that water is salt water. Of the remaining three percent, 77% of that is ice. 22% of that 3% is ground water and the river water, lake water and wetlands account for less than 1% of the total water on the planet. Fresh water is precious indeed.

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Pop Quiz: How Fresh Is Your Water
Global Conservation Made Eas(ier): Mapping the World's Freshwater
World Water Day

Fish tank water, hot water bottle water, dishwater, shower water and clothes washer water are all examples of grey water. You can use this water to clean exterior siding, water the garden or scrub out your bird bath. Just don?t dump it down the sink.

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Grey Water Guerrillas
Big Steps in Building: Install Gray Water Recovery Everywhere
Gray Water

Not every home leaks this much. The problem is some homes leak ridiculous amounts and lower the curve for the rest of us. Here are a few common symptoms of a leak: An always moist lawn, a toilet that you have to jiggle the handle and unusually high water bills.

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How to Fix a Leaky Compression Faucet
How To Fix Sinks, Tubs, and Drains
How to Do Faucet Repairs: Tips and Guidelines

The average toilet uses three gallons per flush. Newer toilets will use less water and older toilets tend to use more. The toilet uses more water than any other indoor fixture. It is also prone to leaks. Flush as little as possible and check your toilet for leaks.

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How to Test for a Toilet Leak
How to Fix a Leaky Toilet Flapper
Pee Outside

Multiply the amount of water in a bottle by 6.74 and you'll find the amount of water that it takes to make the bottle. Don't forget that the water is shipped in semi-trucks, cargo ships and by freight, then refrigerated in convenience markets. All that transportation and electricity burn fossil fuel and don?t forget that the bottle, too, is made of fossil fuel. Litter, it seems, is the least of our problems.

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Pablo Calculates the True Cost of Bottled Water
The Carbon Footprint of Moving Bottled Water
Quick Quiz: Which Bottled Water has a bigger Carbon Footprint

In most cases, it is greener to do it yourself, but not when it comes to washing your car. Car washes usually save more water than an old-fashioned home washing. Car washes are also zoned so the soap doesn't run off into the ocean or groundwater. For an even greener wash, check to see if your local car wash recycles its waste water.

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Don't DIY: Car Washing
3 Green Carwash Ideas
Eco Touch: Waterless Carwash

The clothes washer uses, on average, 15 gallons a day, 21.7% of home water use. The shower consumes 16.8% of water in the home and the faucet accounts for 15. 7%.

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Sanyo's Aqua: Wash Clothes Without Water
A Shower of Green: 4 Tips for a Greener Rinse
Green Home for Winter: Install Faucet Aerators

Most farming irrigation systems only operate at 40% efficiency. Many of the world's major aquifers are shrinking at a rate of 2 to 3.3 meters a year. On top of that, 80% of cities in developing nations use untreated waste water to irrigate their crops, causing outbreaks of salmonella.

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Eighty Percent Of Cities Studied In Developing Nations Use Wastewater
How to Go Green: Water
Farming Solutions—the Future of Agriculture

Washing dishes in the dishwasher uses 1/6 less water than washing them by hand. The dishwasher accounts for .06 percent of your home water use. Sometimes, it is easy being green.

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Dishwasher vs Handwashing: the Winner
Set Your Green Home Priorities for Water Conservation
Hand Washing—Dishwasher Showdown, Assessing the Value of Home

Drinking desalinated water does not cause cancer. It is, however, expensive, energy intensive and contributes to the greenhouse gas problem. The water intakes also tend to kill fish and plankton. There have been some strides made to green desalination, but right now, water conservation is a better solution.

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Australia to Build Huge Desalination Plant
Ottawa Student Could Make Water Desalination 600-700% More Efficient
Oasys Water Gets Major Funding for New Desalination Technology