I can live without electricity but I cannot survive without water. Home builders and home buyers set great importance on the stability of the water supply. On the national scale, a big factor in assuring our water supply is the preservation of our watersheds. A watershed is defined as a ridge of high land dividing areas that are drained by different river systems. In our country we have several watershed reservations, among which are the Upper Agno , Angat, Caliraya-Lumot, Makiling-Banahaw, Tiwi, Magat, Pantabangan, Lake Lanao-Agus, and Agusan. These serve as our country’s water storage tanks. Without these watersheds, we cannot efficiently store water. Landscape design consultants lament the shrinkage of our watersheds, making it harder to tap ground water for natural irrigation. To date, no significant program has been put in place to preserve them and even the remaining watersheds are in peril. There is just so much greed and irresponsibility in the treatment of our mountains and forests that our water supply is now in real danger. The laws that prohibit indiscriminate logging and dictate a total log ban are neither indiscriminately applied nor total. Reforestation programs seem to wither faster than weeds. Rapid soil erosion makes planting new trees even more difficult.
What are we to do? We may not be able to increase the water supply, but there are things we can do to arrest the downtrend.
We must actively support tree planting activities, even just within our parks and yards. This is a great step we can make to reverse imminent water shortage during the summer months and flooding during the rainy season.
We must resolve to conserve water. We can come up with creative ways to recycle water. According to water recycling specialist, Albert Roselada, even though the initial phases of recycling may seem more expensive than the actual cost of producing water now, the future value and benefits of the endeavour are immeasurable. We can design into our buildings the capability to store, treat, and re-channel laundry and shower water so that it may be used for flushing, yard work, washing cars, and irrigation. That could save you around 50% of your water consumption. Rainwater may also be collected and used in a variety of ways.
Ask your builder to install water saving devices. Sometimes, even the correct placement of tanks and pipes will optimize the use of water in the house. It may be good to install urinals in homes since these require less water than water closets.
I am still not too keen on waterless flushing systems because chemicals are used that may be harmful to the environment. Perhaps future models will be safer.
In some places, the natives’ water source is simply the mountain stream.
These streams and rivers are the veritable blood vessels of such communities. Should they dry up, the other parts of the village will definitely suffer. It is therefore necessary for the people to ensure that the structures they build will not pollute or destroy the waterways.
In my opinion, should our oil supplies run out, we may yet find in it the silver lining by way of reduced exhaust fumes, decreased pollution, less traffic jams, lower noise levels. Everyone could end up using bikes and electric cars. However, if our water supply runs out, then it will presage the end of civilization, the end of life.
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