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Then the drop said “Do you know humans can survive without food even for a week but cannot survive without me for more than 3 days.
"I am the basic necessity for the survival of all life forms on Earth. I am a unique source of life and I am very important for the continuation of life on Earth"."Oh that is all fine, but I am still not sure about your theory of best friend”I said.
Then water drop said let me take you through your daily routine to show you how I am your best friend. When you wake up in the morning you need me for the activities that will keep you clean and hygienic such as brushing, flushing, hand washing and bathing. Then the delicious food that you eat such as Pasta is also cooked in water and I keep you hydrated the whole day so that you can do your tasks. I am also an integral part of your daily household chores such as utensil cleaning, mopping, laundry, gardening.
Okay okay, I agree that we need you but how does that qualify you as a best friend, a best friend is the one with whom you enjoy.
The drop said "I have that quality too, Imagine yourself sitting on a bench in the garden on a hot summer afternoon and suddenly it starts raining. This uplifts your mood. Frogs and peacocks come hopping with their frolic beautiful feathers wide open. They dance gaily and feel as if God has opened a tap in the sky. You can smell the fresh aroma and the green plants are covered with drops. The trees sway from side to side. Dark clouds roll the sky with thundering and lightning.
Rain makes you feel good, a rainbow makes your day, sparkling dew drops in the morning bring a smile on your face, and OH,Yes imagine the fun that you have during the Holi festival. So, tell me would you be able to enjoy the above without me?
Now, I am convinced that you are a human's best friend.
As we discussed a lot more things suddenly the water drop became sad. I asked him why are you sad. He said I am sad because slowly I am being wasted and poisoned. “Wasted and Poisoned by whom”. The water drop said by my best friend, THE HUMANS. To my astonishment I said how is that possible, how can someone poison and take it for granted --their very own best friend.
The water drop said with a heavy heart that humans are not using water judiciously, they are wasting water in their day to day life such as-:
l Brushing their teeth with taps on,
l Using shower to take a bath,
l Washing vegetables in running water,
l Using a hose to clean their cars,
l Not using water level alarm to check overflowing water tanks,
l Unchecked extraction of underground water.
l They are dumping their waste such as sewage, plastic bottles, oil, fertilizers, chemical heavy washing powder etc in rivers, ponds and underground water.
Thus poisoning me☹️.
Because of this Cape Town in South Africa is facing a water crisis. The water table there had gone down alarmingly.The citizens experienced severe drought and government failure because of the excess usage of water and increased demand.The residents of South Africa just got 2 minutes to do their personal daily chores and adding insult to the injury the government/municipal corporation denied supply of water in each house as there was none left. Now in India we have started seeing similar signs of water shortage.This summer Chennai became the 1st Indian city to go dry. Most of its population today is dependent on water tankers for daily requirement of drinking water. News shows women waiting for hours in long queues and scurrying to water tankers to get water which barely meets drinking and kitchen requirements. There was no water available for sanitation and hence IT companies had asked employees to work from home. Several restaurants shutdown and city was filled with ‘Don’t waste water banners, bills and stickers
This soul touching sad story left a void in my heart and I felt that I should help and protect our best friend in whatever way possible. So, the very next day I started thinking about preserving water and would like to share the things that I learnt in this pursuit.The first thought that came to my mind was that almost 3/4th of the Earth is covered with water, then why should we worry to conserve it.You would be surprised to know that only 1% of the total water is usable or fresh water and rest 97% is unusable salty water. What I found was that we need fresh water or potable water for few of the daily tasks such as bathing and cooking, and recycled or waste water non potable water can be used for the rest of the tasks such as gardening, flushing etc.
This led me to design and come up with DIY waste water home solution which can be implemented at individual homes. I named it “BILGE VESSEL (BV)”, this can be attached or placed next to any water consuming equipment such as washing machine, cistern of water closet etc. As you take shower the bilge vessel will have a small pump which will pump waste water to the top of the Bilge vessel. Bilge vessel will have different layers of coarse aggregate, fine aggregate and sand. The waste water will trickle through different layers and get filtered. Finally the treated and clear water gets stored in the lower most part of Bilge vessel from where it can be used/reused for non-potable uses such as irrigation, flushing, washing clothes etc. With this system each household of four family members can save 100-150 liters of water everyday i.e. 50% of their daily requirement.
This is a small effort from my end to save and bring back my best friend Water. After reading this I would like to ask who is your best friend🌝
This is a short self composed poem.
Preserve Water
to save your life,
or else you will die
and you can’t even deny.
Then you will remember the precious water
and finally you understand it’s worth.
So,mend your ways before it is too late.
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