Water is one of the most important things in everyone’s life. If we think about it food, and everything us humans come in contact with has to do with water someway somehow. By 2050 our population is expected to reach 9.7 billion people and by 2100 it is expected to be at 11.2 billion people. If we do not regulate water resources properly, by the time our population reaches these numbers it will become a problem. Overpopulation will absolutely strain water resources and stretch them out thin. For example, this can cause an increase in water pollution.
About 56 percent of water is strictly for household purposes. On top of a future water shortage with the population growing, this will also bring both industrialization as well as urbanization which causes environmental problems and will affect the quality of our water supply directly. Right now, there about about 1.1 billion people globally who do not have access to safe drinking water. About 218 million Americans lives at least 10 miles from a polluted water source.
Our population is growing very quickly. It is very important that all Americans take a look at their water consumption and think about it wisely. The average household of 4 people uses about 400 gallons of water each day. Majority of that water is used inside the house. Scary to think about that. I live in a household of 3 and I can only imagine how much water we use everyday between washing dishes, taking showers, washing clothes, washing our hands, and that is just to name a few examples in the way we use water in my home.
I think however that water consumption is not addressed all the time so that we are made aware about how important water is and how we can fix this growing problem. In households water is easily wasted and very quickly at that. But, I do think that by every household changing a few items in their routine, the amount of water we consume will change drastically.
How does the Increase in human population growth affect the consumption of water resources? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://environmental-issues.yoexpert.com/environmental-issues-general/how-does-the-increase-in-the-human-population-grow-1633.html
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles: SAGE.
I agree with you and your concern of water consumption. This topic is not addressed enough by people. In California, water usage didn’t become an issue until we were in a sever drought. This is the only time I can recall the government doing something to inform people about the dangers of over using water. I can only imagine how wasteful many households in the united states have become. More public announcements need to be made to inform people about water consumption and its effects it has on our environment. Do you think the United States government is doing enough to address this issue?