I have decided to go on a mission. A mission to investigate the whole issue of water and water resilience (as its often referred to). I have decided to try and discover how we are going to be affected by water-related issues in the future and what, if anything, we can do to prepare for it. I am going to see what it’s like to live for 2 months as if there was a water shortage (a bit like the one my parents experienced in 1976 and that we nearly had in 2018). By doing this I hope to get a profound insight into what life might be like for us all over the coming decades..
ver the last few years I have become increasingly interested (or should I say worried) about the ever increasing pressure that we are putting on the precious supply of fresh water that we all rely on so heavily in our day-to-day lives.
I’ve been listening to all the worrying stories about how climate change might effect our lives over the coming years and decades, and I have to say that it’s the predictions being made about water that have worried me the most.
Whether it’s too much water in the wrong places or not enough to go round at certain times, there can be little doubt that some of the most significant effects of climate change on us here in the UK are going to involve water in some way….
In response to this, a few years ago I decided to try and get to the bottom of this issue – I wanted to know as much as possible about the role water plays in our lives – where it comes from, how it gets to us, how much we use and why and how these processes can go wrong.
Perhaps the most startling thing I’ve learnt so far is that we are all going to have to use a lot less water in our day-to-day lives in the future (and by this i mean the near future, not way off in decades to come).
I think we are already starting to see the signs of this. We had a significant dry spell in 2018 (which nearly became a drought) and we have just had the driest April ever recorded in 2020, which left many reservoirs worryingly low.
Also, for the first time this summer we have received messages from our local water provider urging us all to try and use a bit less water day-to-day – in one message they asked us to reduce our water use by 5% and in the other by 5 litres a day (which is significantly less than 5% by the way).
So, what are we normal folks supposed to make of all this – how is are these things going to affect our lives and what (if anything) can we do to reduce the potential impact on us, our communities and our way of life…? I don’t think we really know and it doesn’t really seem as though anyone is talking about it that much either – what I don’t understand is why not…?
THE WATERTIGHT CHALLENGE
So, to get to the bottom of all this, I have decided to go on a mission. A mission to investigate the whole issue of water and water resilience (as its often referred to). I have decided to try and discover how we are going to be affected by water-related issues in the future and what, if anything, we can do to prepare for it.
This is why I have established the WaterTight Communities Project and it’s why I have also decided to undertake an experiment to see what it’s like to live for 2 months as if there was a water shortage (a bit like the one my parents experienced in 1976 and that we nearly had in 2018).
So that is what I am going to do. I am going to live for the next 2 months as if I am in a water shortage future scenario. By doing this I hope to get a profound insight into what life might be like for us all over the coming decades.
To make it work, I am going to have to assess exactly how much water I currently use in every aspect of my life and then explore all the things I can do to reduce that water use each day. There are going to be some big challenges along the way and I suspect there are going to be some tough conversations with other members of my family, but i am determined to do it…I simply have to find out if I can do it…!!
THE SUB-100 CLUB
To help motivate myself on this mission, I have come up with an idea and that is to establish an exclusive club – I’m calling it the Sub-100 Club. The Sub-100 Club is a club that anyone can enter, but they only qualify to join if they can use less than 100 litres of tap water per day. If they can demonstrate that they have achieved this objective (using readings taken from their water meter or in another way) then they can join the club.
The challenge i have set myself is to work out what i would need to do to be able to join my own club – I want to see if I can meet the entry criteria. I think I may be able to do it, but what really interests me is what sacrifices I have to make and what changes we have to make to our ‘normal’ day-to-day lives in order to do it – can we do it, how hard is it and are we willing to adapt our lives now rather than wait until we don’t have a choice.
So, if like me you are concerned about the effects climate change will have on the natural world, if you are worried about the security of our water supply in the future, or if you wonder how resilient you and your community to the impacts of climate change, then why not follow my progress as I embark on a voyage of discovery into our climate change impacted water future.
It may be difficult and it may be scary, but I would much rather know what’s in store for us now before it actually happens. And you never know, i might discover that adapting to meet these challenges is bit easier than I thought it would be…
During my 2 month WATERTIGHT Challenge I will be looking at all the latest science on water resilience, speaking to experts and water champions from across the South West and keeping a daily WATERTIGHT diary in which i will record my experiences as I try to reduce my water use in every aspect of my life…
Follow my daily updates and videos to experience this challenge with me as it unfolds.
See you again soon. And don’t forget to #StayWaterTight.
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