We all have a little child living inside of us. Close your eyes and try to recall something from the times when you was a child. We are sure everyone will find a bright memory of the first touch and first communication with the nature: magnificent oak, shoreless and mighty sea, huge mountain, dreadful fog, large snow fortress and snow angels made in fresh crispy snow. Children are in the closest communion with the nature and they need it. It may be the reason why environmental motif is so frequently used in cartoons.
Do you remember the lifeless planet with just one robot remaining? Do you remember how happy the characters were to find small green sprout stemming from dust and dirt? Enchanted forest which has seen no sunlight for many years because of dense and gloomy fog. An island dying with no fish and poor harvest? These cartoons with adult problems are most probably familiar to many of you.
Environmental issues have been the global concern for several years. The most important among them are water shortages and water pollution.
“When the well is dry we know the value of water”
These words of Benjamin Franklin are the best description of what is happening now with freshwater resources. They are in constant decline. Shortages of pure water do not occur only in African countries, it also happens in many countries of Asia and Europe. For instance, in Portugal almost half of its territory experiences pure freshwater shortages. Malta, Cyprus, Spain and Italy also have significant shortage of drinking water.
However, the need in water resources is constantly growing. Fresh water is used by households, agriculture, industry and industrial facilities. That’s the reason why many countries install additional waste water treatment facilities and tend to reuse purified water, for instance, in agriculture. Freshwater management is important for the entire world.
My region has plenty of water. Does this problem concern me?
That’s true, it is hard to save what you have in abundance. Why should one living in water-rich region save water? Take a look at the water running from your tap: it is clean and ready to be used. It required a lot of energy, resources and effort. But what will happen to the water after you have used it? It will be channeled to go through long and complicated treatment process again. Even the clean water running from tap for no reason also will undergo the treatment. Irrational use of water means waste of energy, resources and effort.
At the beginning of the year we have told what we were planning to do to save water at our production branches. In the meantime, we implemented the first stage of the wastewater collection and treatment system at Sredneuralskaya GRES, drained its basements and directed the water for reuse, whereas at Konakovskaya and Nevinnomysskaya GRES we installed the Sovetchik software package, which helps to save water.
However, in everyday life, each of us can save this precious resource by applying a few simple rules for the rational use of water. It is very easy to follow them, and most importantly, it will not affect the quality of life in any way.
- Turn the water off while you are brushing your teeth or shaving. Believe us, if every human on Earth does it, huge amount of water will be saved even during simple morning routine.
- Chose shower over bath.
- Use water saving programs on your dishwasher and washing machines.
Water has no taste, no color, no smell but water gives taste to life. Water makes forests green, gives flowers their scent and makes people healthy. Let’s together strive for careful management of environmental resources, for efficient use, let’s be mindful about the world around us and be grateful for the extremely valuable things we have for free.