WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

WATER MANAGEMENT IN URBAN AREAS
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Urban water management organises the supply and distribution
of drinking water – and industrial water not meant for human
consumption – to domestic households and small businesses, as well
as sewage disposal and rainwater drainage. This is one further area
of water consumption and here, too, resources could be conserved if
water was used sparingly and pollution was avoided.
In Germany, the average water consumption per capita stands at
around 130 litres a day and in the USA, it is even more than 200 litres.
On the African continent, many people have less than 2 litres of water for
their daily use. Public and private water supply operators vary greatly
with regard to their attitude towards the amount of water consumed.
Whereas local authorities can encourage citizens to use less water, private
companies are obviously interested in higher consumption in order to
increase their own profits. Not only issues of water consumption or
privatisation should be dealt with at local government level, attention
must be paid to environmental aspects as well.
“Water, you are without taste, colour or smell.
You are indescribable.
We taste you without knowing you.
We do not just need you to live:
you are life itself! You are the Earth’s most
precious possession.
You do not accept every mixture, nor tolerate
every change.You are a delicate divinity.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944), French author and pilot
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