ECOWORLD | ORIENT. In today's media landscape, the topic of freshwater shortages is surrounded by a multitude of polarized opinions. On the one hand, environmentalists and politicians regularly warn of a threatening decline in the planet's water resources; on the other, anyone who remembers their high school physics and geography courses will reasonably object: the law of conservation of mass has not been repealed. According to the fundamental principle of the water cycle, the total amount of moisture on Earth (H2O) has remained constant for billions of years. It doesn't evaporate into space or disappear irretrievably underground.

This naturally raises the question: why then are we urged to conserve water at home, and is this shortage the result of megacorporations, heavy industry, and mining farms simply taking resources from ordinary consumers?

To understand the "water math," it's necessary to turn to official statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Contrary to the common myth that industry is the main water consumer, the breakdown of global freshwater consumption is as follows:

Agriculture and the agricultural sector account for approximately 70%. Enormous amounts of water are used for field irrigation, grain cultivation, and livestock husbandry. For example, producing just 1 kg of beef requires up to 15,000 liters of water.

Industry and energy account for approximately 15%. This includes cooling thermal power plant reactors, metallurgy, chemical production, and IT infrastructure (data centers and mining).

The municipal and household sector accounts for approximately 15%. This is all the water consumed by the global population in cities and villages.

It's important to distinguish between the concepts of "water abstraction" and "consumptive consumption." Industry most often abstracts water: it takes water from a river to cool turbines and returns it to the same location. While the water may change temperature or require treatment, it physically remains in the region. Agriculture, however, consumes water consumptively for a specific location—the moisture is absorbed by plants, evaporates into the atmosphere, and is carried away by the wind, falling as precipitation thousands of kilometers away, often over the world's oceans.

A real water crisis is not the disappearance of water molecules, but a crisis in its quality (pollution) and a disruption of the local balance, when humans pump underground sources faster than nature can refill them with rain.

Calls for sustainable household consumption aren't a corporate conspiracy. The fact is, the tap water we drink is a highly complex technological product. To transform river or groundwater into drinking water, city services expend colossal amounts of electricity, expensive filters, and reagents, and then expend enormous amounts of energy transporting it through pipes and subsequent purification in the sewer system. Saving water at home primarily reduces the burden on your city's local ecosystem and directly saves energy resources, which we pay for out of pocket.

Implementing simple household habits doesn't require a change in quality of life, but it can dramatically reduce utility bills and conserve local resources:

Installing aerators on faucets. A small mesh nozzle on the faucet infuses the water stream with air. The flow remains dense and powerful, visually and tactilely, but actual water consumption is reduced by 30-50%.

Dual-mode flush buttons on the cistern. The toilet accounts for up to 30% of total household water consumption. Using a low-flow flush (3 liters instead of the standard 6) saves the average family up to 10,000 liters of water per year.

Prioritize the dishwasher. A modern dishwasher uses only 9-11 liters of water per cycle, while hand-washing the same amount of dishes under a running tap uses 60 to 100 liters.

Turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth. In the 2-3 minutes it takes to brush your teeth, a fully open faucet wastes approximately 15-20 liters of pure drinking water. The simple habit of turning off the tap or using a glass to rinse can save hundreds of liters per month.

Proper plumbing repairs. A slightly dripping faucet can waste up to 20 liters of water per day, while an unnoticeably leaking toilet cistern can waste up to 200 liters per day.

A reasonable balance between understanding global scientific processes and personal responsibility in everyday life is the foundation of an ecological culture in the 21st century. The Earth will not lose its water, but it is up to us to determine the effort and resources required to keep this water clean and accessible in our homes.