As shown at the base of the pyramid, it's easy and relatively cheap to use less water. It's a lot more complicated and expensive to desalinate ocean water for human consumption. Here are the ten steps:
- Behavior – education, audit, water pricing, conservation, construction codes
- Low-cost/no-cost – leaks, aerators, low-flow showerheads, shower timers
- Irrigation – native or adaptive landscape, drip systems, web-based irrigation, sub-metering
- Hygiene – retrofits, low-flow toilets, water-free urinals, rebate programs
- Appliances – dishwasher, clothes washer, water softener
- Extreme Makeover – compost toilets, hardscape, no irrigation, on-site black water reuse
- Water Heating – solar water heating, hot water loop, efficient water heater
- On-site Reuse – rainwater collection, gray water, irrigation
- Off-site Reuse – sewer mining, purple pipe systems
- Desalination, New Water Sources
Of course, some of these can be done at home (i.e., retrofits, water-saving appliances, water heating), while others require a larger effort (i.e., desalination, off-site reuse).
Water is a precious resource that must be protected, and this is a primer to get that started. All in all, this is a straight-forward, dead-simple graphic that can help us evaluate how to do that.