How to use less water

Brut America

Half an Olympic-size swimming pool. That's how much water a European consumes each year. Here are 5 easy ways to cut our water use.   Episode 8 of our series of stories on eco-citizen initiatives with French author Julien Vidal.

Transcript

00:00Every year, a European consumes 1.9 million litres of water.

00:05That's the equivalent of half an Olympic swimming pool.

00:07Let's see what's hidden behind this consumption.

00:20Since the end of the 19th century,

00:22French people's domestic water consumption has multiplied by 10.

00:26Here are 5 tips to fight against this huge waste.

00:29The first action is in the toilets.

00:31In the tank, you just have to pour a bottle of 1.5 litres

00:37which will allow you to save so much

00:41each time you go hunting

00:43since this bottle now occupies the tank.

00:46It may seem insignificant,

00:47but it's up to 3,000 litres of water per year and per person.

00:51While we're in the bathroom,

00:52our important gesture is to prefer the shower rather than the bathroom.

00:56A shower of less than 3 minutes allows you to divide your water consumption by 10.

01:01Another way to save water at home

01:03is to install a foam under your taps

01:06which allows you to ventilate the water and save up to 50%.

01:10So you see, here we have the classic flow of water.

01:13We can see the water flowing.

01:15And we can install this little piece of metal

01:17which can be found in any DIY store for a few euros.

01:21It's very easy to install.

01:22The screw head is standard.

01:23You just have to screw it under the tap.

01:25It takes absolutely 5 seconds.

01:29And look, the water has whitened

01:31which means that today it is ventilated

01:33and so there is less water volume.

01:35Another tip is to do the dishes in the old way.

01:39This means that we soap without almost using water.

01:44And so a very small stream of water for a C.

01:47And here is a dish made with less than a liter of water.

01:51Last tip, we do the track at home.

01:54A tap that drips is 100 liters of water wasted per day

01:57or a total of 100 euros wasted each year.

02:00And a water pump that leaks

02:02can even be up to 600 liters of water wasted each day

02:05or a total of more than 800 euros wasted every year.

02:17Another thing we don't necessarily think about

02:19when we talk about water consumption

02:21is our consumption of plastic bottles.

02:23For a bottle of half a liter,

02:25we actually need 3 liters of water

02:27and 33 centiliters of oil

02:29to finally put an end to all this waste.

02:31We consume tap water

02:33and we're going to see what's going on behind our tap.

02:36Hi, hello.

02:37Hello.

02:38Thank you for welcoming us here.

02:39With pleasure.

02:40You are an assistant to the Mayor of Paris,

02:42to the Ecological Transition.

02:43Yes.

02:44And the first question I want to ask you is

02:46what happens when we turn our tap?

02:48A lot of things happen behind the tap,

02:50we don't realize it,

02:51but behind the taps in Paris,

02:52there are 90 jobs,

02:53900 women and men who work every day

02:55to bring water to Paris.

02:56And in particular, we launch an installation like this one.

02:59We are at the Montsouris reservoir

03:00in the 14th arrondissement.

03:01And we store a large part of the Parisians' drinking water here.

03:04So there is a part behind the tap that is played here.

03:07You show us?

03:08With pleasure, let's go.

03:09Let's go.

03:15That's it, Célia, we're getting to the famous tank.

03:18There we have hundreds of meters of corridor

03:20that really surrounds all the basins.

03:21Yes, it takes a while to go all the way around.

03:25Because we are really on a surface of 3 hectares in all.

03:28So it's very, very big.

03:29We have a water level that goes up,

03:31that goes down as the day goes on,

03:33the week.

03:34It is higher in the morning,

03:35higher in the evening.

03:36We restore it to fill it up again.

03:38Okay.

03:39And to make sure that we always have this capacity

03:41of advance and safety margin.

03:46So here, Célia, we are on the roof of the reservoir.

03:49Yes, we would think it is a large meadow,

03:51a large football field.

03:52But in fact, we are actually on the roof

03:54of the largest reservoir in Paris.

03:55These are really the great arrangements

03:57of Haussmann and Belgrand.

03:58At one point, they had to bring water to the Parisians.

04:00They make titanic arrangements in a few years,

04:03including the creation of large aqueducts

04:05that make 100, 150 km.

04:07Which means that today,

04:08we produce and distribute every day

04:10500,000 cubic meters of water every day in Paris.

04:17Where are we, Célia?

04:18Here, we are on the roof of the reservoir.

04:20And we are facing what we call cows.

04:23This is where the water comes from,

04:25by cubic meters.

04:26It is propelled from the aqueduct

04:27and then it goes down to the reservoir,

04:29little by little, to fill it up.

04:31Okay.

04:32And a water that is propelled

04:34and that arrives in aqueducts,

04:36as you said, aqueducts

04:37that come from several regions around Paris.

04:39These are really our century-old aqueducts

04:41coming from the south and southeast of Paris.

04:43We have another one coming from the west of Paris.

04:46And these aqueducts, in fact,

04:47they bring us 50% of the water

04:49that is consumed every day by the Parisians.

04:51The rest is stored in the sea

04:53and in the Seine,

04:54in more recent mines.

04:55There are a lot of preconceived ideas

04:56that circulate around water,

04:58such as potable water

04:59would not be as potable

05:00as what we have just said,

05:01with a lot of things

05:02that are harmful to consumption.

05:04Is that really the case?

05:05It's a shame,

05:06because indeed,

05:07tap water is really

05:08of very, very good quality.

05:09In Paris,

05:10we have all the criteria,

05:11in fact, of potability.

05:12It is the food

05:13most controlled

05:14by the national health institutes.

05:16We even have an agreement

05:17from the National Health Agency

05:19to put them in the exhaust.

05:20So, not only is it good quality water,

05:22but what people don't know either,

05:23is that it is not expensive at all.

05:25300% cheaper on average

05:26than when you buy bottled water.

05:28And besides, there is no waste.

05:30So there is a local quality side.

05:32You really have to go there

05:33without hesitation.

05:35Water is indeed threatened

05:36in the long term,

05:37including in France,

05:38and it is threatened in two ways.

05:39We are going to have,

05:40under the effects

05:41of climate change,

05:42a problem of quantity of water.

05:43We already know

05:44that our aquifers,

05:45that our rivers,

05:46are going to lose water.

05:47And this problem of quantity

05:48is going to exacerbate

05:49the problems of quality of water.

05:50Less water,

05:51more pollution,

05:52less concentration.

05:53So we have to save money

05:54and we have to clearly

05:55change our way of life

05:56so that it is less polluting,

05:57whether it is the agricultural way,

05:59but also our way of life,

06:00of waste,

06:01of consumption,

06:02to protect this water.

06:03It is a big challenge,

06:04but a major one,

06:05we say it.

06:06We have to repeat it,

06:07once again,

06:08water is vital,

06:09we all need it to live.

06:10And when we run out of it,

06:11we may be really annoyed.

06:14Célia, thank you very much

06:15for the visit.

06:16With great pleasure.

06:17See you soon.

06:18Goodbye.

06:21So we just saw

06:22all the water

06:23behind our tap,

06:24but you should know

06:25that 96% of our water consumption

06:27is invisible.

06:28This water is hidden

06:29where?

06:30It is hidden in agriculture,

06:31which is responsible

06:32for 70% of the water

06:33consumption in the world.

06:34You should know that

06:35to make a kilo of chocolate,

06:36we need 17 milliliters of water,

06:37a kilo of coffee

06:38is 16 milliliters of water,

06:39and a kilo of beef

06:40is 15 milliliters of water.

06:41A few tips,

06:42adopt a rather

06:43flexitarian,

06:44or even vegetarian diet

06:45and eat local

06:46and seasonal food.

06:47For clothes,

06:48which still represent

06:494% of the water

06:50consumed in the world,

06:51simply choose

06:52clothes made

06:53of recycled fiber

06:54and even,

06:55ideally,

06:56buy everything

06:57second-hand.

06:58Change your clothes

06:59every day,

07:00second-hand.

07:01Changing your world

07:02is changing the world

07:03and participating

07:04in the construction

07:05of a better world.

07:06It starts with me.

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