Does the Planet Have Infinite Water Now?

Frustrated, I walked over to the other side of the kitchen sink and quickly shut the tap. We’d had this same conversation several times over the past few years.

Please pay attention to not let the water run. You know how important of a resource it is — especially on our Caribbean island archipelago.

To which he always gave the same response.

You realize the planet recycles water all the time? El agua nunca se va a acabar.

He insisted there’s an infinite amount of water on the planet, so my concern was unnecessary.

The Numbers

Many of us have seen images of the earth as taken from space — showing a large amount of “blue” oceans and other water masses, indicating our planet is largely enveloped by H2O.

And while this is the case, it doesn’t translate into there being an endless amount of the liquid.

As National Geographic reported in its Environment section —

Freshwater makes up a very small fraction of all water on the planet. While nearly 70 percent of the world is covered by water, only 2.5 percent of it is fresh. The rest is saline and ocean-based. Even then, just 1 percent of our freshwater is easily accessible, with much of it trapped in glaciers and snowfields. In essence, only 0.007 percent of the planet’s water is available to fuel and feed its 6.8 billion people.

Here’s the other thing: our bodies are composed of 60% water. We simply cannot live without it.

According to the “Rule of Threes,” we can live

• 3 minutes without air
• 3 days without water
• 3 weeks without food

I don’t know about you folks, but I can barely go several hours without several ounces of h2o.

The Conservation Game

So how do we conserve this resource? Especially for those of us who have access to clean water, I often feel we take it for granted.

For my part, I do the following —

💧 take bucket baths
💧 avoid allowing the tap run as I brush my teeth
💧 ditto on point #2 (washing my face)
💧 reuse remainder bucket water to water my plants
💧 hand wash my clothes + towels

…

I know there’s also the rainwater collection — I still gotta get on with a system for it.

What about you, what are you doing?

There is no infinite amount of clean water supply, so let’s be responsible for future generations.

Jajom for reading.

Acknowledging the First Peoples of Borinquen, on whose unceded lands my work is created. Honoring my wondrous Indigenous Taino and African roots.