INTRODUCTION
TO WATER EFFICIENCY SECTION
The thorny devil or Moloch lives
in the Australian desert. It is a large, ferocious-looking lizard
although it is actually quite harmless, unless you happen to be
an ant! It lives in an environment where there is nothing to drink,
but it doesn’t die. Every night the hot desert air cools and
its tiny load of moisture condenses (G1).
It condenses on the dry ground and is lost; it condenses on the
dry skin of the Moloch and a thousand minute tubular scales transfer
the precious cargo to its mouth – and the Moloch drinks and
lives. The Moloch is very water efficient!
Every type of ecosystem (G1)
on Earth has its supply of water; it is essential to life. It’s
easy for us to take water for granted and to forget how much we
depend on a pure and plentiful supply in practically every aspect
of our lives.
In this country we each use about
130 litres in the home each day. We use even more in our industries
and for agriculture, yet we expect the source of our water supply
in the South West – the rivers and streams, lakes and reservoirs
– to be clean and healthy, fit for our recreation and to please
us with their variety and appearance. We should remember though
that humans are part of a cycle that involves many living and non-living
things, which help maintain our water supply.
Roadford Reservoir January 2003
South West Water web site - www.southwestwater.co.uk
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