All living things need water to satisfy the basic needs of their lives. First and foremost, though, they need it for drinking or watering. We humans also need water to wash ourselves and keep our environment clean, to generate energy, grow crops, raise animals, and to produce not only food and clothing, but practically all the items we use every day. In short, we need water at every step of our daily lives.
Water –
the source of life
Let's start !
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Let's start !
Water is our to be or not to be!
The water from the sky is worth its weight in gold
Water – it's what life's made of. It is nature, our environment, our planet. Water – it's what we're made of. It is only thanks to the water that plants bloom, that there is rich harvest and that animals are healthy and multiply. Without water there would be nothing. It is the basis of all agriculture. Let's look at what an important role it plays on the farm.
Without water there would be no farm
In the past, dwellings, settlements and cities were built on the banks of freshwaters, especially rivers, which were sources of drinking water for the people and their livestock. This allowed people to engage in agriculture. And although so much has changed over time, one thing has remained the same: without water there would be no farms, no cultivation, no breeding, because the dry earth would not yield crops and the chickens or cows would not get any food. They would therefore not give the people eggs or milk. So there would be no food for the people either. And so we come full circle again. Water is simply indispensable in all forms of agriculture. And that's why we should use it sparingly.
Less and less water?
All the while we're paying little attention to water. It seems normal to us that water is simply THERE! We can let it run for as long as we want, because there's always plenty more coming out of the tap. Unfortunately, that's a wrong assumption. The drinking water reserves on earth are shrinking due to global warming, pollution resulting from industrial development, and people's thoughtless consumption of water. Scientists are sounding the alarm and warning that we are facing a global drought. Does that have to be the case? No! Because we, the people, can decide. We have it in our hands to change that. So let's get started!
Let's not waste any more water!
How can we start? The best place to start is with yourself, because a huge global change often starts with small steps. Above all, we should stop letting water run unnecessarily! We should also be careful with our food, because without water it wouldn't exist. Let's buy things sensibly, and not things whose production creates a very bad water footprint, such as clothes! And another thing: we can collect rainwater and give it a second life! Our most important task today is to recover drinking water and create water reserves. How can we do that? It's quite simple really!
… let's collect rain water!
Collecting rainwater is a great way of saving water on the farm. Did you know that if it rains for only 10 minutes, you can collect 180 liters of water? That's enough to flush the toilet about 20 times, to do the laundry 6 times, or wash the car 3 times. You can collect rainwater quite easily on the farm, for example, by setting up barrels or tubs, or by putting out buckets around the yard. But you can also invest in an appropriate water storage system. That is a special rainwater tank connected to the gutter by pipes through which the rainwater runs off from the roof.
The rainwater's second life
Collecting rainwater can help prevent drought in the farmyard, garden and household. The rainwater can be used to water vegetables, fruit and flowers. It also contains none of the harmful compounds that are added to tap water (chlorine, fluoride). Rainwater is therefore "a friend" for the fruit grower and gardener. Collecting rainwater is also important for improving the local microclimate and for maintaining adequate groundwater levels, but most importantly, it reduces the consumption of drinking water that would otherwise be used for economic purposes. The use of rainwater has many advantages: in doing so, we support ecological agriculture and horticulture, provide the plants with the necessary nutrients and last but not least we also save money.
Did you know that there is a water treatment plant on the roof of the factory in Mannheim?
The plant purifies the water using phytolysis plants: it flows through the root systems of the plants and is purified by filtration, adsorption and microbial decomposition.
The constructed wetland contributes to the preservation of biodiversity in Mannheim's city center and provides a habitat for many animal and plant species.