Задание

How many gallons of water a year can a faucet dripping once a minute waste?

The United Nations promotes March 22 as World Water Day. This reminds people to protect fresh water. Polluted water can’t be used for drinking, swimming, or watering crops. It can’t provide a habitat for plants and animals. The main sources of water pollutants are sewage, chemicals from factories, fertilizers and weed killers, and landfills that leak. Anything that gets dumped on the ground ends up in the water cycle.

Using water faster than nature can pass it through the water cycle can cause problems, too. When more water is taken from lakes for drinking, bathing, and other uses than is put back in, the water levels drop. Combined with lower than normal rainfall, this can be harmful. In some cases, lakes become salty. Some dry up completely. Just one faucet dripping once a minute can waste 38 gallons of water a year. Multiply that by several million houses and apartments – that’s a lot of water down the drain!