Water conservation for all

The community of La Sirena outside Cali, Colombia, has been practicing good conservation of water for over 20 years. The community was trained by Cinara, a local institution specializing in water and sanitation projects. Sustainability of La Sirena’s water system is a success, while other communities have wasted their water.

Sense of ownership

The mentality of conserving water in La Sirena is striking. Most people practice common water conservation techniques, such as fixing leaking valves, taking short showers, shutting off taps when brushing teeth or shaving: simple practices that can be done by everyone. Some go an extra mile to practice rain harvesting – rain water is used for gardening and cleaning toilets. To prevent soil erosion and maintain water supplies in the river basin, the community plants native vegetation and clears the river basin of garbage to keep the water clean. And children in schools are taught the importance of conserving water; most children then go home and teach their parents what they’ve learnt.

Ever is the operator of the multiple stage filter plant attached to La Sirena. He is also a community leader. His job is to maintain and operate the plant and the water system. He said, “the community does a great effort preserving the water; they are involved in participating in different workshops that teach them the importance of water and sanitation; it’s really important to be concerned about this because we could suffer some water shortage in the future.”

Wasting water at a cost

A visit to Colinas de Arroyo Hondo, outside Cali, on the other hand, reveals a totally different story. Most residents here have big houses with amazing gardens and spectacular swimming pools; they own two or three cars. Unfortunately, they don’t have a habit of conserving water. Don Alfonso, the operator of the multiple stage filtration plant and the water service, said, “They have a great problem. We have to shut down the system, mostly in the dry season, because they don’t know how to care for the water.” What he meant was that the people in the community misused the water in absurd activities that are unnecessary. For example, Alfonso told me that people wash their cars two to three times a day and amazingly the swimming pools are cleaned once a week. They also use a lot of water on their gardens. This excessive use of water reduces the levels in the storage tank. Water utility bills increase every month.

Conserve water

Right now you must be thinking, so what? Water is crucial for life. Climate change, El niño, or drought in general will cause water shortages across the planet. You may have all the money in the world but if water resources have dried up, you won’t be able to buy water in the future. Arroyo Hondo is not the only community that thinks this way and it would be really helpful to start thinking differently.

It’s truly difficult to change the way of thinking and behaviours of the people; sooner or later they will realize that misusing water will affect their lives and economy.  

Common water conservation techniques, like the ones carried out by La Sirena, can be introduced to this community. The whole of society and the environment would win by adopting these practices.

Carlos Mejia from FHIS Honduras. Talking about his experience during his placement with Cinara Institute in Cali, Colombia, as part of PSO/IRC Youth Zone young professional exchange programme.