How can we "waste" water?

The same way you waste food.

I think wasting food is very comparable. But again, it just drives up your grocery bill, but doesn’t have any affect on the food supply in America. Don’t make enough food to feed 30 people when you’re only feeding 4.

If you end up draining the well that supplies your home sure, that water’s still somewhere in the world, but for you it’s functionally gone. Same with the rivers, lakes, streams and aquifers that supply the water to most of the world.

I understand that, but how would it apply to city water? It just recycles through.

“but we are on city water. It just recycles through”

Sure, until the Ogallala Aquifer runs out.

A drought would do that, not running the water in the house, and in that case there really isn’t much we can do. And all that water will eventually make it’s way back to the aquifer.
We had kind of a drought in Kansas back in 2011. It messed things up. But it was due to a lack of rainfall, not people running their water. It lasted for a couple of years, then it flooded. I’m BAAAAACK!

People are draining the Ogallala at a quicker rate than it can replenish.

But yeah, sure, use all the water you want thinking it’ll just reappear where you need it to be. There’s a desert that use to be a sea in central Asia that might like a word with you.

Oh, stop it Darth. North America used to be under the ocean, too.

Are you being intentionally obtuse here?

The water runs down the drain in California, and ends up draining into the ocean. Even if it goes through a sewage treatment plant, it isn’t being added back to the potable water supply.

Most Californians believe you are wasting water if you flush after only peeing. And you don’t run the faucet while washing dishes, you use a tub of soapy water to clean, and a spray of water to rinse. And if you have a dishwasher, you wait until it is full to run a load.

This source says “After the wastewater is treated, it is either reused or released back into the environment to begin the cycle again.”

Yes, but it’s not where you need it to be. Use up all your water, release it back into the environment to begin the cycle again. The end result is that you still have no water.

”....it is either reused or released back into the environment.

Meaning, gray water (recycled no potable water) get used to water plants on the freeway; released back to the environment means it goes into a river or into the ocean.

When it starts the cycle, it goes into large bodies of water where it evaporates, turns into clouds, and then rains or snows somewhere. But when it goes into the environment in Kansas, it goes into the Saline River, or the Arkansas, and flows on down to the Gulf of Mexico, where it evaporates and then drops on Louisiana or Texas or up the Mississippi Valley.

Gray water and black water make their way into the environment one way or another!, and back into our taps.

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It’s not the water, exactly, it’s the supply of drinkable water that is being wasted.

You could just as well say there’s no such thing as death either, because bodies turn into nutrients and so on, but your loved one is no longer with you.

We get our water from a lake that was built in 50s to serve as the water reservior for the whole county. Of course we can’t drink.it straight from the lake. It’s pumped to the various treatment centers for processing.

The lake brings in an income on the recreation it provides. When we had that drought the water levels dropped pretty drastically.

@Dutchess_lll “Gray water and black water make their way into the environment one way or another!, and back into our taps.”

Not necessarily. Again, refer to the Aralkum Desert, formerly known as the Aral Sea.

@Dutchess_lll in arid places watering outside is restricted, and closely monitored. There are severe monetary penalties for wasting water. There are many places in Utah like this. I don’t know about now, but a few years ago Southern California had such a severe water shortage that people were restricted as to how many times a week they could flush their toilets.

“The use of recycled water for drinking, however, is less common, largely because many people are repelled by the thought of water that’s been in our toilets going to our taps. But a few countries like Singapore, Australia and Namibia, and states such as California, Virginia and New Mexico are already drinking recycled water, demonstrating that purified wastewater can be safe and clean, and help ease water shortages.

The term “toilet to tap,” used to drum up opposition to drinking recycled water, is misleading because recycled water that ends up in drinking water undergoes extensive and thorough purification. In addition, it is usually added to groundwater or surface water for further cleansing before being sent to a drinking water supply where it is again treated. In fact, it has been shown to have fewer contaminants than existing treated water supplies.

From Wastewater to Drinking Water
BY RENEE CHO |APRIL 4, 2011
Columbia University.

Back at my desk top. Here is a link to my source.