Saturday, June 21, 2008


There are currently 400 million people worldwide facing severe water shortages, according to the United Nations. By 2050, that number will be 4 billion, yet the pain is already being felt around the country. In California, Governor Schwarzenegger has declared the first statewide drought in 17 years. Meanwhile, residents in some areas of Georgia were only recently relieved from a moratorium on car-washing and running sprinklers, while most of northeast Georgia still faces what officials are calling "extreme drought." All the while, an enormous amount of water is lost through seemingly minor drips around the house. A leaky faucet can lose up to 20 gallons of water a day, while a leaky toilet can flush an extra 200 gallons every day! What's worse, the toilet could be leaking and you might not even know it! To test for a leak, put five to ten drops of food coloring in the tank. If ten minutes later there's coloring in the bowl, you've got a problem.