Why do we need to save water? Practise your reading in English with this text.
Do the preparation exercise first. Then read the text and do the other exercises.
We need it to drink, wash, cook and flush the toilet. Farmers need it to grow our food. Factories need it to make the products (and their packaging) that we buy. Power stations need it to produce the energy we use. Yes - it's water! And we use a lot.
That's OK – there's a lot of water on our planet!
True! But did you know that we can't use most of it? That's because it's salt water (in seas and oceans) or freshwater which is ice or in the ground. In total, we can use less than 1 per cent of all the water on the planet!
So why is it a problem now?
Well, the world's population is increasing really fast, so more and more people are using water, and more and more water's being used to make food, products and energy for those people! And we mustn't forget that things like climate change and pollution are also bad for our water supply. We're starting to use more water than our planet can give us - which means one day, we might not have enough. So let's start saving water now!
What other ways can you think of?
How do you, your friends and family save water? Tell us some more ways to save water!