There is no waste water. Since the Earth was formed, every drop of water that was ever here, still is. The water dripping out of your kitchen sink faucet has dinosaur pee in it. As we bathe in High Sierra streams, we envision this water being pure and untouched, our washing diluted in the flow. Then we race home to shower in that same water in our clean homes in the city, grateful the water goes away where we don’t see it, fouled, unusable. We forgot that water knows its way through skies, valleys, and rock. We force it into pipes underground, polluted; adding concentrated waste and pharmaceutical drugs. After we manually clean it with pumps, machines, more chemicals, we release these once nubile molecules out into the rivers and oceans. Now arthritic, these molecules are slowed by overuse, disrespected and ignored by we who have forgotten how precious this element is to not only us, but everything we love in this world. We are disgusted and embarrassed by this cripple in our midst.

There is a movement toward valuing water better in urban areas, called One Water. By treating our water sources more gently we can improve access and affordability of water in this era of unpredictable climate extremes. By treating our used water as an important resource, we can work with existing technologies and develop new technologies to cycle it through our resource stream, increasing the value of a clean single drop several fold.

“One Water incorporates a variety of green infrastructure projects, stormwater capture, wastewater recycling, and habitat restoration practices that work together to reduce pollution, bolster water supply, and improve environmental and community health.”

CatchingH2O is proud to be a leader in demonstrating ways in which we can incorporate strategies that will transform water awareness and availability in our community. You can learn more about what we have worked on in the policy sector by reading this report that we coauthored. Meanwhile we are on the ground every day helping people around the county conserve and value water.

Consider putting in a greywater system to ensure that the water that you use gets an extra use in the garden, where the soil, plants, and microbes can filter it on it’s journey back through the water cycle. Consider storing your rainwater, to ensure this wonderful water source is put to it’s highest use in your veggie patch instead of racing through the storm drains collecting pollutants before entering the streams and ocean. The more rainwater you can catch, the less water we will have to import from Ecosystems as far as Wyoming and northern California. We can help!