Water, downstream and the schoolyard

Every living thing needs water. People use it to drink, cook, wash and play, and farmers use it to grow food. The water we have used is called wastewater. Used water from sinks, showers and washing machines is greywater. It can be filtered and cleaned in a treatment plant and then used again for other jobs, such as watering farm fields and trees. In Egypt, a very large treatment plant cleans water that is then used to irrigate farms. This water is cleaned for fields, not for drinking. Earth’s fresh water is under pressure from pollution, waste and a changing climate, so using water twice helps. We can also save water: turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, mend leaking taps, take quick showers, and never pour waste into rivers or canals.