Online Custom «The Boise River» Essay Sample

The Boise River is the main source of water for Idaho's capital city. It is a 102-mile-long river located in the northwest of the United States. Water is a basic component of human life and this makes the Boise River a jewel of Idaho. Furthermore, the river is a habitat for plants and animals. If the water in the river is misused, a natural imbalance will be reached. The river provides a recreational place for the majority of the residents. They practice fishing and floating, go for picnics along the river and visit the parks near it. Therefore, all residents should take responsibility for maintaining the beauty of the Boise River and conserving its water.

Water in the Boise River is essential for all residents of Idaho as it provides opportunities for fishing and some recreational activities. Therefore, they should strive to conserve the water so that they can enjoy the benefits brought by the river. While taking a shower, people should ensure that they place a bucket under a faucet as they wait for the shower water to heat up. In most cases, people leave the water to pour down the drain and use more water than they would use in normal cases. People can later use the water dropping in a bucket to flush a toilet or water plants. Additionally, the shower can be a great source of water loss. As a rule, shower heads discharge an average of 5 gallons of water per minute (“Boise & Meridian area water information,” 2012). At the end of a 10- minute shower, much water is wasted. To conserve water in the Boise River, residents of Idaho should spend less time in their bathrooms. They should speed up their shower and in case they need more time there, they should turn the water off.

When people use the tap water to wash their hands or brush their teeth, they waste much clean water. Normally, water comes out through a faucet at an average rate of 2.5 gallons per minute (Anderson, 2008). When residents of Idaho allow a faucet to run in the course of washing their hands or brushing their teeth, much clean water is lost. They should ensure that after wetting a brush, they turn off a faucet and allow it to remain off until they start to rinse their mouths. Moreover, while washing their hands, they can save a few gallons by first wetting their hands, turning off a faucet and then turning it on at the time of rinsing.

It is estimated that an average American household consumes a total of 400 gallons of water per day (MacCoy, 2004). The situation worsens if some faucets or pipes leak. Residents of Idaho should, therefore, be responsible for fixing leaky pipes at all costs. Furthermore, they should reuse kitchen water. As people do their daily household chores, they should collect water from a kitchen sink in a large cooking pot instead of allowing it to flow down the drain. In the pot, the water, as well as residue, settles to the bottom. The water settles after it cools down. People can use it to water plants but should ensure that the water is not hot. Such a measure will allow to conserve water in the Boise River since less water will be required to irrigate plants.

One of the sources of contaminations in the Boise River is wastewater. The authorities in charge of water have even proposed to regulate its use and release. Therefore, people in Idaho should act from their homes and avoid activities such as washing cars that use water from a hosepipe (Miller, 2009). When a person intends to wash his or her car, he or she should take it to a car wash that recycles water. At the end of the day, the aim is to have a car cleaned, and recycled water works equally well. Such a move will ensure that less or no wastewater is released into the Boise River as a result of car washing. In such a way, the beauty of the river that lies in its ability to sustain plants and animals is maintained.

The equipment that uses water or participates in supplying houses with water can hamper water conservation. With the realization that the Boise River is important to the majority of Americans, residents of Idaho should stop being careless. They should repair leaks in fixtures such as faucets and shower heads and select a low-flow toilet (“Boise & Meridian area water information,” 2012). Furthermore, people should also buy water-efficient dishwashers as well as washing machines. In such a way, they will save more water at the end of the day. The aim is to consume the small amount of water so that more Americans and residents of Idaho can access the water and save the river. Also, after installing water-efficient machines, they should ensure that they do not run a dishwasher or washing machine when they are not fully-loaded. The half-loads cause a waste of many gallons of water a day. When the water is wasted, it mixes with harmful chemicals in the solid and drains back into the Boise River (MacCoy, 2004). The same people will catch diseases due to the infected water. Residents should do this with a realization that one in eight people worldwide does not have access to water. They should, therefore, be fair enough to allow water in the Boise River to reach more people.

A lawn requires much of the household water. Residents of Idaho should find an alternative to a lawn. Instead, they can opt for a newly discovered Eco-lawn that has drought-resistant grasses (Skinner, 2006). They should also consider applying principles such as xeriscaping that requires basic equipment to deliver water to the ground cover and allows the thriving of plants that can survive in drought conditions. In case the residents still intend to have a lawn, they should only water it when necessary or use recycled water for this purpose.