why water from rivers which is getting to oceans or seas is not considered as water wasted, but water from tap or leaking pipe is?
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Rivers flowing to the oceans is part of the natural water cycle of the planet: water from the seas evaporates to become water vapor in the air, water vapor forms rain and falls on the ground, ground water fills the rivers, rivers flow down to the ocean. (It’s a little more complicated, but that’s the ELI5 version.) Even though we can’t directly use the river water that runs to the ocean, it’s a necessary part of the cycle so no one’s upset about it.
Tap water has to be treated to be safe for humans, so there’s a limited amount available and it costs time and money to produce it. So when you waste it you’re wasting a resource that is both essential to survival and has monetary value.
It is, in a sense, wasted water, but no one really minds because that’s the natural flow of the water. Water doesn’t naturally get filtered and pumped into all of our houses; it costs time, money, and resources to do that, so dumping potable water from your local water supply is wasting the time, money, and resources that was used to clean it.
Think of it this way; take some freshly cleaned bowls from the dishwasher or drying rack outside and smear them with mud/dirt. Would you say the time and effort to clean those bowls was wasted?
Leaking water has been processed to make it clean which requires energy and expense from the water company.
Because when you waste tap water you’re wasting tons of energy and effort used to make it safe drinking water. It’s not the water they care about, it is the resources that went into purifying that water. It’s just easier to say “wasting water” than “wasting the energy, time, and chemicals needed to make fresh drinking water”.
Flowing surface water isn’t lost. It remains part of the water cycle. It will return to the land as precipitation from the ocean.
Because when people say “wasted water” isn’t not the water that’s wasted but the energy require to purify(and store) it. Water cycle that keep rivers running is basically free, so you will get infinite river water(Unless someone or something ruin or block the river of course). But that’s not the case for your clean tap water, that need money and energy to keep running, you will not run out of water itself but you might have a lighter wallet if your house is leaking.
Water that stays in the river makes it so the water at the mouth of the river stays brackish instead of becoming salty. All the wildlife and plants in that brackish zone will suffer if too little river water makes it there.
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