1. Zaragoza Conservation of Water Project
Jazz Singh

3. Zaragoza Capital of northeastern Spain's Aragon region
Ebro River runs through it
Population in 2002 was about 620k

4. Zaragoza Water Campaign
Addressed the wastage of water
Spain had the third highest rate of water consumption per capita
In million spaniards were exposed to daily water restrictions
Despite a 10% decrease in rainfall, water consumption went up by almost 20%
From 2002 to 2005
Thoughts of inventing new dams, reservoirs and where to divert new water from

5. Problem? Spain endorsed a water wasting culture
No water usage regulations or legislations
60% of Zaragoza citizens said they forgot or didn't know saving water was an idea
Meaning about 378k people wasted plenty of water
Focused on household water usage
Goal was to save about 1,000 billion litres of water in its first year of implementation

6. Solutions
Acquisition of water-saving domestic appliances (washing machines and dishwashers)
Introduction of individual domestic hot-water meters
Devices or equipment designed to save water (repairing of leaks, reuse of domestic water}
Change in water consumption habits
Acquisition of new water-saving sanitaryware (toilets, taps, showers, etc.)
Overall, basically it was either upgrading or replacing old water saving methods/technologies in every house in Zaragoza which proved very successful

7. Results 1,176 billion litres of water was saved in the first year
Other than houses, 150 different bodies in Zaragoza, 183 schools, 474 teachers and pupils took part in the campaign
City of Zaragoza finally produced water saving legislations
More than 65% of all business in the city involved water saving products
Before the campaign the ratio of households saving water was 1:3, at the end of the project it was 2:3
That 378k total of people who had no idea how to save water was driven down to only 28%, or 176k people. Meaning water wastage went down from 60% to 28%.
In the span , Zaragoza cut down their per capita of water usage from 150 litres a day to 99 litres a day
Cost was around €480 million

8. Impacts
If a city in Spain had 60% of its population unaware of water conserving tactics, I imagine that number would be higher in America
Globally, it showed how small steps can lead to major solutions
The city used miniscule solutions such as replacing all old toilets and taps with new water conserving ones and as a result it was extremely effective
Fostering a new water culture globally is key if we want to preserve our precious water in places where water wastage is high. So we can provide water in places where people have limited access to it.