Out of 100 cans of beer, 97 are flat. Two of the remaining three are frozen. The remaining can is all you have for the party. Would that one can really sustain you throughout the night?

More than 97 percent of all water on Earth is undrinkable. More than 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water. According to the World Water Council, 2.6 billion lack appropriate sanitation.

How long did you spend in the shower this morning? Many people don’t even know or realize they use around 75 gallons each day in the shower alone. Water has always been seen as a common resource that is always constant. This isn’t the case in many parts of the world.

We are lucky in Ames. We have water drawn from an aquifer and a treatment plant to remove impurities. To prepare for future water needs, the city is implementing a new treatment plant. Each plant can treat 12 million gallons per day. In Ames, we average around 6.5 million. During the dry months, we have gotten very close to the 12 million gallons per day.

In the past, when we were beginning to reach high levels of water use, the city would post notices in the paper. These notices no longer work. This is indicative of the fact that our habits and mindset have changed. Instead of a communal resource with a shared responsibility, water has become something to be exploited.

There are things you can do to help. If you use an energy-efficient showerhead, you use around 22.5 gallons per shower. If you cut down your shower by one minute, you save five gallons. This can cut down on heating and water bills. The average shower length of surveyed ISU students is 13.4 minutes. Of these students, 92 percent were willing to buy a low-flow showerhead, but only 76 percent were willing to shorten their showers. Some people stated they didn’t care about water waste because they didn’t pay individually for water. Where has the responsibility gone? Are people more willing to implement changes in their house so their habits don’t need to change?

About half of Ames’ population is students at Iowa State. Be conscious of your water use. The university has a big role in the overall water use in Ames. Try to think how long you take in the shower. Do you leave water running while you brush your teeth? How often do you leave the water running to “warm it up”? If we can all cut down on our daily usage, any future problems can mitigated. It is a matter of personal responsibility. We all have a part to play.