Most people are now used to hearing messages about how important it is to conserve water. Few realize just how critical this is.

As a recent sobering article points out, many US cities will need to take serious and immediate action because major US cities are running out of water. In some cases, it could happen within the next 10 years. The causes range from changing weather patterns and increased periods of drought to growing populations in naturally arid areas to water contamination. But no matter what the reason is, all of these problems lead to one conclusion: it is time to take serious steps - on both an individual level and a national one - to protect our water supply.

Individual-level changes may seem like a mere drop in a very large bucket, but collectively they have been proven to have a huge impact. Test cases like the water-saving retrofit test that was performed in two Atlanta-area communities last year are an excellent example. One of the communities that participated in the retrofit experienced household water savings of 27% just by switching to WaterSense-certified showerheads, toilets, and faucets. Studies by the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) found that if just 25 percent of Georgia households replaced their existing toilets and bathroom faucets with WaterSense-certified fixtures, it could save the state nearly 10 billion gallons of water per year. Clearly these types of improvements could make a world of difference for Atlanta, one of the cities included on the above list, and around the country.