When the beautiful sound of running water is no more

So what if the headlines of expert studies, newspapers and websites shout out, "We are running out of water"? So what if rainfall has decreased by half? The increase in consumption - and especially in the overburdened summer months when tourism is at its peak - continues to drain our reservoirs. The problem is not restricted to Greece either. Europe as a whole is experiencing the worst drought it has seen in the past five centuries, and 17% of the European Union is already in a state of emergency. The United Nations, for its part, estimates that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will live in areas with water scarcity. 

But let's not stray too far away; let's look around us, at our own homes and neighborhoods - at the spacious central Athens balcony where a lady waters her plants and the floor with abandon, leaving the water on even when she's not using it; the gardener on the...