Water conservation aims to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, protect the hydrosphere, and meet current and future human demand. Water conservation makes it possible to avoid water scarcity. It covers all the policies, strategies and activities to reach these aims. Population, household size and growth and affluence all affect how much water is used.

Although the terms "water efficiency" and "water conservation" are used interchangeably they are not the same. Water efficiency is the improvements such as the new technology that help with the efficiency and reduction of using water. On the other hand, water conservation is the action of conserving water. In short, water efficiency relates to the development and innovations which help use water more efficiently and water conservation is the act of saving or preserving water.

Climate change and other factors have increased pressure on natural water resources. This is especially the case in manufacturing and agricultural irrigation. Many countries have successfully implemented policies to conserve water conservation. There are several key activities to conserve water. One is beneficial reduction in water loss, use and waste of resources. Another is avoiding any damage to water quality. A third is improving water management practices that reduce the use or enhance the beneficial use of water.

Technology solutions exist for households, commercial and agricultural applications to reduce the use/loss of H2O. Water conservation programs involved in social solutions are typically initiated at the local level, by either municipal water utilities or regional governments.

Water conservation is the act of conserving water. Although water conservation was something people were working on it became mainstream for a number of reasons. Those reasons include supply shortages, escalating costs of infrastructure, state and federal legislative mandates, public desire to be "green", and conserving water no longer equals revenue. Supply shortages of what is meant to be a renewable resource is what most people target when using water conservation techniques.

The strategies to improve water conservation have similar characteristics which include having any beneficial reduction in water loss use and waste of resources, avoid any damage to water quality, and improve water management practices that reduce the use or enhance the beneficial use of water.

One of the strategies in water conservation is rainwater harvesting. Digging ponds, lakes, canals, expanding the water reservoir, and installing rain water catching ducts and filtration systems on homes are different methods of harvesting rain water. Many people in many countries keep clean containers so they can boil it and drink it, which is useful to supply water to the needy. Harvested and filtered rain water can be used for toilets, home gardening, lawn irrigation, and small scale agriculture.

Another strategy in water conservation is protecting groundwater resources. When precipitation occurs, some infiltrates the soil and goes underground. Water in this saturation zone is called groundwater. Contamination of groundwater causes the groundwater water supply to not be able to be used as a resource of fresh drinking water and the natural regeneration of contaminated groundwater can take years to replenish. Some examples of potential sources of groundwater contamination include storage tanks, septic systems, uncontrolled hazardous waste, landfills, atmospheric contaminants, chemicals, and road salts. Contamination of groundwater decreases the replenishment of available freshwater so taking preventative measures by protecting groundwater resources from contamination is an important aspect of water conservation.