Results of Choosing Less Water

“Our parents tell us when we’re very small not to waste water, even when we have it. Water is pure, clean, and gives life to man. Without water we cannot survive, nor could our ancestors have survived. The idea that water is sacred is in us children, and we never stop thinking of it as something pure.”
– I, Rigoberta Menchú

Today I finished my water usage experiment. I recorded the water used by myself and my fiance for the last two weeks (excluding the weekend when we were out of town) with as much accuracy as I could. You can find a summary of our water usage above (below is the friendlier pie-chart version). Some of these values are estimated. For instance, I didn’t measure the water used by my toilet (I got these estimates here), and the measurements I made for washing hands is based on my kitchen sink, not all of the sinks we used in the last two weeks.

In any case, looking at the data, it is easy to spot some trends. Most notably, toilets use an insane amount of water. Even taking into consideration the one load of laundry we did over the weekend, flushing toilets used more water than every other activity combined. And (prepare yourself for an overshare) we don’t even flush our toilet every time we use it. Yeah, we’re the “if it’s yellow let it mellow” kind of household, and we still use a staggering amount of water flushing our toilet. So, what gives? Part of the problem is that we live in a very old apartment with a very old toilet (my best guess is that it was manufactured sometime between 1920 and 1960). It’s so old, the tank doesn’t even refill without manual intervention. Since we rent, we can’t do a whole lot about this, but here are some ideas I’m going to try to reduce the water we waste flushing our waste.

1. Use public restrooms with newer toilets when flushing is necessary (yes, I mean that)
2. Adjust the water level in the tank
3. Flush with greywater
4. Talk to landlord about a toilet upgrade (some of the apartments in my building have working toilets from this century, after all)

I’m not necessarily planning on continuing all of my water-saving schemes but I have done a lot of thinking about how I can save more water. Thinking about how little I needed to bathe to be clean enough made me think about the other things I have over-cleaned, like my clothes. Instead of washing all of the clothes I wear, each time I wear them, I really only need to wash dirty clothes. By “dirty” clothes, I mean, smelly, sweaty, or actually covered in dirt. I have also received really good advice from others about conserving water. For instance, the “combat showers” mentioned in the comments of a previous post are a great suggestion. I tried one today (although, I only used ~30 seconds of water) and it was much better than the bowl baths I was taking before, while still saving a lot of water. I am planning on continuing to bathe this way.

More importantly, as mentioned in my last post, I have learned to really appreciate the water that I use. After bathing in bowls or in 10 second bursts, a 5 or 7 minute shower sounds like a luxury. And as stunned as I am by the amount of water used by my toilet, I am still far more shocked at the amount of water used in manufacturing and agriculture as I mentioned before. As challenging as some of the aspects of my experiment were, avoiding unnecessary water-intensive purchases is not one of them and will remain a priority in my life.

I have come to much better appreciate water as the pure, sacred, resource that it is instead of just the stuff that comes from my faucet. I encourage you to examine your own relationship with water by paying attention to your water usage and looking for ways to choose less.

How I Choose Less Water

This week, I have been working to minimize my water consumption. To track my progress, I have been measuring the water that I use, for each activity, similar to the image below (although not nearly as organized). At the end of this experiment, I will compile the results and compare them to benchmark values (similar to the averages from my previous post).

The biggest problem that I have with water consumption relates to a problem (obsession) I have with cleaning. I am often overzealous with my water use because I want my dishes, clothes, apartment, teeth, or skin to feel cleaner. This week, I am confronting this issue.

In just the last week, I have noticed several changes in my behavior— some larger than others. For example, when I brush my teeth, I use water from a bottle instead of from the tap to remind myself that the water that I am using is limited. Before, I spent a lot more time rinsing my mouth with water. Sometimes I would rinse my mouth by wetting my toothbrush and re-brushing my teeth a few times. When I use water from the bottle, though, I can’t bring myself to use any more than I absolutely need.

The changes I have made to my bathing routine are much more extreme. I have been bathing in a bowl. Yes, a bowl. I use a combination of water from the sink and water heated in a kettle, and bathe in the bathtub like normal. Except, instead of
using water from the tap, I only use water from the bowl. This has been, by far, my most challenging lifestyle change, but also the most successful, in ways. I have bathed, including washing my hair, with half of a gallon of water. While this is not the most effective way to clean myself (I mean, I’m clean enough), it is rather empowering. I never thought I could use so little water to bathe, and it’s not even a terribly uncomfortable experience. It’s not relaxing like a long shower or bath, but it’s warm and I feel cleaner afterwards, which is the point of bathing anyway.

I can’t imagine continuing this bathing routine after I finish this experiment. But, doing something this difficult makes the idea of drinking water over a soda, or eating a mushroom-burger instead of a beef-burger seem like virtually no effort at all—and those choices save much more water. I am trying to rewire how I perceive water, to understand it as the sacred life-giving limited resource that it is, instead of the stuff that I will get from my faucet forever. And I am already seeing progress.

These self-imposed quotas may seem arbitrary, but by following them, I am choosing to use less water. This helps me value the water that I use more, but more importantly, choosing to use less water is necessary to sustain the planet. The more we can choose to use less water, the less water scarcity can threaten us.

Choose Less Water

Water is key to sustaining life, so much so that we consider the presence of water an indication of the possible existence of life on other planets. We need water to survive, and so does all of our food. We can’t consume just any water, either, and fresh (non-salt) and clean water is scarce. Less than 1% of the Earth’s water is suitable for human consumption.^[1] To state it plainly, water is a scarce and finite resource necessary to our survival, so we must think about how we consume it.

The average American uses a staggering amount of water in their home, and not necessarily in the ways you would suspect. Water use varies by family and location, but one estimate says that we use between 80 and 100 gallons of water per person per day. Most water use in the home comes from flushing the toilet and bathing, but some people also use a lot of water washing dishes and for outdoor landscaping and activities.^[2] A lot of water consumption can be reduced in the home by simply paying closer attention (turn off the water while brushing teeth, take shorter showers, fix leaks, etc.).

Much of the water we use is “hidden” from us. In reality, 95% of our water usage is in food production, and not in our home. One pound of beef requires around 2,500 gallons of water. That’s about the same as one bath every day for two years. A soda can require a staggering 50 gallons of water to produce. Even coffee requires 37 gallons of water. On the other hand, a pound of chicken only needs 660 gallons of water, tea only 9 gallons of water, and, in general, vegetables require the least amount of water. Informing ourselves about these differences can help us make smarter, less costly choices.^{[3] [4]}

Manufacturing other goods consumes a lot of water as well. One pound of cotton requires 700 gallons of water. To put this into perspective, manufacturing a single t-shirt can require 256 gallons of water. Manufacturing a smartphone can require 240 gallons of water and a car 39,090 gallons. A pound of plastic requires 24 gallons of water. Buying only what we truly need, shopping second-hand, reusing what we have, and recycling doesn’t just save us money and waste, it saves water, too.^{[3] [4]}

For the next two weeks, I am thinking about water consumption. I am going to minimize the water usage in my home (more on the specific actions I am taking in the next post) and reflect, here, on how paying attention to my water usage can help reduce it both in my home and in the goods and foods that I purchase.

If you are interested in reducing your own water consumption around the house, check out this website for some tips. Consider eating more vegetarian meals, drinking more water, and shopping less. You can also go to any of the websites listed below for more information about water conservation.

[1]Why Do We Need to Conserve Water?
[2]Water Questions and Answers
[3]8 Shocking Facts About Water Consumption
[4]Water Conservation