My elderly English landlady taught me one better than any university professor when it came to washing dishes. Just one basin with no flowing water was enough. The detergent was added to a half-full basin, the dishes washed and then dipped into the same water before placing them on the mesh to dry. I thought I had not seen it well, but I could not tell my host that she was forgetting something. With Alzheimer's affecting so many, I had started fearing for her. May be she read my mind as she extended her tutorial about saving water. I was amazed by her diligence. After that, I assumed that taking a bath would be the reasonable option. I half-filled my bath, making sure that she heard I was taking her cue. But after my cleansing, the second lesson was that showers were often the more economical- first wetting for the soaping and scrubbing with water turned off, followed by a rinsing.
Luckily, I did save her lots of water as my severe constipation and low fluid intakes have never seen me ever too pushed for a lavatory- all I often need is one visit in the morning and I am well away until time for bed.
Recently, a friend of mine told me of an experience in Germany. The host was rinsing her dishes with water from a bottle, sprinkling the amount sparingly through a tiny hole bored into the cap. My friend, too, was amazed, especially being one very concerned about water bills.
I, too, consider myself a water conserver by nature. When I brush my teeth, I don't turn on the tap until rinsing, unlike my two ruffian kids who have rebelled against my wisdom. In addition, my daughter likes baths- the tab full to the brim. My son prefers showers, and he can take half an hour. I have stopped trying to tell them that it doesn't matter the time taken in the bathroom. But that would be wasted breath, for they have support from my friend who is almost religious about washing hands. I have a clear image of frustrated Pharisees at the Apostles' way of washing their hands, and especially after Jesus snubbed them scribes.
In the West (make that the North) where almost everyone has piped water- except, perhaps, that Scot proud owner of a natural spring- the concept of water conservation is remotely perceived. More oft, city water is in large storage or reservoirs and taps never run dry, unless after a disconnection that the water suppliers and the councils announce three weeks prior to, and follow that up with reminders by posts and advertisements in the local newspapers.
In the South, water is not always piped or guaranteed. The storage tank is the nearest to tapped-water to many. When the tank is exhausted, replenishments are after journeys to the nearest stream or borehole armed with containers. It is, therefore, easy to calculate the amount of water spent- or saved.
The disparities of the clean, albeit available water between the West and the South is an issue best not talked about. Nature has placed its strobe finger on spot and cannot be faulted.
But personal attitudes can be. For sensible saving water consumption is a personal decision that comes depending on one's forward looking, feeling of concern for another however far removed, and undoubtedly, some sense of personal moral guilt.
Without blaming Sahara Desert for its pride, its commanding historic and geographic effects on the water balance in the sub-Saharan Africa can not be overstated. Yet, the disturbing fact is that despite the economic developments that have arisen over centuries, the would-be expected gains in harnessing the expansive wastelands have been negative. Desertification has progressively ravaged the previously sub-humid zones and water catchments leaving them barren, and thus with little ground cover that would be a step towards conserving the soil moisture. As a result, some previous watersheds are now cultivable lands while some latter are presently arid.
Although a long shot, saving water consumption in our houses is one of the initial steps towards conserving the environment before embarking on combating global climate change. The conscious first step I take in my bathroom can roll back events and put a check to the advancing desertification and the imminent global climate change.
Figuratively, all water in the world in one great continuum. The wasted amounts gashing away to drains eventually join the natural reservoirs that often recycle it clean as vapourised moisture that becomes the precipitations. Therefore, to many, there appears no loss. But the error is in failing to recognise how much is held unavailable in living tissues- especially by man's explosive population growth and his trendy baby-feed bottles that have more than doubled the average intakes. Coupled with increased industrialisation and mechanisation with dual water demands for cooling the systems, the amounts help in reserves in case of emergencies, as well as the increased evaporative forces with raising temperatures, the amounts available are stressed to meet demands.
As the snowcapped mountains continue to loose their reserves, the streams will continue receiving much less, as will the distributaries and the rivers. With decreased water storage, the habitats will get drier and loose more vegetation, and then the relief will be less able to hold the rainfall. Thus, tropical desertification will be a lost war for mankind. Or rather, farmers will gradually loose their fertile lands to rangelands, the water table will gradually sink deeper, soil will gradually turn to sand and silt, there will be less ground cover, and then, there will be nothing but desert.
The temperate zones will soon be the next stop for the deserts. Already, Southern Europe is annually held siege by drought fires, while the previously green Britain has its taste of Summer droughts too. The calls for bans on water sprinklers have now turned to prosecutions. Talks like "who"s water, anyway?' and "I always pay my water bills" no longer apply and calls have gone out for installing water meters. It is telling that "in South East, an average person used 155 litres per day in households with water meters, against 168 litres per day in those without meters in 2004/05 [BBC]." A conservative 20 million with such a consumption rate would almost siphon off the Thames dry. Add to that the amounts required in the industries and the picture becomes very bleak.
But as always, many prefer to leave everything to chance- let nature take its toil, wanting to believe that the rains will be more than adequate to replenish- better still rewarded with the floods- case closed.
Until the realities of global climate change hit home.
