Could You Get By on 5 Gallons of Water a Day?
Think you could get by using only as much water as a rural African villager: about 20 liters (a little over five gallons) per day? Brits Sophie Morris and Paul Martin each describe their experiences taking the 20-liter challenge. (Hint: both suffer bouts of “flushitis” in facing the fact an average toilet uses eight to 10 liters per flush.)
I live in SoCal and one way I try to be more environmentally aware at home is to use the motto ‘If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.” Turning off the water when I brush and shave too is another easy way.
20 litres is tough. I have a septic tank that has to be pumped out on a regular basis. It holds 1300 gallons, for my boyfriend and me that usually lasts between 6 and 7 weeks which means that we each use between 50 and 65 litres a day. We don’t flush the toilet everytime, we take short showers every two days, we hand wash dishes and use a small basin filled with water to rinse rather than leave the tap on. we don’t leave the tap running when we wash or brush our teeth. This amount does not include our laundry which we do at a laundromat. Or any water we drink or cook with that doesn’t end up in the septic tank. It also doesn’t count anytime we wash or use a bathroom outside of the house.
It’s possible to be aware and use less water than the average north american person, but impossible for anyone in a western nation to actually practice living on 20 litres a day. anyone who says they can is leaving something out.
Yes, it’s tough, Erin. Especially when you factor in the less-visible “water costs” we incur each day: for example, in the meals we eat at restaurants and delis, where we can’t estimate how much water was used in preparation.
I do applaud you and MattKelly for your efforts to conserve water where possible, though. It’s hard to imagine that so much of the world gets by on so much less of a vital resource, which we so sadly often take for granted.
Other things I’ve tried to do include pouring out half-consumed cups of water into my watering can for plants indoors and out; leaving the toilet to “mellow,” as you say, MattKelly; and making sure I never wash a load of laundry that isn’t full.