Do you know that during bathing, about 50% of water falls directly to the floor without touching the body if water is poured hurriedly? In India most of us, first fill a bucket and then pour on our body using a mug or small container. Usually the mug holds about one litre. There are people who require more than two buckets of water for one bath! They keep on pouring! I know a friend who does this. Asked why, he says that his bath ends only when a certain 'current' passes through his body at a certain point of time!
These are days when everyone of us must prevent unnecessary wastage of water esp. during a water crisis. It is very much possible to economize use of water for bathing [in such a crisis]. Take the first mug of water and begin by wetting the body with a sponge / kerchief / palm of the hand. Pour the second mug all over the body, SLOWLY. A moist skin surface is easier to wet than a dry one. You can notice this in summer and winter. In summer due to presence of sweat it is quick and in winter more water is needed to wet as sweat is very less.
Next step is 'soaping'/scrubbing.
The third mug is used for washing off the soap lather. Follow it by slowly pouring a couple of mugs by which time all soap is washed off. The bath is now complete! Actually, on an average, just five to six litres of water is sufficient for a clean bath. Add 1-2 mugs in case of the head-bath. Majority of people use warm water for bathing. Do not demand a demo! I have tried to describe clearly for you to try!!
A shower is reasonably economicalA normal shower bath finished off quickly (with cold water) also consumes less quantity of water. The tap has to be closed during 'soaping'. One can calculate the average time taken for a shower bath and see how much water is spent. Note the time taken and then fill a bucket with the shower and see how much water is collected in the same time. Of course, an oil bath requires more water.
The US Army people is said to use a high pressure automiser (that can be made using cycle pump and a few pvc pipe fittings) for their bathing purposes. This means even less use of water.
The great water guzzler, a certain NO in crises.
Aside from bathing ourselves, there are plenty of car-owners that bathe their beloved cars daily with a hose pipe and flood the streets, like this!
I wonder if that is judicious - even responsible practice! Some of them argue that they are paying the bill and why should others worry! At times one feels what they waste (that is just one example) is the water saved with difficulty by others. We are so careless when it comes to mass action. How many of us switched off lights during the set hour recently?
We will do well to harvest rooftop rainwater to alleviate the situation to a great extent. It is easy and economical too. During the rainy season, plenty of pure water can be collected and used provided one plans a large volume sump/tank. One inch of rain on a 1000 sq. foot catchment area will yield 623 gallons of water. Let us all use water judiciously, for all purposes.
Water is more precious then we are aware.
