Flicking off that tap quicker is the least we can do

So please don’t hesitate to correct me if you spot any glaring numerical errors in this article. As poor as I am with figures, I feel the need to give my two cents’ worth on the current water crisis. What follows is the fruit of much cogitation by a long-dormant part of my brain.

We have been hearing two terms – “water for consumption” and “water for agriculture”. As the government has suspended distribution of the latter, leaving no one in any doubt as to the magnitude of the drought, let’s stick with the former. It concerns us, the non-farmers, after all.

One cubic metre equals 1,000 litres. One litre takes an average 15 to 20 seconds to flow out of your tap. Which means that if you spend 15-20 seconds less with the taps on every day, you save one litre. It’s two litres if you double that. And so on.

It’s obvious what we can do. If you normally bathe twice a day, make it once. If you usually take five minutes to shower, make it four. Better still, make it three. If you let the tap run while brushing your teeth or washing your face, turn it off instead. If you wash your hair every day, make it every other day. If it’s every other day, make it every three days. Time your date night to coincide with the day you wash your hair.

We can also wear our clothes longer before laundering them, which will suit me just fine. If you throw your jeans into the machine every two weeks, make it three. We can wash our cars less, which, once again, is fine with me. Our dishes don’t need to dazzle and squeak like they do in the ads for washing-up liquid. Use more scrubbing and less water.

If everyone in Thailand turned the taps off just 15-20 seconds quicker than usual every day, about 70,000 cubic metres would be saved daily. That’s a piece of cake, right? Even doubling or tripling that is still a piece of cake in my opinion.

If I were Premier Prayut I would scrap all the graphics and irrigation maps and stick with the “20-seconds” (or more) campaign. He could even be the face of a “shave every other day” drive. Shaving consumes more water than most people think because most men do it on a daily basis. Am I right?

In his weekly TV appearance, Prayut could inform us that the uniform he’s wearing hasn’t been washed since the last show, only aired in strong sunlight. He could add that his wife has asked the maids to go easy on water-heavy house cleaning. 

Some women will be agitated, but this is a time for water-consciousness, not hygiene-craziness. 

As for your pets, let them be smelly for a couple of days longer. You may also wonder how often you should flush your toilets. All I can say is that it depends on your circumstances.

No one need cut down on exercise, but we can use less water afterwards. People tend to indulge themselves with a long, refreshing soak after working up a sweat. Don’t do that. My tip is to avoid hitting the shower immediately after a session. The longer the break, the less need to stay under the faucet.

Comfort-lovers may be shrugging at this point, thinking that they do most of these things anyway. But what’s funny about water is that we never really “need” it when it’s there. It’s in our nature to take the most fundamental things in life – air and water – for granted. Muslims have just ended their annual month-long Ramadan fast, during which strict devotees didn’t even swallow their saliva. Part of the idea is to remind you of how fundamental water is to us as human beings, and not in any economic sense.

I’m not suggesting that anyone hold back on actually drinking water, but that taking other measures to conserve it are the least we can do. The temporary inconvenience for city-dwellers pales in comparison to what farmers are suffering, and their uncertainty will continue even after the rains arrive, hopefully by the middle of August. Of course, implementing these measures won’t prevent drought. But by small everyday sacrifices we can lift a little of the hardship from the shoulders of those who are genuinely suffering.

Just keep in mind: I’m turning off the tap 20 seconds quicker than usual today. And I’m not worried too much about my date – the exchange of natural pheromones never hurt anyone.