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#140489 - 07/20/08 08:55 PM I used 3 litres of water today
Brangdon Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/12/04
Posts: 1204
Loc: Nottingham, UK
Today I have been keeping track of my water usage, and also trying to economise on it as if it were precious. It came to about 1.3l for drinking, 0.7l for cooking and 1l for washing, or about 3 litres in total (about 3/4 of a US gallon).

Drinking includes 3 coffees, 2 glasses of juice and some milk with breakfast cereal. I had my usual sedentary life-style, as if confined to the house by quarantine.

Cooking was mostly spaghetti for lunch and rice for tea. Most of that water ended up in the food. About 200ml was lost to evaporation. There was also about 250ml of "grey water" left over which I've counted as waste, but which is quite drinkable (I used some for one of the coffees). Rice is easier to cook in low water than spaghetti.

Washing included my hands, face and teeth, and also plates, cutlery etc after cooking. I was aiming for a low but realistic level of hygiene, sustainable for a few weeks. I'm pretty good at getting plates clean with minimal water. Hand-washing is much harder. Paper towels helped.

I didn't include water used in flushing the loo. That would have seemed very wasteful of drinking water. In an emergency I'd hope to either use wild non-drinking water, or else make other arrangements.

I didn't include any clothes or hair washing. I figure that's realistic for a few weeks, but not really long-term. I didn't have any first-aid needs. My pets can find their own water.

I live alone. I suspect it could be hard to get other people to adopt the same level of water-discipline. 3 litres felt quite extreme; 4 litres per day might be a better rule of thumb for me. As it happens, I have about 50 litres stockpiled, which is about the limit of what is convenient for me. I also have about 5 rolls of paper towels stockpiled, and I think now I will increase that - it's easier to store because it's lighter and doesn't expire.


Edited by Brangdon (07/20/08 08:56 PM)
_________________________
Quality is addictive.

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#140490 - 07/20/08 09:08 PM Re: I used 3 litres of water today [Re: Brangdon]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3219
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Good experiment! 3 litres is hardcore. Add any physical labour and that jumps to 4. If it's a hot climate it's probably 5+.

Do you have any opportunity to collect rainwater (or condense fog ;-) in your location? That could boost supplies for personal washing, tea-making, and flushing.

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#140509 - 07/20/08 11:54 PM Re: I used 3 litres of water today [Re: dougwalkabout]
dweste Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/16/08
Posts: 2463
Loc: Central California
Recover your grey water by using a solar still. Harvest moisture from the ground, leaves, etc. in another solar still.

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#140516 - 07/21/08 12:17 AM Re: I used 3 litres of water today [Re: dweste]
Nishnabotna Offline
Icon of Sin
Addict

Registered: 12/31/07
Posts: 512
Loc: Nebraska
Depending on what you are putting into it, grey water can be used to good effect on your plants.

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#140528 - 07/21/08 01:11 AM Re: I used 3 litres of water today [Re: Nishnabotna]
Hacksaw
Unregistered


It seems to me that putting grey water into your toilet tank and using it to flush...turning it into black water could get 2 uses out of the same water.

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#140561 - 07/21/08 08:12 AM Re: I used 3 litres of water today [Re: ]
Brangdon Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/12/04
Posts: 1204
Loc: Nottingham, UK
The amount of grey water produced by cooking was pretty small, and I don't see why you couldn't just drink it.

Flushing my loo needs about 9 litres (I just measured it) so I'd need really copious supplies to even consider it.
_________________________
Quality is addictive.

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#140580 - 07/21/08 02:12 PM Re: I used 3 litres of water today [Re: Brangdon]
Hacksaw
Unregistered


grey water is also produced by washing...that water isn't drinkable as it has soaps, detergents, and potentially human pathogens in it (though it can be treated, technically).

Also, you can save water in your toilet by adjusting the float so there is less water in the tank between flushes. My toilet is a low profile, high efficiency model. I think it uses 5 or 6 L but I'd have to check to be sure.

You can also save on flushes by not flushing as often. Only flush for #2 and you can save a lot of water.

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#141040 - 07/23/08 07:20 PM Re: I used 3 litres of water today [Re: ]
BruceZed Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 01/06/08
Posts: 319
Loc: Canada
In the wilderness doing any kind of work I think 4 to 6 litres per day is the level of water consumption we should consider the norm for planning purposes.

This article may be of some interest: http://boreal.net/Research/water-balance.shtml
_________________________
Bruce Zawalsky
Chief Instructor
Boreal Wilderness Institute
boreal.net

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#141080 - 07/24/08 12:06 AM Re: I used 3 litres of water today [Re: BruceZed]
Todd W Offline
Product Tester
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 11/14/04
Posts: 1928
Loc: Mountains of CA
You could get a well.
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Self Sufficient Home - Our journey to self sufficiency.

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#141094 - 07/24/08 12:41 AM Re: I used 3 litres of water today [Re: Todd W]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3219
Loc: Alberta, Canada
I have a well. But it's bloody awkward in my BOB.

:-)

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