Flow Control
As a nearly life-long denizen of the desert Southwest, I'm conscious of water in a way that is probably different from much of the rest of the country. I find it interesting that many places that I would consider practically rainforests in terms of comparative annual rainfall still have drought alerts. It was hard, for example, to take too seriously the worry (at some level) in St. Louis and Missouri that they were in a drought cycle. Sure, it might be dry. But only until the next time it rains! Which often times was only a matter of days.
In the desert, it is months.
And without water, life in the desert becomes pretty impossible, pretty quickly. Notwithstanding the complicated water sharing and haggling that goes on over the Colorado River, if you have more than a few bad years in terms of rainfall, all those golf courses are going to start lookin' mighty brown.
Anyways.
As a water-conscious, late 20th century kinda guy, it struck me the other day that for all our talk about conserving water, we don't take the simplest, easiest, cheapest steps. For instance. In every house I've ever owned, rented, visited, etc., the water always comes out of the faucet pretty hard by default. Turn the nozzle, lift up the handle - whatever - the water comes out essentially full force. I have to really manipulate the hardware (no, that's not a dirty term) in order to get the water to come out at a slower rate. The default is full force. Why is this?
I imagine it's because we're busy. We don't have time to leisurely let the water pour serenely over our hands. I NEED TO WASH MY HANDS AND IT NEEDS TO BE RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND. OHMYGOSH HURRYHURRYHURRYHURRY CAN THE WATER PLEEEEEAAAASSSEEEEE COME OUT FASTER!??!
I suppose if we were less busy, then it wouldn't be a big deal to rig every faucet on every sink in every house and business with a simple flow control device, so that the water - by default - comes out at a reasonable rate. Not a dribble, but a slower, steady flow. Or perhaps there could be a toggle switch like they have on some schwanky kitchen sink faucets. Only that instead of switching between regular downpour and spray mode, it would switch between reasonable flow rate and full force.
Conservation couldn't possibly be that simple, could it?
In the desert, it is months.
And without water, life in the desert becomes pretty impossible, pretty quickly. Notwithstanding the complicated water sharing and haggling that goes on over the Colorado River, if you have more than a few bad years in terms of rainfall, all those golf courses are going to start lookin' mighty brown.
Anyways.
As a water-conscious, late 20th century kinda guy, it struck me the other day that for all our talk about conserving water, we don't take the simplest, easiest, cheapest steps. For instance. In every house I've ever owned, rented, visited, etc., the water always comes out of the faucet pretty hard by default. Turn the nozzle, lift up the handle - whatever - the water comes out essentially full force. I have to really manipulate the hardware (no, that's not a dirty term) in order to get the water to come out at a slower rate. The default is full force. Why is this?
I imagine it's because we're busy. We don't have time to leisurely let the water pour serenely over our hands. I NEED TO WASH MY HANDS AND IT NEEDS TO BE RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND. OHMYGOSH HURRYHURRYHURRYHURRY CAN THE WATER PLEEEEEAAAASSSEEEEE COME OUT FASTER!??!
I suppose if we were less busy, then it wouldn't be a big deal to rig every faucet on every sink in every house and business with a simple flow control device, so that the water - by default - comes out at a reasonable rate. Not a dribble, but a slower, steady flow. Or perhaps there could be a toggle switch like they have on some schwanky kitchen sink faucets. Only that instead of switching between regular downpour and spray mode, it would switch between reasonable flow rate and full force.
Conservation couldn't possibly be that simple, could it?
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