We’re going through a water crisis here in the south of England, and one of the many tips given to me on a leaflet in the Guardian was to turn off the tap while brushing my teeth. Now that’s something I’ve always done, but it reminded me of a question I’ve wanted to ask for a long time - why would anyone leave the tap running? I turn it on to wet my toothbrush, and then off it goes while I scrub away, to come back on when I need to rinse.
So, to those who leave their taps running: Why do you do it? What purpose does it serve? Just habit?
NB: No moral spin put on this, I’m just curious. I do close the tap partly because I try to be aware of the environmental impact of my lifestyle, and this seems to be just waste without any benefit. Help me, fellow Dopers!
As far as there being a water crisis, I believe it’s entirely manufactured by the water companies and their greed. They have refused to invest the necessary money in the infrastructure and are now complaining that the system is broken AND blaming the consumer AND looking for government subsidies. Privatising the water companies was probably one of the biggest government gaffes in recent history, second only to privatising British Rail.
I used to, when I was a kiddy. I don’t anymore, because of (a) water shortages, and (b) at home I’m paying for the stuff. I haven’t quite got into the habit of filling up a glass and using it for rinsing, though.
Growing up, my family had well water and conservation was a big thing in our house. A bath consisted of one inch of water in the bottom of the tub, you flushed the toilet once for every four or five uses, and you got a small glass of water to be used when brushing your teeth.
When I moved out on my own, my apartment had city water and I took advantage by doing all the things I couldn’t growing up such as filling the bathtub clear to the top and running the water while brushing my teeth. From there it became habit, albeit a habit I am trying to break.
Watching Sesame Street with my children stopped the running water habit for me. A short cartoon showing a kid brushing with the water running with a split screen showing a fish struggling as the water level lowered - the direct consequence of wasting water hit me at that moment. I don’t do it anymore.
I’m guilty. I turn the water on, wet the toothbrush, and leave it running while I brush; I don’t turn it on full force, but it stays on. Mostly, it’s because the water that comes out of our cold water tap is luke warm until it’s been running for a minute or two, and I really hate rinsing with warm water; by the time I’m done brushing and using my Listerine, the water’s nice and frosty cold to rinse with!
I don’t really think of it as a problem for two reasons: one, it’s going to go back into the system, and be recycled, so to speak. Two, I have city water, I pay for the water and for the cleaning of the water, so if I’m willing to pay, well, who’s it hurting? (If someone more knowlegeable than me wants to come set me straight, I’m not totally opposed to changing my ways).
I run the water so it will be warm enough to wash my face with afterwards, although it does disturb me to hear the water running. When I lived in a place where my hot water came quickly, I always shut the tap off, so now I feel guilty.
Yeah, that’s why I do it and I only do it at night. In the morning, I shut it off while I’m brushing (although I do leave it running when I wash my retainer because I’m brushing it under runnign water).
I leave it on, too. I rinse frequently (I brush a quarter at a time), and I just neglect to turn it off in between. Of course, water is cheap and plentiful here, so I don’t pay much of a penalty for not turning it off. An old friend of my sister’s recently visited from Colorado. He made a comment about how expensive his water bills were, and my sister complained about hers being high. I pointed out that her water bill was Upstate expensive, which is nothing like being Colorado expensive. He said,“How much do you pay?” She replied, sounding like he wouldn’t believe it, “$45 a month!” He didn’t believe it.
Habit. But I don’t see how running the water for 10 minutes a day (5 min for each brushing) is particularly wasteful. And it doesn’t seem to be expensive, either, as my quarterly water bill is always under $40.
I leave it run. It brings up the temperature so that when I take my shower right after, I don’t have to leave IT run forever waiting on the water to get warm.
I got in the habit of doing this as a kid. But since our house was hooked to a well whose overflow ran constantly, it was not a big deal. If I didn’t run it down the sink, it would run out in the yard anyway.
Finally, after the neighbors added a few wells, the pressure dropped enough so there was no longer a constant overflow.
I leave it running. In the morning it allows for time to warm up the water for shaving.
Other than that, it’s habit. There is plenty of water around here (pretty cheap, too) and after it goes down the drain it ends up back in the system at some point.
If I lived in the arid west or during an unusual drought, I might remember to turn it off. But the extra couple of minutes of the tap running is nothing compared to the water I use doing laundry, washing the car, watering the yard, etc. so I can’t really get worked up about it.
For me, it’s two things. One, I guess I’ve been conditioned to like the sound of running water while I brush my teeth. Two, once I grab my toothbrush and pre-rinse it with water, I don’t put it down, and it’s a pain to turn off most sinks with one hand.
Like everyone else, I’m not that concerned about it. We don’t have a water shortage here.
I used to, just out of habit, until I took the “Beat the drought” pledge. (Site seems to be down at the moment.) Surprisingly, it worked. Took about two days to adjust.