# Should I be conserving water? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552 "2016-02-08T20:08:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/21 "2016-02-09T01:11:16Z")
Eugene/Springfield draw their water about 30 miles upstream on the McKenzie River, as the water slowly drains out of the mountains. The Cascades aren’t nearly as tall as the Sierras, not near as much snow pack except on the shield volcanoes, one of which the McKenzie River drains. The problem in dry years there is the sewer system. When the rivers run low then the output is too strong mucking up the river … and people around here are pretty serious about their salmon runs … ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/22 "2016-02-09T01:12:27Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > If you are on a public water system, then there is probably a per-gallon overhead to water processing, in addition to some baseline cost for capacity, so if everyone wasted 1/2 gallon of water a day then the public water system would have to scale up for more capacity, plus spend more money on treatment, pumping, etc. No it nothing to do with cost. It just that earth is running low on clean drinking water. Only use water if you need it. Try to have shower over a bath. Even in the US they are running low on clean drinking water. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/23 "2016-02-09T01:21:25Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > This. It’s the same reason you’re supposed to turn lights off in unoccupied rooms. The actual dollar cost to you may be small, but there are [negative externalities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externality) that come with any use of resources; if you don’t derive any particular benefit from consuming the resource (e.g. lighting an unoccupied room, or pouring fresh water down the drain while you brush your teeth), the community-minded thing to do is conserve the resource. > > If you’re taking an endurance-shower, at least you’re deriving some sensual pleasure from it, but there’s not much to be gained by pouring several gallons of unused fresh water straight from the faucet into the sink drain. > > Note too that “public water system” in **Ludovic** ’s post refers both to the water supply system (which must treat water to make it potable, and then distribute it) _and_ to the sanitary sewer system (which must collect water and then treat it to render it safe for discharge into rivers/bays). We have enough oil and gas to last 100 years and 300 years for coal. Problem is oil, gas and coal causes global warming. If people waste electricity more CO 2 is put in the atmosphere and more global warming. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/24 "2016-02-09T01:27:49Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > No it nothing to do with cost. > > It just that earth is running low on clean drinking water. Only use water if you need it. Try to have shower over a bath. > > Even in the US they are running low on clean drinking water. Do you somehow imagine that the water I conserve in Chicago is going to magically make it’s way to the Sudan? My over-use is not a factor in water availability. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/25 "2016-02-09T01:32:31Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > During the SuperBowl yesterday, they ran an ad about conserving water, making me feel bad because I let the water run while I brush my teeth. > > But then I got to thinking, would it matter if I didn’t? I know that if I lived in southern Arizona, where the Colorado River now dries up before it reaches the sea, water conservation would be important. But I live in the Pacific NW, where even a drier than normal year gives us all the rain we need, and we’re right next to Puget Sound, so anything we don’t use just goes straight into the ocean; there’s nobody downstream who will benefit from me saving a couple gallons a day. > > So, am I missing something? Or can I take a long shower without feeling guilty? Also if you waste water you increase global warming. So lot of those ads are anti-global warming. It takes electricity to generate water and send it to your house. More water you use more electricity they use. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/26 "2016-02-09T01:58:24Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > Yeah, I agree with this. I don’t see that as wasteful. I do, however, see it as horrifying. My teeth are rather cold-sensitive, and the even thinking about rinsing them with super-cold water is painful. _shiver_ So you let the water run till it warms up? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/27 "2016-02-09T02:04:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > So you let the water run till it warms up? That’s what I do. I turn it on and wait for the hot water to kick in. By the time I’m done brushing, the water is at a good temperature. Then I shave with the hot water, so I guess I would need to let it run about the same whether I’m bushing my teeth or not. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/28 "2016-02-09T02:04:29Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > We had a thread about this a while back where a poster actually corrected me about the PNW’s water supply, at least for the Tacoma-Seattle-Everett stretch. A lot more water comes from lowland rainfall than I had been told, and I’m pretty sure it was my water district itself providing the story about snow-fed reservoirs that might run dry even if we have lots of summer rainfall. I think they’re using it as a cover story when simple conservation warnings don’t get much traction. Well, at least with Seattle and Tacoma (not sure about Everett) every source I see says they draw most of their water from their mountain reservoirs. You can nitpick that the reservoirs aren’t 100% snow-fed, but even the rain-fed portion owes a lot to their location since the mountains also get way more rain than the lowlands where the cities are actually located. It’s also true that the cities have alternate sources of water in the lowlands, but those are mostly only used when there’s shortages in the mountain reservoirs. The lowland water requires more energy-intensive pumping, more treatment and is generally thought by Northwestern water snobs to taste worse than the mountain water, so they avoid using it as much as possible. The various local utilities do perhaps oversell the consequences of not conserving, but even if they’re not going to actually run out of water, having to use sub-optimal sources of water is worth trying to avoid. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/29 "2016-02-09T18:16:38Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > So you let the water run till it warms up? No, the remnants in the pipe tend to be warm enough for rinsing… > [@GreasyJack](#): > > Well, at least with Seattle and Tacoma (not sure about Everett) every source I see says they draw most of their water from their mountain reservoirs. You can nitpick that the reservoirs aren’t 100% snow-fed, but even the rain-fed portion owes a lot to their location since the mountains also get way more rain than the lowlands where the cities are actually located. It’s also true that the cities have alternate sources of water in the lowlands, but those are mostly only used when there’s shortages in the mountain reservoirs. The lowland water requires more energy-intensive pumping, more treatment and is generally thought by Northwestern water snobs to taste worse than the mountain water, so they avoid using it as much as possible. > > The various local utilities do perhaps oversell the consequences of not conserving, but even if they’re not going to actually run out of water, having to use sub-optimal sources of water is worth trying to avoid. [Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18730404&postcount=33) the original thread, with links to the SPU graphs about water supply. TL;DR version: in Washington state, snowpack is essential for agriculture in the eastern part of the state and for electricity supply, but merely helpful for cities supplied by Seattle Public Utilities. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/30 "2016-02-09T18:55:37Z")
The Ex-Creep used to INSIST that residents of the house keep the water running while brushing their teeth because otherwise, the toothpaste residue stuck in the sink. Turning on the water after you brushed to wash it away didn’t work (Law According to Creep). Water must be running. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/31 "2016-02-09T19:02:08Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > No, the remnants in the pipe tend to be warm enough for rinsing… > > [Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18730404&postcount=33) the original thread, with links to the SPU graphs about water supply. TL;DR version: in Washington state, snowpack is essential for agriculture in the eastern part of the state and for electricity supply, but merely helpful for cities supplied by Seattle Public Utilities. I think you’re incorrectly assuming that the fact that the reservoir storage doesn’t track directly with snowpack means that Seattle gets most of its water elsewhere. There’s a lot more that goes into the decision of how much water to put in the reservoirs, and plus like I mentioned if things get really bad they can fill the reservoirs from other sources, it’s just a non ideal situation. (Also, those graphs have updated since the original post, and now it does show the reservoirs getting fairly low at the end of last years’ abysmal snow year.) On a normal year, the city gets about 70% of its water from the Cedar River watershed (which is in a mountainous area north of Mount Rainier) and most of the rest from the Tolt River Watershed (which is in a slightly less mountainous area south of Gold Bar). Cite: [http://www.seattle.gov/util/MyServices/Water/AbouttheWaterSystem/WaterSystemOverview/index.htm](http://www.seattle.gov/util/MyServices/Water/AbouttheWaterSystem/WaterSystemOverview/index.htm) Like I said, particularly with the Tolt River one, some of it is mountain rainfall, not snowpack, but snowpack in the high Cascades is going to correspond pretty closely to snowfall + winter rainfall in the foothills where the reservoirs are. The vast majority of precipitation in the region falls in the winter, so even a relatively wet summer is not going to make up for a dry winter. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/32 "2016-02-09T19:10:05Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > I think you’re incorrectly assuming that the fact that the reservoir storage doesn’t track directly with snowpack means that Seattle gets most of its water elsewhere. There’s a lot more that goes into the decision of how much water to put in the reservoirs, and plus like I mentioned if things get really bad they can fill the reservoirs from other sources, it’s just a non ideal situation. (Also, those graphs have updated since the original post, and now it does show the reservoirs getting fairly low at the end of last years’ abysmal snow year.) > > On a normal year, the city gets about 70% of its water from the Cedar River watershed (which is in a mountainous area north of Mount Rainier) and most of the rest from the Tolt River Watershed (which is in a slightly less mountainous area south of Gold Bar). Cite: [http://www.seattle.gov/util/MyServices/Water/AbouttheWaterSystem/WaterSystemOverview/index.htm](http://www.seattle.gov/util/MyServices/Water/AbouttheWaterSystem/WaterSystemOverview/index.htm) > > Like I said, particularly with the Tolt River one, some of it is mountain rainfall, not snowpack, but snowpack in the high Cascades is going to correspond pretty closely to snowfall + winter rainfall in the foothills where the reservoirs are. The vast majority of precipitation in the region falls in the winter, so even a relatively wet summer is not going to make up for a dry winter. FWIW, the linked graphs show the combined capacities and flows at Cedar and Tolt. I think my summary is still accurate. During a low snow year, SPU is able to capture sufficient rainfall during the early part of the water year (our water years run October-to-October) to last until the end. Even the reservoirs being fairly low, as you note, is still bottomed out at over 20B gallons, which is nearly a half year of water at wintertime usage rates. And that was with our minuscule 2015 snowpack. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/33 "2016-02-09T19:13:38Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I saw it and wondered, why does anyone do that in the first place? What’s the point? When you’re ready to use said water again, is turning the handle such a burden? Yeah, this is what I wondered too. The cost of letting the water run may be minuscule, but isn’t the cost/trouble involved in turning it off while you brush even smaller? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/34 "2016-02-09T20:08:36Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yeah, it’s like someone just discovered the 20-80 rule or something. Look, I don’t waste water by letting it run unnecessarily, but that’s a drop in the bucket (hah!) compared to those nut farmers (farmers of nuts) out in the central valley (CA) who still use spray irrigation in the middle of the goddam day when it’s 110 degrees outside!!! Then they run ads saying that they don’t waste any more water than other farmers. And put signs on I5 saying it is all Nancy Pelosi’s fault (signs that predate the drought.) However that most water districts have been able to cut usage 20% makes me think that we have been wasting water. ---
**Author:** ![ziper1221](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a183cd/32.png) [@ziper1221](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ziper1221)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/35 "2016-02-09T20:16:28Z")
I think I might be jaded, but when I see a 20 million dollar reverse osmosis plant produce a million gallons a day of extremely clean, pure water just for watering a golf course – while how many thousands of people die day because they have no access to water-- it puts some doubt on the effectiveness of some petty few gallons. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/36 "2016-02-09T21:20:01Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > During the SuperBowl yesterday, they ran an ad about conserving water, making me feel bad because I let the water run while I brush my teeth. > > But then I got to thinking, would it matter if I didn’t? I know that if I lived in southern Arizona, where the Colorado River now dries up before it reaches the sea, water conservation would be important. But I live in the Pacific NW, where even a drier than normal year gives us all the rain we need, and we’re right next to Puget Sound, so anything we don’t use just goes straight into the ocean; there’s nobody downstream who will benefit from me saving a couple gallons a day. > > So, am I missing something? Or can I take a long shower without feeling guilty? The short answer is yes. The long answer is yyyyyeeeeessssssss! 😛 But, you know, we don’t actually need to since we can get all of the water we need out of the oceans… (just messing with Stranger since I don’t think anyone else took the bait). In addition to the externality costs mentioned up thread, you also have energy costs, since a lot of folks not only run the water while brushing their teeth or shaving, but they run HOT water while doing those things, which completely boggles the mind. Or they run their shower for like 5 minutes to create the steam in their bathrooms before getting in (I had a room mate who drove me nuts doing this). All that said, as also noted up thread, farmers in the South West waste a hell of a lot more water than residents do on farming crops in what is basically a freaking desert that are very high water use crops. Industry also has high water use, as do many types of power generation plants…coal for instance uses a lot of water. Of course, in the US we are really rich, so we can waste everything and hardly notice it. But China has serious issue wrt water use, with a large number of Chinese rivers and water sources either being contaminated to the point they aren’t fit for any use at all, or having been used up. I seem to recall from memory that if you took a bath in the US you’ve used up a months worth or more of water for the average Chinese household (I might be misremembering the exact amount, but it was pretty staggering), and there are a lot of other countries where it’s a similar ratio. [QUOTE=ziper1221] I think I might be jaded, but when I see a 20 million dollar reverse osmosis plant produce a million gallons a day of extremely clean, pure water just for watering a golf course – while how many thousands of people die day because they have no access to water-- it puts some doubt on the effectiveness of some petty few gallons. [/QUOTE] It’s the aggregate that counts. Yeah, if only you or I waste a few gallons then it’s probably not going to be a big deal. But when you are talking about hundreds of millions of people doing this daily, or even multiple times a day, it adds up to a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/37 "2016-02-09T21:47:48Z")
> [@XT](#): > > It’s the aggregate that counts. Yeah, if only you or I waste a few gallons then it’s probably not going to be a big deal. But when you are talking about hundreds of millions of people doing this daily, or even multiple times a day, it adds up to a lot. There’s that expression: “no single raindrop believes it alone is responsible for the flood.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/38 "2016-02-09T23:47:44Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > the Super Bowl was held in the city of Santa Clara, in Santa Clara county. The water comes mostly from wells. The water table if refilled by percolation ponds. The ponds are filled with water from reservoirs. The reservoirs in the county are at record lows. If less water is used by consumers it does not the water will run into the bay. More can be left in the reservoirs. The water supply is also supplemented directly from other water systems. And those reservoirs are at record lows. Water not used stays in the reservoirs it does not go down stream. Thanks for sharing but… So? This was an ad that went out nationally. I live on top of a ginormous natural water reservoir. My city taps straight into it for fountains that sit IN the river and shoot 200 feet in the air and flow 2500 gallons of water a minute. And no, they don’t run all the time but you get the idea. While there are certainly places that need water conservation the people who live there already know it. It’s not a secret. Well maybe in North Korea, but they probably had trouble watching the Super Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/39 "2016-02-10T00:05:41Z")
When I saw the Colgate ad referred to in the OP, I was left wondering just how my water usage can possibly affect (fresh) water availability to people in Guatemala (or wherever that thirsty little girl was supposed to be from). Is there a plausible connection? ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552/40 "2016-02-10T01:19:10Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > The Ex-Creep used to INSIST that residents of the house keep the water running while brushing their teeth because otherwise, the toothpaste residue stuck in the sink. Turning on the water after you brushed to wash it away didn’t work (Law According to Creep). Water must be running. Even if Creep’s argument made sense, you could just plug up the sink and let an inch of water collect in the bottom… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-conserving-water/745552.md?page=3)