Wow, I Have Been Flushing with Drinking Water…
By Andrea Peck
Well, The Man has finally put his foot down in Los Osos. Letters have been sent and gallons have been decreed: 50 gallons of water per person per day. The form reads something like this, Please fill out your application, tell us how many humans reside in your home and don't go over the daily limit or you will pay the piper. (Note: there is some discrepancy about the legality of “paying the piper.” I know, I know, controversy about water?)
I'm actually glad.
I know, I'm probably one of the very few. Most of the Facebook crowd seems to be struggling with the gallon vs. unit computation, wondering how much their current use exceeds the new requirements. I have no idea how I stack up mathematically because I'm too busy concocting greywater toilet flushing methods that are aesthetically pleasing, workable and sanitary.
Day 1 was great. It was so much fun moving my washing machine water to the toilet. Our huge hose, now connected to the washer, snaked along the kitchen tile into the hallway to spew the rinse cycle into a repurposed kitchen-sized trashcan in the bathroom. This juncture is where my submersible pump takes over with another hose. The end result is non-potable or greywater toilet water.
My husband was not home during this little DIY. He had warned me the night before that I'd better not be turning the water on and off (at the base of the toilet). He said that turning the water on and off might cause the pipe to break or leak. He kind of ran out of steam when he said then we'd need a plumber. Since, technically, he is the licensed plumber. So as soon as his truck left the driveway I just turned that thing OFF.
It has not been turned back on. It's been five days now. But, I'll be honest here. It does get a bit dodgy. Or more accurately, you do flirt with the feeling that you may be very strange and third-worldish. You start to wonder about water quality and bacteria count. Curiously, I am under the distinct impression that my bathroom is cleaner than it has ever been because I'm feeling hopelessly fastidious about the whole endeavor. My hands are drier than those of an OCD hand washer.
Still, I am glad.
I should have been doing this a long time ago because it truly is shocking that we use drinkable water to flush our toilet. I challenge all of you out there to try it for one day – even if you find the project disgusting. It is an eye-opening process, one I hope to refine, a habit I hope to keep and one that I hope helps.