My city is in the middle of the worst drought in recorded history. My showers are typically under 2 minutes and I have to shower with a bucket to catch otherwise wasted water to use to flush the toilet. I also shut the water down when I am wet enough so I can scrub myself without having unneeded water flowing then start it back up to rinse.

Plus, water is damn expensive!

Who here really has the time to stand, think and waste in the shower?

  • olafurp@lemmy.world
    13·
    6 days ago

    To absolutely minimise the water usage you could do a more old school “shower” by just putting some water in a bucket with a sponge.

    1. Put some water on your body with a quick sponge rinse.
    2. Apply soap.
    3. Use sponge to rinse off soap.

    Then later use the bucket as toilet refill.

  • BaldManGoomba@lemmy.world
    1·
    4 days ago

    Maybe true but water is essentially free around here apartment doesn’t charge we have plenty of water. 30 min showers are minimum for me

  • drivepiler@lemmy.world
    7·
    6 days ago

    I’m blessed in this regard by living in the rainiest city in Europe. It has it’s downsides, but hey… free water.

  • beebarfbadger@lemmy.world
    102·
    6 days ago

    Are you limited to either having a thought or moving your body at any given time? I hope you don’t drive cars or perform other activities that require more than zero thoughts at once.

    • Gnugit@aussie.zoneOP
      3·
      6 days ago

      I just had a shower and while I was in there I was thinking about how I could become more like you. Could you give me some advice please?

    • Gnugit@aussie.zoneOP
      11·
      6 days ago

      That’s very astute of you but have you ever had a shower in under two minutes and washed your whole body? There isn’t much time to think past the focus of scrubbing, rinsing and ensuring maximum water goes into the bucket.

      You must be truly exceptional.

      • beebarfbadger@lemmy.world
        2·
        6 days ago

        have you ever had a shower in under two minutes and washed your whole body?

        Yes. My first thought was whether there may be a “best practice” way of showering efficiently and which professions may have suggestions on that (either jobs that are very time-constrained or jobs that are tight on resources?) and whether there were more effective ways of catching the water than a bucket (maybe some elaborate tarp placement? probably not feasible. the ultimate tarp placement would be one just around the body like one of the shields in star trek or star wars. maybe one of those bubble soccer balls upside down filled with water and one showerer? rolling down a hill in a plastic hamster ball full of water would be fun. also terrifying and basically dynamic waterboarding, but fun) and that was when the two minutes ended.

  • SPRUNT@lemmy.world
    9·
    7 days ago

    So, when you take a shower, all you think is “scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse”?

    When I shower, it’s all pretty automatic and muscle memory kinds of actions. My mind wanders all over the place, usually while listening to music /podcasts /audio books, but rarely do I think about the actual act of bathing.

    • Gnugit@aussie.zoneOP
      22·
      7 days ago

      Thoughts taken:

      Is the water running into the bucket when heating?

      Is the water warming yet so I can get my head under comfortably and wet it to get shampoo in?

      Quick, get the shampoo rub it in before I need to add cold so I don’t get burnt.

      Water is perfect now, that’s nice. Turn and rub it in.

      Is it warm enough in the bathroom so I can afford to turn off water and lather myself?

      Ok, now i’m lathered, let’s get those hard to reach places.

      Turn on the water. Try to aim for taps to be at the same position so I don’t get burnt. (I have temperature variation from solar hot water)

      Rinse, quick, let’s rinse. Dont fall over the bucket Gnugit!

      Turn off taps now and quick, dry your hands so you can reply to Sprunt on lemmy.

      Oh, the shower timer only says ~1/4 of 4 minutes this time, that was efficient.

      Hmm, maybe I can finally make a post to c/showerthoughts…

  • Allero@lemmy.today
    61·
    6 days ago

    Depends on the definition of “wasting”

    There’s always a way to spend less water, even less than you currently do.

    But normally spending more water translates to comfort, as well as better washing.

    • flying_sheep@lemmy.ml
      2·
      5 days ago

      It’s how dishwashers work: more cycles = more rinsing, then later rinse it all off.

      You could do a quick pre-wash, then a long cycling of water, and lastly a rinse with clean water.

    • Gnugit@aussie.zoneOP
      5·
      7 days ago

      In my city the water comes from underground too. The problem arises when there is no rain and cleared land produces more runoff than absorbtion.

      Coupled with heavy use by people ground water levels are reduced. This not only affects us but trees and plants that rely on these water levels will die off.

      However, as the other commenter mentioned, normal citizen use and its affect on this is negligible. It’s when you have industrial water extraction that is the real problem.

    • Gnugit@aussie.zoneOP
      2·
      7 days ago

      We just had our dishwasher connected to our rainwater tank so maybe I could justify a few minutes for c/showerthoughts now.

    • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
      32·
      6 days ago

      Yeah that’s like saying the gas in your car comes from a hole in the ground.

      Resource extraction is never free.

      • DannyBoy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        21·
        6 days ago

        It would cost around $0.0025 to pump enough water for a shower. It’s not free but it’s a negligible cost.

        • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
          3·
          6 days ago

          The cost is that you deplete the aquifer. Generally speaking, water pumped out of the ground doesn’t replenish (except on geologic time scales). That’s what I meant by the fossil fuel comparison. It’s not like taking water from a stream or a lake replenished by snowmelt. Once that aquifer is dry, it’s dry, and the land becomes dead.

  • thorbot@lemmy.world
    2·
    5 days ago

    I’m the problem. I take 30 min+ showers. It’s my best place to cry and think about my life.

  • 9point6@lemmy.world
    55·
    7 days ago

    Well I live in a rainy part of the UK, and we basically had rain all month, so longer showers are probably more likely helping avoid the reservoir flooding over here

    I guess the one upside to this situation is our water isn’t even metered, we just pay a flat rate every quarter

  • Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de
    33·
    7 days ago

    Who here really has the time to stand, think and waste in the shower?

    People not in a drought. It’s been quite wet here in Switzerland recently :-D

    • Gnugit@aussie.zoneOP
      1·
      7 days ago

      Lucky you. The rising temperature has driven the low pressure systems south and they mostly seem to be bypassing the whole south of australia. I hope this doesn’t mean now we will start getting cyclones where we are at…

  • megane-kun@lemm.eeEnglish
    18·
    7 days ago

    I don’t use a shower, rather, I have a bucket (or two) of water and a dipper. I can ruminate and think about things while giving myself a thorough scrubbing, and not consume any water.

    I can take as much time as I need (much to the irritation of people I live with) without consuming any more water.

    • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
      3·
      7 days ago

      We’ve been getting tons of rain here, but we are still in an outdoor water ban.

      Between 8-5, no lawn watering (except golf courses and businesses), no washing your car (except at a car wash), no watering your ornamental plants (except for farms and garden stores). No filling your pool (even a kiddie pool) or running through the sprinkler (except at the water park).

      It’s not because of drought, but because one of our water sources is offline due to elevated PFAS, so they are blending water from other reservoirs, and those sources combined can’t make up the extra demand.

      And also protecting businesses by making sure we can’t wash our own cars or lollygag through our own sprinklers. Gotta pay for that privilege.

      We have to pay…for the privilege…of lollygagging through our sprinklers.

      I get the lawn part. I hate lawns. But my yard is also a barren mud pit. I gotta put something down. Trying for mostly clover and other plants that don’t need a ton of water, but they still need to stay moist to germinate and start off, and that’s real tough to do if you can’t water it during the hottest parts of the day. I don’t really care what grows as long as it holds the dirt together and it’s comfortable to walk on barefoot.

      • Oisteink@feddit.nl
        94·
        7 days ago

        But now you can feel responsible and morally superior to the silly water-wasters

        • Gnugit@aussie.zoneOP
          31·
          7 days ago

          I envy silly water wasters because I miss my long thoughtful hot showers. But I do admit my newfound superiority is amazing!