Turn Off the Faucet Commercial

[asta]

I just watched a commercial about how many people in the world need drinkable water while showing someone letting water run while brushing their teeth. The commercial asks you to turn your faucet off. My question is how does turning off the faucet here help with water needs in other parts of the world. I totally get the need to restrict water usage in an area that is under drought conditions where people share a common water system. But I live in an area that is blessed with plenty of water right now. This is an honest question. I feel like I may be missing something about how the water from my utility system in Tennessee goes to Africa (or some other place) if I use less. What am I missing?

 

[DLgal]

I saw this commercial too. I don't really understand the point either. We can't exactly re-route our water over to these countries. I think it's just supposed to get you thinking. I mean, if YOU turn off your water while you brush your teeth, your water bill will be lower. Maybe with the money you save, you donate some to help people get potable water in other countries. I don't really see how else the connection could be made. It is also a helpful commercial in the parts of the country where there IS a drought. Some people really don't understand the impact of leaving the water running while you brush your teeth, for example. I live in Southern California. When I saw this commercial, I assumed it was a local PSA. When I saw "Colgate" pop up at the end, I did go "huh."

 

[Hikergirl]

I think its point is to get you to think how wasteful we are with water when there are people in the world who don't even have clean water to drink. I'm pretty cynical, I always think the message is to let us (the US) know just how bad we are.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I just watched a commercial about how many people in the world need drinkable water while showing someone letting water run while brushing their teeth. The commercial asks you to turn your faucet off. My question is how does turning off the faucet here help with water needs in other parts of the world. I totally get the need to restrict water usage in an area that is under drought conditions where people share a common water system. But I live in an area that is blessed with plenty of water right now. This is an honest question. I feel like I may be missing something about how the water from my utility system in Tennessee goes to Africa (or some other place) if I use less. What am I missing?

It is awareness to stop wasting water when others have none.


That's how I view the act of shutting off the water. I have not seen the ad.

 

[anniemae]

I think it's more about conservation and not wasting resources, saving energy etc. It's like when we let the water run and run it can be viewed as insensitive to those in a drought. On the other hand, it's not like people in say, NJ can ship water out to CA if they are in a drought, but why waste it even though you have it? I think its more about being environmentally conscious and not wasteful. Being better to the environment.

 

[JoeA]

Same line of thought as, "clean your plate, there are starving children in Africa", isn't it?

 

[wvjules]

I've actually started turning off the faucet when I brush my teeth because of this commercial. Not because the water will be magically rerouted to Africa, but because it truly is a huge waste.

 

[asta]

It is awareness to stop wasting water when others have none.


That's how I view the act of shutting off the water. I have not seen the ad.

I guess I just don't see how wasting water affects others who are not part of your system. I also don't understand how it hurts the environment if the rivers are full, the utility company has plenty of piping capacity and there are no drought conditions.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I think the ad is stupid. Whether or not my faucet is running when I brush my teeth has no bearing on a small child in a third-world country. Even the argument that I pay for the water falls flat--you pay for water in 1000 gallon increments, you won't even notice the few cups that flows when you brush your teeth.

And if you're going down that route, why not mention how much water is wasted when you turn on the shower and wait for the hot water? I'm sure much more water flows then, but they never seem to mention that. Probably because hopping in a cold shower is pretty unappealing to most people.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I guess I just don't see how wasting water affects others who are not part of your system. I also don't understand how it hurts the environment if the rivers are full, the utility company has plenty of piping capacity and there are no drought conditions.

Wasting water is bad. The rivers are not always full.

Plus there is no valid reason to run the water while the toothbrush is in your mouth. You are literally tossing money down the drain.

Would you buy a steak and throw 75% of it away?

http://scienceblogs.com/significant...lope-brush-your-teeth-but-turn-the-water-off/

 

[BrianL]

I think it's that if we keep wasting water eventually it will be US who have a water shortage.

 

[Hikergirl]

Wasting water is bad. The rivers are not always full.

Plus there is no valid reason to run the water while the toothbrush is in your mouth. You are literally tossing money down the drain.

Would you buy a steak and throw 75% of it away?

http://scienceblogs.com/significant...lope-brush-your-teeth-but-turn-the-water-off/

Not really, I pay one amount for x number of gallons, I've never even come close to what I pay for. I'd say letting the water run down the drain gets me my money's worth.
Besides the water that runs down the drain gets recycled and sent right back into the pipeline.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Not really, I pay one amount for x number of gallons, I've never even come close to what I pay for. I'd say letting the water run down the drain gets me my money's worth.
Besides the water that runs down the drain gets recycled and sent right back into the pipeline.

If you wish to waste water, that is your choice.

 

[Hikergirl]

If you wish to waste water, that is your choice.

I didn't say I wished to waste water just pointing out that you are wrong when you say its literally money down the drain.

 

[asta]

Wasting water is bad. The rivers are not always full.

Plus there is no valid reason to run the water while the toothbrush is in your mouth. You are literally tossing money down the drain.

Would you buy a steak and throw 75% of it away?

http://scienceblogs.com/significant...lope-brush-your-teeth-but-turn-the-water-off/

I don't understand how my water use is bad for the environment. The water I don't use stays in a large river that two rivers later flows into the Mississippi and then into the Gulf of Mexico. I have never seen any of these rivers without plenty of water. Flooding is more of a problem here than drought.

Wasting money is another issue but I was not aware of the PP who says we pay for water in 1000 gallon increments. If that is true then I don't think we are even paying for that extra tooth brushing water.

 

[cabanafrau]

Not really, I pay one amount for x number of gallons, I've never even come close to what I pay for. I'd say letting the water run down the drain gets me my money's worth.
Besides the water that runs down the drain gets recycled and sent right back into the pipeline.

Do you mean to say you have an agreement that requires you to pay for X gallons per quarter, month, etc., a predetermined quantity? I've not heard of that type of situation before.

 

[Hikergirl]

Do you mean to say you have an agreement that requires you to pay for X gallons per quarter, month, etc., a predetermined quantity? I've not heard of that type of situation before.

Yes, here we pay for X amount per quarter. I'm not sure what the amount of gallons actually is. If we use more we have to pay more. If we use less, we don't pay less or get credited for next quarter. Every year the cost goes up, but I'm not sure if the water amount changes.
There have been times where we have filled half of our 24 foot above ground pool and never went over the water allotment.
Do you just pay for what you use?

 

[piccolopat]

Do you mean to say you have an agreement that requires you to pay for X gallons per quarter, month, etc., a predetermined quantity? I've not heard of that type of situation before.

We now have a flat charge that is paid in addition to our usage. We used to only pay for our usage subject to a minimum but they changed this years ago to get more money.

 

[cabanafrau]

Yes, here we pay for X amount per quarter. I'm not sure what the amount of gallons actually is. If we use more we have to pay more. If we use less, we don't pay less or get credited for next quarter. Every year the cost goes up, but I'm not sure if the water amount changes.
There have been times where we have filled half of our 24 foot above ground pool and never went over the water allotment.
Do you just pay for what you use?

Yes, we pay for our usage amount. I've never heard of it being done in a pre-allotted way. Is it determined by your use history, your home or lot size or is it one size fits all?

If they implemented that type of system here I'm sure the allotment would be set to where everyone was bumping up against their limit constantly, both as an attempt to curtail usage and as an extra profit center. In hot and dry summers we would move onto odd and even restrictions on outdoor water usage according to our house numbers to prevent heavy usage spikes putting too much demand on the water system at one time. A few years ago that became the standard for summer months period. Makes sense if you don't want the water system collapsing or far-flung communities left dry altogether. What annoys me is that the workaround is running your automatic sprinkler at four or five a.m. daily, rain or shine. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice when it's been really dry and lawns are becoming stressed and 3 houses alone are green and lush.

 

[cabanafrau]

We now have a flat charge that is paid in addition to our usage. We used to only pay for our usage subject to a minimum but they changed this years ago to get more money.

Oh, we pay plenty of charges in addition to our usage as well. Matter of fact the highest category of charges on our bill is sewerage fees.

Last month my quarterly water bill made me ill. We use 40-percent less water than we did ten years ago because of HE washing machine and changing out toilets and one daughter away at college. My water bills are up 30-percent over the amount we paid then.