this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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Shower thoughts are wasting water. (aussie.zone)
submitted 4 months ago by Gnugit@aussie.zone to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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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?

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[–] DannyBoy@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 months ago (3 children)

My water comes from a hole in the backyard and it's free.

[–] Gnugit@aussie.zone 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I did the math for Socal the last major drought, and normal people using water was like 2-5% of the water usage. And that includes lawns and stuff. Farming was the vast majority of water usage.

[–] Gnugit@aussie.zone 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Are there any Nestle water extraction plants in SoCal?

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] Gnugit@aussie.zone 2 points 4 months ago

They typically over extract and under report too I heard.

[–] Gnugit@aussie.zone 2 points 4 months 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 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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.works 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

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 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] DannyBoy@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 months ago

Hopefully some of my pee from the septic tank makes it over to my well then.