Are you wasting six gallons of water perday?

Wash your hands frequently, but do it the rightway, experts say

You are probably wasting five- six gallons ofwater a day in washing your hands frequently in the wake of Covid- 19, experts said on Global Hand washing Day.

While using hand sanitisers with at least 60 per cent alcohol is an alternative, health authorities encourage wash ing of hands with soap and water as much as possible.

“In light of the pandemic, millions of people have been urged to wash their hands for 20- 30 seconds often throughout the day, but you can save up to six gallons, or 22 litres, of water a day by simply stopping the tap while lathering your hands with soap for 20- 30 seconds,” said Francois Frigaux, regional sales director, Middle East and North Africa, Sensus, A Xylem Brand.

Rami Ghandour, managing director of Metito, said: “As much as we should practice washing hands frequently using water and soap, there is no better time to think about using water efficiently thereby minimising wastage, so one crisis doesn’t add to another. The very simple, but incredibly important, step of turning off the tap while scrubbing the hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, can save thousands of gallons of water.”

What you should do

In the absence of smart sensors, shutting off the faucet while lathering soap and scrubbing hands is the easiest way to prevent this undesirable side effect of our conscious effort to fight pandemic.

According to Green Matters sustainable consultancy, on average, leaving the water running for 20 seconds could waste about a quarter of a gallon each time a person washes hands. It is probably closer to half a gallon if the sink has a higher flow rate.

“Assuming everyone is washing their hands at least 10 times daily, that’s between two and five gallons of clean water down the drain each day if you’re not shutting off while scrubbing,” the report said.

Daunting statistics

The World Resources Institute said in a report in January that “three billion people don’t have basic handwashing facilities. A quarter of the world’s population live in countries facing extremely high water stress. There are more than 500 dead zones — areas of the ocean without enough oxygen for most marine life to survive — from untreated wastewater”,

WRI projects a 56 per cent deficit in water supply relative to demand by 2030.

According to the UN World Water Development Report released on World Water Day on March 22, 2.2 billion people currently do not have access to safely managed drinking water, and 4.2 billion, or 55 per cent of theworld’s population, are without safely managed sanitation.

The report highlighted the fact that poor water management tends to exacerbate the impacts of climate change, not only on water resources but on society as a whole.

Dubai leads theway

Dubai’s Integrated Water Resource Management Strategy has put in place a plan to use the latest technologies and innovative solutions to reduce water consumption by 30 per cent by 2030.