Hey! Who Put My Mineral Water in the Commode?

EACH and EVERY time I flush my commode and see gallons of fresh water mixing up with the dirt and draining down, my heart feels extremely sorry!!!

See this picture …

My friend, Tehmina, went to Kharo Chan, a small district in Sindh. It was a prosperous city in the 1950’s and is now in absolute ruins because of lack of water for survival of its inhabitants! Most of the population has migrated to urban areas, rather to the slums of urban areas which are no better than their old city. Why?

Water!

Contrary to what we are taught at school in social studies, development economics, etc, I believe that no matter how much population exists on the earth’s surface, there are enough resources for our survival both for the current inhabitants and the ones to come. However, today thousands and thousands of people die each year, not because there isn’t enough food or medicine in the world, No! it is because there is a flaw in the way we manage and consume resources!

Yes, taking fresh water for example. We all know of the water cycle on earth. The water in the rivers and streams are enough for us … But only if we use it well…

Now getting back to the subject of commodes… Here, in Pakistan, we are lucky enough to have natural water for consumption; water that has come down from the skies, trickled down the mountains and flowed in the streams. This kind of water has a natural combination of minerals which no human method of purification and mineralization can replicate. And I think it is simply FOLLY to use this precious gift of nature to wash your commodes!

So how do we do it then?

Well, this may sound far fetched but if I find a way of making this happen I shall do it at all costs.

This shank in my restroom (I opened to see how it contained water in itself), contains more than five litres of Fresh water! Just because this water is in here, it feels disgusting to some perhaps but people in many places of Pakistan yearn for even the kind of water shown in the first picture!

So here is my idea… we should use used up water to fill this shank up. When we wash our faces, the water that goes down the basin’s drain is clean enough for this. So, if I could I shall make a system through which my basin’s drain gets connected to this shank and directs water to it whenever I turn on the knob! :) Simple!

I just hope I engineer this kind of system soon because I really care for each and every drop of water that I have access too. The effort might just be a drop in the ocean, but sometimes, for some, even a drop is a life-saver.

PS : the water from our Wudhu too is pretty clear to serve the shank!