When I last lived in Australia, I used to laugh at the advice that said everyone should drink at least 2 litres per day. I used to drink that much before leaving home. But somehow, I lost that habit when I moved to Japan, then Belgium, then Bhutan. In the past 9 years, I’ve struggled to drink even a litre a day.
When I saw Marie drinking up to 5 litres per day in Bhutan, to my 1, I had to assume that it was a change in habit / need / lifestyle. But now I’m back in Australia, I’m drinking about 5 litres per day myself. It must be the dry air. Australia is still in the middle of severe droughts and Sydney’s water reserves are down to 30%. If it doesn’t rain the next few months, next year will not be a good time to be living here. As it is, people are only allowed to water gardens on Wednesday and Sunday evenings and the government is looking at using recycled water in more places.
My friends recently installed a new toilet and were disappointed not to be able to get the Japanese style with the basin in the top of the tank. It was illegal (in the sense that importing and distribution wasn’t allowed). Why? That toilet seems to be the ultimate in water savings, letting you wash your hands in clean water before using that same water to flush. Another friend was able to shed light on the reason. It seems that the government is looking at plans to use recycled water in homes for (among other things) flushing toilets and those two ideas don’t go together well.