Nagging Quota Filled

I knew it was going to be tricky. After all, this water-saving thing is my deal, not my husband's. But how could I sit here and nerd-off on this stuff day after day if I don't get my whole family involved? I can't. So I filled my nagging quota for the week and- uh... "informed" my husband that he will have to stop letting the sink run (at full blast!) while he brushes his teeth. He smiled, as if he knew that this mission was bound to affect him sooner or later, and he said, "Doesn't that water just get recycled?" Uhhh... Hey, what are you looking at me for? I never said I knew any real facts about this stuff!

Well, put on your varsity jacket, grab your trapper keeper and take a trip with me back to science class. Here's what the "Water Science for Schools" page on the US Geological Survey site says (http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/qahome.html#HDR2):

"Q: Where does it go after we are done with it? A: Water leaving our homes generally goes either into a septic tank in the back yard where it evaporates or seeps back into the ground, or is sent to a sewage-treatment plant through a sewer system. In 1995, the last year for which consumptive-use data was compiled, about 26 percent of the water coming from our homes was "consumptively used." That is, it was evaporated or transpired from yards. The other 74 percent was discharged to septic tanks or sewage-treatment plants, where it was cleaned and sent into streams, or sometimes reused for other purposes, such as watering golf courses and parks."

76 percent! No wonder golf courses are so green! This paragraph actually raised more questions for me, like, what is considered consumptively used? More research is necessary, but for now, here's the thing I'm going to focus on: my husband turned it off the sink while brushing his teeth. Well, babe, if you're reading this, you saved up to 8 gallons of water today by doing that - as long as you do it again when you brush tonight! (I know, there I go, "informing" again!)