MEDIUM RARE

If you mix one part oxygen with two parts hydrogen, H2O, you produce water. How much? A drip, a drop, a river? Just because you can afford your water bill, you’ve no right to waste water when the dams and reservoirs are about to look like the bottom of a very dry well.
We hear calls, reminders, appeals from the water monitoring agencies to save and conserve, but do we heed? It’s a habit they keep repeating.
In California, USA, which millions of Asians call home, the people are urged to limit their showers to five minutes. (In Australia, three minutes.) If we followed the suggestion over here, would we be prepared to assuage the long-haired ladies who use more water, shampoo, and time than the rest of the population? Or should we ask advertisers to minimize their commercials on TV? Filipinas have beautiful hair, and long hair is a way to call attention to their seductive charm.
What human rights would we be guilty of when we can’t even follow the years-old suggestion of Richard Gomez to brush your teeth using water not straight from the faucet but from a drinking glass?
California had been experiencing drought off and on for decades, but suddenly it went from parched to very wet in November-February after 12 atmospheric storms unleashed 55 ft of snow and filled 154 (!) water reservoirs to twice their normal capacity. Despite all that, 24 percent of the state was still considered dry.
If we were to follow such a stateside guide to save water in little ways that count, might we consider the following:
Limit outdoor watering (of grass, especially). Switch to low-volume shower heads, faucets, and toilets. (Every buyer and seller in the real estate business is obliged to sign a disclosure that the water in toilets in houses for sale does not exceed 2.5 gallons.) Dishwashers and washing machines are run at full load only. Fix all leaks. Washing cars? Don’t use a hose. For gardening, use gray water.
California’s capital, Sacramento, applied tax credits to residents who replaced their green lawns with drought-resistant plants, with the use of sprinklers limited to two days a week between 7-10 a.m. Doable in Metro Manila? Whyever not?