Leaving tap on...brushing teeth

[Dom Tuk]

How did the wasteful practise of leaving the sink tap on as you brush your teeth originate. Was it films that started that trend?. What possible advantage is there to the tap running for the few minutes before you use it?

[foxy.fagin]

Hi Dom Tuk, nice to see you. All the best for 2006 with plenty of good films to see!

So, your question - I think many people have always left the tap running whilst brushing their teeth - just can't be bothered to turn it on and off, they probably don't even realise it is running and if they did wouldn't think about the waste.

But be thankful for small mercies, they are brushing their teeth!

[gary baldy]

In the olden days water had to pass though pipes that werent as well maintained and hygenic as they are today and sediment would build up. You had to run the tap off for a bit to get rid of all the scum in the pipes.
No excuse nowadays though - it annoys me aswell Dom.

[Dom Tuk]

Now after 14 years of marraige the wife has started leaving the shower on when she soaps herself. Now that is a total waste and she wont listen to reason so i guess i will just have to grin and pay for the extra water charges.

hey foxy... good to hear from you. memorable films seen since have been oldboy, house of sand and fog, hero, audition. Still with the club ut just dont find the time!!

[jno]

maybe you're better watered than me, but it takes me ages to get the shower to the right temperature, so I'm certainly not going to turn it off until I'm finished. As for leaving it running while teethbrushing - same as gary baldy, you used to have to flush out the pipes; it's become a habit, but I do have it down to a trickle the whole time.

Not sure what film I might have got that from - only tooth film I can think of is Marathon Man

[foxy.fagin]

Old Boy, excellent but not seen any of the others, I'll mote them down.
I recommend Clean by Olivier Assayas same year as Old Boy. More recently Lord of War w/ Nicolas cage and The Consrant Gardener

As for films with teeth, can't think of any others, jno. I shall do a Google. Did Meg Ryan brush her teeth in In The Cut?

[mimififi]

Lots of teeth brushing in "mr and mrs smith". I however, fill the sink with a small amount of water when brushing my teeth. The sink is clean and it also stops the 'spit' (grossity-gross) from sticking to the side of the sink. You can pull the plug with the knob thing and it all runs out leaving the sink clean and more water in the resevoir.,

My husband brushes his teeth while he is showering to save water. He also read that brushing your teeth with hot water keeps them whiter. Don't know if it's true though.

[andy-hughes]

I can see the point you are making, but as someone who has suffered for years with a severe phobia about objects put in my mouth (leave it ...!) I find it difficult to brush my teeth anyway. As a child i always had the water running, and continue the ritual, as it makes it a little bit easiere to complete this task.

[Clanad]

In line with this question (so, in Britain it's common to get in the shower, "soap up", turn the shower off while scrubbing and then turn it back on? Unique concept) I've always wondered, when speaking of "wasting water", just how it's "wasted". The water certainly isn't totally unusable and gone forever once it leaves a household, is it? It returns to a treatment plant and is cycled back through the natural evaporation/precipitation cycle and eventually returns to earth somewhere to be used again. Or am I missing something? I realize one pays a higher water bill for "wasteful" use, but that's to cover the charges for municipal treatment and distribution. Other than that, water is always with us... in my opinion...

[joko]

ditto clanad. The water itself is not 'wasted' - it comes back for use eventually. it just the costs of heating and water rates is wasted

I am british and i have never heard of getting in the shower then getting out to soap up then getting back in again. you may take your head to one side to lather your hair - but only for about 30 seconds

are water rates calculated equally per houshold or is there a register of how much you are using individually?

if not i would think its just a the waterboard trying to worry people into saving to make their lives easier.

[lankeela]

I turn the tap on to 'wet' the toothpaste on the brush and dip it under again during brushing before finally rinsing.

'Dry' toothpaste makes me gag.

[stanleyman]

One reason for running the tap before using the water is if you have lead pipework. You should flush away the water standing in the pipe as it will have lead deposits in it and eventually it will do you harm. There are still a lot of lead pipes about.

Supplying and removing water has a cost to us sometimes metered and sometimes a fixed cost to cover the average use. Where reserviors are used we can run out of water during dry periods and so need to conserve water whenever possible and maintain supplies. Waste is simply using water unnecessarily.

[BennyH]

My water bill was estimated at around �340 per year (seems a bit high), before I even moved in to my house with my girlfriend. I will make it my mission to waste as much water as possible to get my money's worth.