5 ms·

Having grown up rurally on a limited water supply, I know you can do the dishes for a family of four in about 10L/2.5 gallons of water. You just have to scrape

Having grown up rurally on a limited water supply, I know you can do the dishes for a family of four in about 10L/2.5 gallons of water. You just have to scrape off all the solids first (four-legged helpers excel at this). If you want you can have a second small rinsing sink. When I moved to a city I found a lot of people wash with running water or change at the first hint of it getting dirty. However now I live in a city and have things to do, a dishwasher is great because no matter how long it takes I’m not doing the dishes.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
linsomniac 3y ago
Ok, I'll agree that you CAN do it. However, outside of camping, I don't think I've ever seen someone actually do that. But, I'll concede that. My dishwasher uses 3.15 gallons on a normal wash cycle, which I don't feel too bad about.
Rapzid 3y ago
Interesting, what do you mean by limited water supply? I grew up on pump water and it was unlimited. Hard as shit, but unlimited.
- sitharus 3y ago
  In New Zealand rural water supply is often rain water, so in the summer months where there's little rain you only have what's in the tank. You can order water from a commercial water suppliers of course, but why pay extra if you can avoid it?
  - vel0city 3y ago
    Interesting. Are there technical challenges with ground water or is it a legal challenge?
    - sitharus 3y ago
      Technical. A lot of NZ is mountainous country with volcanic soil on top of impermeable clays, which means there's very little groundwater. Some of the alluvial areas have plentiful groundwater and they use wells, but the majority of rural areas just use rainwater. It's cheap and easy to collect.
      - vel0city 3y ago
        That makes a lot of sense. I didn't think about the volcanic soils and their relation to ground water challenges. I imagine they might also get a good bit of rainfall often so that might make it even easier for rainfall collection. Thanks!
- toast0 3y ago
  Some people don't have a great well, and you can't pull much water at any given time. Or in the rainy season it's great, and in the dry season it's not. Or you might rely on water supplied by a water truck, in which case, you're going to be real conservative, cause that's probably not cheap.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

linsomniac 3y ago

Ok, I'll agree that you CAN do it. However, outside of camping, I don't think I've ever seen someone actually do that. But, I'll concede that. My dishwasher uses 3.15 gallons on a normal wash cycle, which I don't feel too bad about.

Rapzid 3y ago

Interesting, what do you mean by limited water supply? I grew up on pump water and it was unlimited. Hard as shit, but unlimited.

sitharus 3y ago
In New Zealand rural water supply is often rain water, so in the summer months where there's little rain you only have what's in the tank. You can order water from a commercial water suppliers of course, but why pay extra if you can avoid it?
- vel0city 3y ago
  Interesting. Are there technical challenges with ground water or is it a legal challenge?
  - sitharus 3y ago
    Technical. A lot of NZ is mountainous country with volcanic soil on top of impermeable clays, which means there's very little groundwater. Some of the alluvial areas have plentiful groundwater and they use wells, but the majority of rural areas just use rainwater. It's cheap and easy to collect.
    - vel0city 3y ago
      That makes a lot of sense. I didn't think about the volcanic soils and their relation to ground water challenges. I imagine they might also get a good bit of rainfall often so that might make it even easier for rainfall collection. Thanks!
toast0 3y ago
Some people don't have a great well, and you can't pull much water at any given time. Or in the rainy season it's great, and in the dry season it's not. Or you might rely on water supplied by a water truck, in which case, you're going to be real conservative, cause that's probably not cheap.