Liquid Truth

This summer brings dripping news. Or maybe flowing facts. Sip for yourself.

Let’s cook up some weather for a change, shall we? You know, turn up the stove, open the fridge… Nah, that won’t work. The distance is too short. Plus, the bing-bing-bing complaints of the fridge, which likes to keep it cool, will drive me crazy.

So, perhaps we should try a different approach with a little more distance. How about I open a window on either side of the flat wide? Hm, the apartment is still hot; the temperature isn’t moving. Oh, I know! I’ll set up a drying rack with wet clothes in the middle of the open windows. There, we turned up a slight breeze.

So, the water did it — along with the differences in temperature and pressure. Which is not altogether a secret, because that is exactly how the weather works—more or less—in a raindrop (a nutshell would not read well in this context, so we will stick to water-based solutions).

Though it might not be obvious, summer is largely made up of water. An ideal summer, of course, one that we all like. You know: Nice temperatures during the day—not too hot—and a little rain during the night and early morning so that nature looks refreshed and polished when we ride our bikes or walk to work in the morning.

But it seems that rain in the city has become a scarce phenomenon lately. I have been told the same is true in the country. This is not good because most cities rely on groundwater or rain for their fresh water supply.

Yeah, I know. Who cares about fresh water from outside? There’s plenty in the faucet. The funny thing, though, is that the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation BUND (Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V.) just mentioned that clean tap water is becoming increasingly difficult and energy-consuming to produce because water purification processes are becoming more challenging. Why? Too much clean water is literally going down the drain. It mixes with really dirty water and becomes slightly dirty, like a Dirt Longdrink.

What to do about it? Well, yes, use less fresh water. But also make sure to use it wisely. When we started looking at our household’s water use from that angle, we were surprised by how much basically clean water goes down the drain because the appliances are piped that way. The same goes for the management of rainwater — aka freshwater from renewable sources — in our streets and public places. In this way, the vicious sewage circle is completed.

It’s all crystal clear and refreshingly simple so far. Perhaps the old Roman philosophers Pliny the Elder and Horace were wrong when they described the fluid properties of truth. But wait! The full ancient proverb goes like this: “In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas” (in wine lies truth, in water lies health).

Let’s raise a glass of fresh water to that!

… clean tap water is becoming increasingly difficult and energy-consuming to produce … Why? Too much clean water is literally going down the drain. It mixes with really dirty water and becomes slightly dirty, like a Dirt Longdrink.

Side Notes:

• Here are some ideas on how to use freshwater wisely: When washing salad greens, collect the water and use it to water your garden or balcony plants. You don’t always have to pre-wash vegetables in a bowl of fresh water. You can reuse the water from washing the salad to wash potatoes or other vegetables. Also, if the food you buy does not have pesticides, those pesticides won’t go down the drain and need to be filtered out to get fresh water. That’s why we only buy food that is certified organic or from trusted sources, such as farms who prefer to keep their soil and produce healthy and therefore refrain from using poison on it.
• Fresh water is essential for healthy cooking. It is used to clean food, prepare it, and make dishes hygienic again afterwards. However, only about two-thirds of the world’s population has access to clean water. Five percent of the world’s population still uses drinking water from unprotected dug wells, springs, rivers, lakes, ponds, and canals. You’ll find some links to more information about the topic on the [InfoByteSited] page under ‘L’ as in ‘Liquid Truth’.