April 13, 2012

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Wasting water is weird

By David Wogan

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

In the process of putting together an actual post about the value of water resources, I found these hilarious videos from the Wasting Water Is Weird campaign. And in the spirit of distraction, procrastination, and conservation (of course!), I watched them and now must share with you.

The videos feature a creepy guy named Rip the Drip who appears in homes as people are wasting water in common activities like running a nearly empty dish washer or leaving the hose running while washing a car. He’s sort of like a Freddy Krueger for residential water waste, except instead of murdering kids in their dreams, he shows us how creepy and weird wasting water is.

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If you poke around the website you’ll find an assortment of basic tips to reduce water waste around the house, such as this one tailor made for my Dad: “Easier still, stop pre-rinsing dishes. Most modern dishwashers only need you to remove large bits of food. So you get to do less. Bonus!” and this one: “Want a chance to show off your muscles? Tighten leaky faucets around the house while you flex and say, "Oh yeah!” It’s as if Kool-Aid Man himself wants you to save water. I love it.

There are a lot of different sources of water waste, from leaky water pipes and other infrastructure, to the behavioral sources like watering sidewalks. The good thing about behavioral water waste is that it’s relatively cheap to address; you don’t need to spend millions of dollars repairing ancient infrastructure, only a million dollars to create some hilarious online videos and a website.

You can learn more about water waste at the EPA’s Water Sense site.

David Wogan is an engineer and policy researcher who writes about energy, technology, and policy.

David's academic and professional background includes a unique blend of technology and policy in the field of energy systems. Most recently, David worked at Austin Energy, a Texas municipal utility, implementing a Department of Energy stimulus grant related to energy efficiency. Previously, David was a member of the Energy & Climate Change team at the White House Council on Environmental Quality for the Obama Administration.

David holds two Master's degrees from The University of Texas at Austin in Mechanical Engineering and Public Affairs. While at UT, David was a researcher in the Webber Energy Group, where his research focused on advanced biofuel production to offset petroleum use in the transportation sector. David holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, where he researched nuclear non-proliferation measurement technology.

David is a 2013 Aspen Institute Journalism Scholar, joining a select group of journalists from Slate, ABC News, and The New York Times.

David lives in Austin, Texas. Follow along on Twitter or email him at david.wogan@me.com.

More by David Wogan

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