Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 08/03/2008 - 11:28
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Kuril Islands Biocomplexity 08

Dear KBP team,

I know that you all have to use less water, but who inforces it?! On our boat its easy to tell if one person is using too much, but on a ship with 30 or so field workers how do they know?Wink

,Aaron Goldfogel

Thu, 08/07/2008 - 09:03

KBP Team

Ahhh. Now there's an interesting question: who enforces our water rationing? Well, so far we have not gotten to the point where the rationing must be strictly enforced. If that does come to pass, it is a simple enough operation for the captain to simply shut off the water supply during certain times of the day [as an aside, this would NOT affect the functioning of the heads, or toilets, since they are plumbed with salt water....]
So for now, the rationing is self-regulated. But truthfully, you have the eyes of all of the other 29 crew members on you. So if you show up at meal time freshly showered every day, people will notice and will start to grouse about it. Likewise with clean laundry-it is very difficult on a ship this size to dry a load of laundry in a sneaky way!
And, finally, if we run out of water, we will have to cut the research cruise short. And as much as we all miss our homes, nobody wants that to happen!
We have been able to go to shore a couple of times to fill water jugs. All of that water must be treated before we drink it (Yes, even in the remote Kuril Islands, the surface water is not safe to drink. Sigh.). But it could be used for laundry or for showers, if need be.
And we also have a functioning sauna on board. Steam baths are a great way to get clean, and use tiny amounts of water relative to a full shower.
So I think that all in all, we'll actually probably be OK on the water use issue, without having to resort to strictly metered usage!
--Dr. E