WASH your hands.
Wash your hands frequently.
Wash your hands for 20 seconds, as long as singing Happy Birthday two times.
To fight COVID-19 we will need lots of water. Here comes summer. Here comes the drought after a long rainless spell. The water level of Angat dam has been going down steadily. Manila Water and Maynilad are conditioning our minds to save water. The National Water Resources Board, instead of looking for additional sources of water, is redundantly reminding us to conserve our supply, as if that is all the work they are mandated and paid to do.
How is the situation different from last year’s three-month ordeal? The difference is we didn’t have to wash our hand for 20 seconds while singing Happy Birthday in two successive spiels. With the threat of the deadly virus about to develop into a pandemic, we need all the cleaning and cleansing agents we can get our hands on. Facial masks are good for one use only; should someone invert a mask that’s washable? More water!
My water bill for February has gone up by 15 percent without any increase in consumption. I don’t mind, really, as long as the service is uninterrupted, and even if the allocation, as it is called, is reduced, water’s still water.
But while water’s still flowing, let’s let it go a longer way, at least until the next rainy season, should there be one. The world is growing hotter and drier; the oceans are heating up as the ice floes are melting. Meanwhile the population is growing, and it would be safe to assume that irresponsible, careless consumers will outnumber the conscionable ones, speaking not only of those without education but also those with a string of baccalaureate, masteral, and doctoral degrees.
Hotel managers ought to teach their compulsive attendants to refrain from flushing the toilet after the last user has done the flushing. Restaurant owners should train their servers not to serve water unless requested. My experience is that as soon as I sit down, the water will arrive on my table before I can say, “Hot water, not cold, please.”
The catchphrase against COVID-19 is “do not be complacent.” Let’s do the same with water. Don’t take it for granted.
