Here is my communal water spicket. Since this is an intricate part of my new life, I thought you'd enjoy seeing how it is done.
I stepped it off this afternoon. It is exactly 250 "john steps" from my front gate to the pump. I gestimated the length of my step and came up with a 1 way distance of .12 miles (round trip .24 miles). I walk with two buckets and fill them up. We have a reservoir at the house that holds exactly 4 buckets. So two trips with two buckets fills it up and will last approximately 2 days. So every two days I am on water detail. Right now its great. When its a blizzard out I may feel differently.
The walk home from the pump.
The neighbors dog.
And I thought I'd take a minute to talk about the toilet. My outhouse is on the right.
Toilets here are squat toilets. You'll never see a seat in an outhouse and rarely in public bathrooms (at train stations and such). Apartments have seats and you see them in restaurants though.
At this point I'm going to discuss the squat toilet- so if your not in the mood for toilet talk, you can turn away. According to wikipedia, here are some benefits of the squat toilet.
- It is less expensive and easier to clean and maintain.
- It does not involve any contact between the buttocks and thighs with a potentially unsanitary surface.
- The absence of water in the bowl avoids the problem water splashing upwards.
- Squatting might help to build the required exhaust pressure more comfortably and quickly.
- Squatting makes "elimination" faster, easier and more complete.
- Elimination in squatting posture protects the nerves that control the prostate, bladder and uterus from becoming stretched and damaged.
- Squatting relaxes the puborectalis muscle which normally chokes the rectum in order to maintain continence.
- For pregnant women, squatting avoids pressure on the uterus when using the toilet. Daily squatting helps prepare the mother-to-be for a more natural delivery. All you pregnant women-- remember this!!
- Squatting may reduce the occurrence or severity of hemorrhoids and possibly other colorectal disorders such as diverticulosis and appendicitis.
And here are arguments against it:
- Squat toilets require certain balancing skills. To those in Western cultures in which the squatting position is rarely used, the squat toilet can be difficult or even impossible to use.
To illustrate this, look at this picture (not mine).
This is what is referred to as the "kazakh squat". Notice his heels are on the ground. Try this at home and see if you can do it without falling over. We in America don't squat much, and if we do, our heels are usually off the ground. They've been trained since birth to squat like this.
- Use of the squat toilet can be difficult for the elderly and others with joint problems or limited mobility. It can also be difficult for those recovering from leg injuries (like sprained ankles).
- Sit toilets retains fewer odors, since its bowl is completely flushed at each use. The waste drops into a pool of water, trapping much of the odor under water, as opposed to squat toilets, whose traps do not empty as completely when flushed.
So there you have it. I figure we did good not to have a toilet discussion on this blog for this long. But these are two important parts of my life now. Just wanted to share.
