Daily use

[ForgeCorvus]

Something that got me thinking on water and how much is a days use.

My workplace had a contaminated supply (petrochemicals) and we were given a "Do Not Drink" notice, so the management got a load of two litre bottles in.
We were getting through two bottles a day just making tea (and other hot drinks).
Heres the thing, there are only three employees and one of them works a half day
So the standard 'two litres per person per day' would barely cover us for a working day , let alone cooking and drinking at home.

This leads me to believe that either
A) The supposed minimum requirement is wrong
Or
B) We have far too many tea breaks/ Our mugs are too big.

Has anyone done a test under real world conditions ?

[Deeps]

The couple litres a day is for 'field conditions' and not for sustained periods. Its also if you're not using dehydrated food etc but things like ration packs. The 2 litres is for drinking with a small amount set aside to clean pots, brush teeth type stuff.

One option (again, not a sustainable long term solution) is to use paper plates and plastic cutlery and just ditch them when you're finished if lack of water is an issue.

Water is such a basic for survival but something that is easily overlooked, especially if you're looking at more than just surviving but having a reasonably pleasant lifestyle.The 200L of water I've stashed would realistically do us for a week or so if the water was turned off. Having 'options' is the key I reckon, in this country water is usually easy to find, making it potable is the trick.

[jansman]

We have had a burst main here and had to deploy stored water for a day.Last week at work ( Saturday morning,and BUSY),thete were road works outside.Excavator went straight through the water main.That was it,game over! Without water,the restaurant could not function,and the butchery struggled,as we could not keep clean.The bakery had no chance,as dough could not be made.By the time water was restored,all we could do was clean up.

Water is vital,as we all know,but very underrated as a prep I feel.

[grenfell]

The couple litres a day is for 'field conditions' and not for sustained periods. Its also if you're not using dehydrated food etc but things like ration packs. The 2 litres is for drinking with a small amount set aside to clean pots, brush teeth type stuff.

One option (again, not a sustainable long term solution) is to use paper plates and plastic cutlery and just ditch them when you're finished if lack of water is an issue.

I seem to recall that the 2L figure was the total amount of fluids from both drink and food that the body needed as a minimum . Thus if someone is eating half a dozen melons a day they wouldn't need to drink 2L water on top of that. Saying that 2L does seem a bit slim as forge says.
On the subject of paper plates I often wonder why the concept of edible plates hasn't been reinvented. I've done a certain amount of historical reasearch especially after we built the medieval bread oven . As loaves were baked on a hot stone surface the base would become quite hard and was often cut off and used as a plate. That plate would become softer as gravy and juices soaked into it and while they were often then fed to pigs it was not uncommon for these plates to be consumed by the poor.
Later in the Elizabethan period when sugar started to become plentiful at least to the rich plates were made from it and consumed. It was said tooth decay became a symbol of status at one point.
Granted all that would involve some water in the process but it does make me wonder if a plate shaped ships biscuit would be anywhere viable .

[grenfell]

On the subject of paper plates I often wonder why the concept of edible plates hasn't been reinvented.

I really should google before I post
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakeys
Well it's a start at least...