MayDay Parade 2007
Section 3 Leaders:
Ramon Cordes
Masanari Kawahara
Julian McFaul
How much water do we use every day? (Gallons)
- Shave with faucet running: 3
- Take a bath: 30-40
- Take a shower: 5 gallon/minute
- Flush the toilet: (one person, in one day) 25
- Cook a meal :8
- Machine-wash one load of laundry: 20-30
Many citizens of the world, where waterworks are sparse and/or poorly maintained -- or not publicly available at all --do not enjoy the luxury of just “turning on the tap.”
Average Citizen Average amount used per day
- American: 70 gallons
- Kenyan: 5 gallons
- European: 24-36 gallons (200-300 liters)
- One human needs 2.4 gallons of clean water per day forbasic needs.
- One in five people living the developing world lack access to clean water.
- 85% of the richest 20% of the population in developing countries have access to piped water, as opposed to 25% in the poorest 20%.
- Access to clean water can reduce the risk of early death by 23% in Uganda and 30% in Cameroon.
- Access to a flush toilet reduces the risk of infant death by 57% in Egypt and 59% in Peru.
-from the Human Development Report 2006
MayDay Parade 2007
Somos Agua - Sunday May 6, 2007
Masanari Kawahara
Parade
Section 3:
Water Works! - El Uso de Agua
LIKE A GIANT UMBILICAL CORD,
our public waterworks connects us to Water
-- and to each other --through a vast network of pipes. In Minneapolis,
our water pipes connect us directly to the Mississippi River.
Each month we pay the City of Minneapolis to support the public Water Works. This incredible infrastructure enables us to use clean tap water unsparingly for all sorts of everyday purposes, 24 hours a day. It underpins our entire economy and way of life.
Yet its reliability and convenience makes it easy to forget how precious water is. When was the last time you thanked the water (and the water works!) before you brushed your teeth?
Here in Minnesota, these wonderful pipes and our state's "endless" supply of water hide how vulnerable we actually are to changes in climate or resource management.
Our clowns celebrate the many ways we use water everyday. But, like us,
they also use water na•vely and mindlessly. Their silly antics affect even
the parade's
huge, imposing pipes.
As our vital public water systems age, and as our need for water grows, how will we maintain our excellent Water Works as a public right for all people?
This section ends with a question: do we let our common right to and responsibility for a healthy public Water system take a backseat to private interests?
~ Julian, Masanari and Ramon
Ode
I hunted high and low for a comic ditty,
A paean to pipes, an epigram witty,
A florid ode to the common commode,
To give our Water Works what it is owed.
A turn of phrase to banish the malaise
And rouse me from my upholstered chaise
to praise each pipe that drips and trickles
instead of thinking about, mmm, butter brickle,
or, raspberry chocolate chip – yet I digress!
Before this year I admit I cared less
For each plink and swoosh and burble.
Now each sink and spigot I will caress,
Each porcelain tub, each toilet and septic
Shall see me less and love me more.
From now on I’ll ignore all skeptics
And protect our Water like never before!
~ Tracy Yue (2007)
Photos on this page by Liz Welch