WATER, HOT WATER, WASTE WATER 79 



fort by present standards of living. In the apartment 

 houses in which we used to live we secured our sup- 

 ply from the hot-water taps in seemingly unlimited 

 quantities. We were determined to solve the problem 

 of producing it for ourselves with practically no labor 

 and at a lower cost than we had paid for it in the city 

 concealed inside the rent we had paid each month. 



It is almost impossible to be clean without a plenti- 

 ful supply of really hot water. For dish-washing, 

 water which is merely lukewarm is an irritation 

 rather than a comfort. Yet in spite of the fact that 

 plenty of hot water is essential to comfort, millions 

 of homes in America still depend upon such primitive 

 methods as teakettles and side-arm-stove heaters for 

 their supply of hot water. 



The teakettle, we found, furnishes some really hot 

 water, if the fire under it is always a brisk one. But 

 the quantity which can be heated is hardly enough for 

 the needs of the kitchen alone. And of course it re- 

 quires dozens of trips back and forth filling the tea- 

 kettle with water and emptying the hot water into 

 the vessel in which it is to be used. The labor and 

 strength involved in making these trips may seem 

 trifling, but repeated dozens of times daily, it totals 

 up to a surprising amount of time and a considerable 

 amount of fatigue, for neither of which there is any 

 real necessity. Modern offices and factories are efficient 

 just in proportion to the extent to which they elimi- 

 nate all such wastes of time and strength. There is no 

 reason why our homes should be run at lower stand- 



