Photo by Flickr/aquamechanical Water: the elixir of life. Don’t waste it, and appreciate it always. This mantra will really come into focus when you live in town serviced by city water, but find yourself in a disaster situation of going without for a couple days. Imagine the faucet of your bathtub wears out and starts streaming water non-stop and your only option is to turn off the water at the city meter to cease the endless money from flowing down the drain. You check for parts for the faucet, but it is old and can’t be repaired. The only plan is to tear the wall apart to replace the faucet. Not having the knowledge or tools to solder copper pipe, you call your plumber. Because it is after 5:00pm, you get the answering service saying they will call you back. After not getting a call back for 15 hours (it's now 9:00am), you call again, moving the plumber to assure you that they will get someone there by the end of the day. $1,700 later, the issue is repaired but the plumber has the same problem you do: turning on the city shut off; It is stuck. At this point, you are in after hours, so you leave a message with the city to come turn the water back on. Total time elapsed without water is 41 hours and a reminder that water is precious.