Don'€™t think that I'€™m obsessed or have a fetish for bathrooms. I spend little time in them, just do what needs doing. But I'€™ve been interested in the modernized bathrooms of Europe and Asia. They are creative, functional and practical in many ways, and most always fairly small. The greatest amenity in my view are the warm pipes on which you hang your towels to dry or the clothes you've rinsed out by hand. What hangs on those pipes dries quickly and, if it were wintertime temperatures, offers up a nice warm pair of undies or shirt to take off the chill. Of course, taking off the chill has not yet been a worry on our Blue Planet Run odyssey.

There'€™s generally plenty of hot water but I'€™ve opted for numerous cool and almost cold showers. The faucets sometimes swivel between the sink and the tub. When this happens the faucet has a long pipe extension. Given what bathroom fixtures cost in the States, think of the savings when you eliminate a faucet and the associated plumbing. The other often used fixture is the removable spray shower head. You have to watch out with these because, if they're not firmly placed in the suspension hook and you turn on the water, you may find yourself dousing the entire room. Sometimes these shower fixtures are not suspended but attached at the level of the faucet so you need to take a one-armed shower or squat. I'€™m not a bath person but for those who are, you can sit and eliminate the acrobatics.

The modernized toilets are nothing special except for the variety of flushers I talked about in my piece on "€œMosquitoes and Toilets."€ But they often are cheap plastic so you might find the seat flipping down on you when you'€™re not done or swiveling off the tank causing you to take aim sideways. Still, they sure do beat those rural Russian models like the primitive holes between slats.

You'€™ll find most of the lights turn on and off from outside the bathroom. In Western Europe, toilets are often separated from the rest of the bathroom by a cubicle or a door and may have a separate light switch. There are plenty of hooks and holders compared to American bathrooms where towels end up tossed over the shower rod, on a door knob or on the floor. There'€™s even a designated spot for your toothbrush, toothpaste and water glass. Europeans and Asians typically supply a bath rug and mat and most modernized bathrooms are elegantly tiled. Those designed to be compact may have a drain mid floor so the room can be spray washed and disinfected. The toilet paper holders are often unique, many with a cover that tears off the paper and keeps the roll from unfurling.

So what'€™s all this got to do with water? Plenty, for obvious reasons. Bathrooms function with water and most of our water waste occurs in bathroom use. The thousands of gallons used for showers, baths, flushes and brushing our teeth, what is safe water in most developed countries, would supply millions of people in need with safe drinking water. While it'€™s unrealistic to think of transporting that bathroom water waste to those who need safe water, the usage is something we all can ponder and rethink. By using our waters more responsibly, we can salvage some of our diminishing aquifers and appreciate what we'€™ve got that others don'€™t.

Water is life. Pass it on!