''Back to hygiene - recently saw a sign in a public facility -...

''Back to hygiene - recently saw a sign in a public facility - 'please wash your hands for 30seconds or more to stop the spread' - ok, no problem, except that a 'pushbutton water tap' after pushed cut out after 5seconds. So, wash left hand whilst use right hand to push the button 6 times - and then swap?''

I meant to tell you ------------ the French wash their hands totally differently to 'most' Australians --------- and yes, - 5 second on times work fine.

As an Aussie - I learned to turn the tap on, wet my hands, apply soap, rub hands etc - all the time the tap is running, - then rinse off and turn off the tap'

Not so the French.

The turn on the tap - for a few seconds - wet their hands, turn off the tap - apply soap, scrub hands for 30 seconds or so - then, they turn on the tap and rinse off.

With lever taps and the like - it works very well. Hands end up clean and the water usage is a fraction of what normal usage in Australia is.

Many do the same thing in the shower. --------- It's one thing that I have difficulty adjusting to.

They use way way way way way less water than Aussies - but, achieve the same outcomes.

I had noticed that Australian home water usage is 'enormous' by world standards -

it took watching the French to work out why - one learns more about one's own culture by being somewhere else.