I do this about twice a week and use two buckets of water. One with soap to wash and one with clean water to rinse. This process takes about 30 minutes per load of laundry, and I usually listen to a podcast to help the time go by.
Even hot water is different here in India. It comes from solar hot water heaters on the roof of our building. They look like black solar panels angled towards the sun, with a pipe at the top that water flows into and heats up. This saves electricity and is very common in India, but also limited in other places without as much sun.
Different parts of the city receive water from different sources. Newer, more developed neighborhoods receive water from deep wells or a piped water system with clean, chlorinated water. Some areas do not have piped water, and are reliant on water tanker trucks bringing water regularly. These tankers collect water from wells or rivers outside of the city and drive the water into the city, and must sell the water at a much higher cost than citizens collecting piped water pay.
It is important to understand water scarcity while living here. There are many public places I have traveled to that do not have clean drinking water available, and where it would be disrespectful to waste water. It also is important to understand how everyone uses less water here in Bangalore.
