1. Unscrew the bowl from the base.
2. Fill it up with water to the water line (Approximately two teaspoons).  Do not overfill.
3. Replace bowl and add your smoke. Raise stem.
4. Light, taking two quick puffs.  Smoke slowly.
5. To empty the bowl, fold the stem and tap ashes out.  Bowl remains dry and need not be removed.

The idea of forcing smoke through water before allowing it to enter the mouth was probably originated by the African Bushman or Pygmies. Many years before Columbus discovered the New World, natives were smoking from a variety of water pipes such as gourds, hollowed out wooden logs, horns of animals and sections of bamboo. The most practical vessel for holding water was the coconut shell because it was hard and durable. This water pipe was known as the narghile, a word that means “coconut shell”. It was fitted with a pair of reeds or bamboo tubes, one to hold the burning tobacco and the other to draw the smoke through.

The smoke of the water pipe is cooler than that of any other pipe.  By the time the smoke has bubbled through the water and passed out of a tube, it is very mild. The water acts as a filter which keeps the impurities, flakes and moisture particles from entering the mouth.

Studies by the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in their Journal of the National Cancer Institute have shown that tobacco smoke filtered through a water pipe contains less tar and other toxic components than smoke from standard pipes, cigarettes or cigars.