Gizmo, excellent explanation.
Something else I've found through experience. The Asian machines are designed so that they can do an "overflow rinse" in the washtub. For example:
Set the wash cycle for 9 minutes. During the last 3 minutes of that, run more water into the washtub so that it overflows through the overflow drain and gets pumped out. The incoming water at this stage should be at a low volume so that the pump occasionally runs almost dry; the point being that this procedure will cause soap scum and suchlike to come to the top of the water and be sucked off via the overflow drain. Three minutes of this at a water input of 1 gallon per minute only uses 3 additional gallons of water, and helps get out a good amount of stuff before the rinse cycle proper.
Then either a) reuse the wash water for a second load if you like, or b) drain the water from the washtub.
Then move the load to the spinner, spin out for 2 minutes without adding any water to the spinner. This gets most of the detergent out.
While the spinner is running, re-fill the wash tub with fresh water (if possible; on some machines it may not be possible due to the way the drains & pumps are connected: look for a setting on the controls that closes the washtub drain whilst the spinner is doing its thing).
When the spinner stops, move the load to the washtub for rinse. Set the agitator control for 6 to 9 minutes. Run clean water into the washtub during this cycle at from 1-2 gallons/minute, and let the overflow drain pump out the excess during the entire cycle. You will notice very quickly that the rinse water starts out quite gray and then as the cycle proceeds, the water gets almost totally clear toward the end. This clean rinse water can/should be saved for the next wash load, it's quite clean (might be slightly tinted due to dyes from the clothes but that's harmless) and will serve perfectly well for a wash cycle.
Now move the load to the spinner and spin for 5 minutes. Done! All clean & ready to hang on the line or toss in the dryer for 15 - 20 minutes.
Note, this is a different procedure than the spin/rinse procedure normally used on the Hoovermatic and other UK machines. I once tried the procedure of re-soaking a load in the spinner (stop the spinner, add water slowly, re-start) and ended up with a nasty offbalance sound and/or a slow start that made me think I was causing trouble for the motor, so I didn't repeat that experiment. However I just might try it with a smaller spin load and more careful monitoring of the water usage, and see what happens.
The way the UK-style spin/rinse procedure saves water is by using only enough to wet the load in the spinner between spin cycles. The way the Asian-style overflow-rinse procedure saves water is by allowing re-use of the clean rinse-water that remains in the washtub at the end of the cycle, as wash-water for the next load. I would bet that the overall fresh water consumption (water going in) and wastewater output (water that is pumped out and goes down the drain) in both cases is about the same.
Note, you can store the rinse-water in the washtub for a few days easily, so you don't have to do a whole week's washing on one day. Just add a teaspoon or two of bleach to the water to keep it sanitary. Leave the wash lid open overnight so the exposed parts dry in the ambient air (preventing mold growth), and then put the lid on to keep dust etc. from settling into the water for the next few days. Then when you need to wash another load, you've got a tub full of clean water to start with.
One of the cool things about twinnies is precisely the fact that since nothing is automated, you can experiment with different procedures and find the ones that are the most efficient in terms of time, water usage, electricity, and/or various combinations of the three. Maybe some day someone will make a browser interface for an automatic front-loader so you can customize the cycles freely...
By the way, speaking of water shortages: Get a 30-gallon drum and discharge the wash-cycle water plus the overflow rinse water into it, and use that for flushing the toilet. You can hook up a small electric pump with a switch, and use it to fill the toilet tank (remember to turn it off when the toilet tank is full!), or you can use a bucket, or you can use a bucket to pour water directly into the bowl (takes a few times to get the hang of doing this just right to get a proper flush with minimum water usage and zero splashback; practice a few times before you start doing it after actually using the toilet). Useful to know about in case of a drought emergency, so you can keep flushing the toilet normally after every use.