SO THANKFUL...for water!

A few weeks ago our water tank began leaking profusely.  Our landlord first tried to patch the large cracks in the bottom, but soon found it was not possible.  Since then we have been without a water tank.  Thankfully this has not been much of a problem until yesterday. 

view from our second floor - across the street

      As you can see many roof tops possess water tanks.  These tanks are for storing water from the city which runs to most households and buildings.  (Side note: most homes outside cities use wells)  Not all households have these tanks.  If you have a tank you need a pump, which pumps water from the city into the tank.  The water pressure from the city is minimal, so people often have a pump even without a tank.  Those that don’t are at the mercy of the city water flow.  In our house for example the city water pressure is never enough to get water to our second floor.  There are times during the day when water pressure is so low it doesn’t even trickle out of our down stairs facets.  Therefore a pump is very helpful.  During the dry season there are water shortages that can limit water access as well.  Therefore a tank is also very helpful.     

Our water tank, next to its stand on our roof

Since our tank broke our pump has been directly connected to the water line, turning on when ever we turn on a facet, and then turning off again by itself.  Yesterday the pump didn’t turn on.  First we thought the water from the city was too low causing our pump not to be able to pump anything at all.  After a whole morning without water we began to wonder and contacted our landlord.  Twice throughout the day the pump kicked on, so we quicley filled up as many buckets as we could.  Throughout the rest of the day we washed dishes, flushed toilets and bathed using water from these buckets.  Today our landlord determined there is a problem with a sensor in the pump.  So until he can get a replacement part we go out back, hit the pump, jostling the sensor and it kicks on!

I am so thankful this didn’t happen earlier in our time here.  Though we are continuing to adjust to life here, I feel we have adjusted to certain areas that made our water issue yesterday much easier to deal with. 

our bathroom: no sink, no separate shower, but usually a regular flush toilet

Most bathrooms here are a tiled room without a sink or separate shower.  Often it is a squat toilet or non-flushing toilet.  So a large bucket full of water with a ‘dipper’ is a common sight This water is used for washing yourself after going to the bathroom (toilet paper is rare as well), flushing the toilet, and showering.  (modern bathrooms with automatic flush toilets usually have a sprayer next to the toilet, see picture above).  Since moving in we’ve used all the buckets more like sinks; catching our used water to be drained carefully and maintain a relatively dry floor.  Though not my preferred method, I wasn’t too bothered yesterday by flushing with a bucket or showering by the cupful.  It still caught me off guard every time I went to wash or even just rinse my hands…no water from the tap.  Through it all I was so thankful we still had water regardless of how we had to access it and amazed at how we have actually grown accustomed to some cultural aspects of life here.