Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Our reliance on running water

Yesterday we had no running water at all in our home. It appears that a large portion of Kuantan went without water. We couldn't shower, we couldn't really cook food without water, we couldn't do any washing, we couldn't use the toilet without needing a whole bucket of water to flush it all down.

We are very fortunate that we have some good friends here in Kuantan who allowed us, even welcomed and thanked us for coming to their house to shower and fill up some buckets of water to take home. Around lunchtime we went to our friend Santha's home where we showered and were treated to lychee drinks.

Last night we went to Serene's home where we showered once more and filled up four buckets of water for use at home. Both of our friends are parents of my former and current English students.

I realised just how much we rely on turning the tap and having running water ready to serve us. Without this luxury, even just for one day, we descend into a state of panic and turmoil, unable to live our day as normal.

Well, there are people around the world who don't have access to water like we do, and they have to live with it permanently. Certainly people in Japan have been living for quite some time now without water, and I wonder how they do it.

Thankfully our water is back today, apart from our hot water for the shower, so we're settling for a cold one for the time being. This water shortage has at least motivated me to have a considerably larger supply of water in storage. What if the whole of Kuantan had no water? If we couldn't just go to a friend's house to shower?



I want to be prepared







9 comments:

  1. always a good idea to have some supply

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  2. I experienced not so long ago days without water and it is only when it happens that you realise how much you need it, wondering how the millions of people who don't have access to it survive on a daily basis.
    Having some supplies as mac-and-me said is the first thing to do and prioritise the use of water. Drink is essentiel for example but you can live without a shower for a day or 2!

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  3. I can't imagine how I would manage without running water. Of course it's terrible for the Japanese who have been affected by the disasters there but hopefully their government will be working flat out to restore life to how it was before. It's the people who have never had clean water on tap who also need our support. I don't know much about this issue but I do know that Oxfam run a charity called Water For All. Maybe we should all become more aware.

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  4. That happened to us a couple of weeks back, a water pipe just outside our house burst so left us without water for a number of hours and you don't really realise how much you appreciate these things. Luckily it was back to working condition by the morning after, but it just makes you think.

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  5. It came as quite a shock but with a little preparedness we'll be fine next time. Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!

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  6. This is so true and it's something we mostly take for granted. I have thought about this. In a large urban area like where I live some back up water should be part the plan. We have some water in storage, but I'd hate to ever face when we'd have to ration water and be so careful with using it.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out
    Twitter hashtag: #atozchallenge

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  7. I can imagine what you went through! I'm glad it wasn't too bad, and you have your friends... In times like these we realise just how much we take it all for granted. Thanks for sharing your story :)

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  8. Lee, thanks for dropping by. It makes you grateful to be living in such easy times as compared to the world wars when food and water had to be rationed for a long time.

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  9. Bz, thanks for reading! We do take way too many things for granted, but I'm definitely appreciating our running water supply now :)

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