...but not a drop to drink!
It's an odd feeling to be living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, surrounded by oceans full of water and yet to be struggling with the reality of a drought! It seems to be all that we speak about at the moment and the luxury of lying in a deep bath is definitely a thing of the past.
So, what's it really like living in Cape Town during the current drought crisis? Did you know that we are expected to be the first city in the world to completely run out of water? Day Zero signifies the date when our taps will be turned off as the dams will have reached their lowest levels. We have to start the tedious process of collecting water on a daily basis at collection points.
Water restrictions began with us being unable to water our gardens and cars. We all had to have covers on our pools in order to reduce the amount of water needed for topping up. We were limited to 87L per person per day and showers had to be cut back to 2 minutes. National government wouldn't acknowledge that there was a national disaster in progress. In an effort to conserve our last water reserves, we have since been cut down to 50L per person per day. That's for all our laundry, cooking, bathing, housework, toilet flushes - everything and it includes what you use at work and at home. That's it for the day. Not much at all. And when Day Zero arrives, we'll only be allowed to collect 25L each. Heavens knows how we're actually going to manage carrying that, but that's another problem and hopefully we won't get there.
So, how does all of this affect us as a family? Well, to start with, we are skipping baths/showers/hair washes. I can't wait to just be able to have a proper, warm shower again! We are rinsing ourselves in basins, using as little water as possible. It's cold and I'm dreading winter. I might get very smelly then!!! Our bathrooms are already smelly, because, we aren't allowed to flush the loo. Basically, if it's yellow, let it mellow. Our kitchen is messy, because you can't just do 3 or 4 little loads of dishes a day - just one big load. And the dishwasher hasn't seen a plate in weeks. Our laundry is down to about 4 loads a week and we are all having to learn how to air cloths and re-wear them if they look OK. We are using dry shampoo to try stretch washing our hair for a few extra days - I've managed to go from every other day to every 4th day! There's no such thing as running a tap to brush your teeth or wash your hands - Jake's made us special bottles that allow us to use the bare minimum. Waterless hand sanitizers are a life saver. Least importantly, we aren't able to backwash our swimming pool any more, but are holding on to the water we have stored in the pool for just in case. And my car is filthy. It is almost impossible to buy bottled water. We have about 150L stocked up at home. Besides water, we've also started stocking up on things like vinegar (for cleaning and using to neutralize the loo); Milton (for sterilizing fruit and veg when we get there); wet wipes (instead of running water for a basin bath); apple cider vinegar (mixed with water to help deoderize worn clothes) We are all getting creative!
In the midst of all of this, it's unbelievable to see people pulling together. We are all sharing ideas and ways to save water. A lot of people have had storage tanks installed, but the water cannot stand for too long. Bore holes are also very popular, as Cape Town has a lot of underground water, but there are restrictions on using these too.
We are all saying lots of prayers and doing lots of rain dances in the hope that the rain will fall sooner rather than later. Please pray with us.
Love,
Sue XXX
