IATP Senior Fellow Mark Muller is working in a volunteer program in Honduras through July. He is blogging periodically on his experiences there.
Ok, perhaps I am being a little melodramatic. We have plenty of purified water to drink. But we are now in day four of not having water in our taps and it’s all that I can think about.
Our water tends to go out once or twice a week, usually for a day or less. We have three pilas in the house, which provide about two day’s worth of water to bathe, wash dishes, wash clothes, and flush toilets. So day one tends to go by without much thought of conservation – we live like we normally do, with the expectation that it will come back on soon. Day two forces us to change some habits, like putting off the washing of clothes.
Day three puts some stress on relationships. Was it important to wash your hair today? Did you really have to use that water to flush the toilet?
And now we are in day four. I volunteered not to bathe today (although hygiene has never been one of my strengths). I washed the breakfast dishes in a calculated manner, starting with the glasses and progressing toward the dirtier silverware and bowls. I then took the dishwater and used it to water my prized watermelon plants.
I’m constantly pouring myself glasses of water – just the concept of water shortages makes the body crave more. You may need a glass after reading this post.
What’s my point in writing this? When living in the States, I’m sure that I used about the daily average of 70 gallons per person. We are now getting by with about three gallons per person per day, and I’ve discovered many creative ways of reusing water. Necessity is certainly the mother of invention, and perhaps the increasing number of water shortages around the globe, coupled with the increasing cost of obtaining water, will result in some more creative thinking about water conservation and use. A recent post by my colleague Shiney Varghese pointed out some of the challenges the U.S. is starting to face with water. My mind has certainly become focused on the topic.
