Water

I just finished one of my weekly activities – filling my Rotoplas that sits on the top of my roof. The Rotoplas is a large black plastic cistern that holds 1100 liters of water. I use the water for all of my household water needs like showering, brushing my teeth and washing dishes. Since the water is not safe to drink, for drinking and cooking purposes, I buy jugs of water for 11 pesos from the water pick up trucks that circle the streets. I know they are coming when I hear the noise of a car alarm and a young man hanging off the back shouting ¡agua!

I have a pila (a cement holding area for water) on the ground behind my house. Since my apartment is part of the town water system, once or twice a week, the water is turned on to fill the pila. The downstairs neighbors are always kind enough to turn off the faucet when the pila is full so as not to flood the backyard. Those who are not on the water system buy water to fill their cisterns. To fill the Rotoplas, I turn on the pump that carries the water from the pila up to the roof via a black hose. This is the tricky part as it usually takes several frustrating tries to get the pump to actually work and pull the water. Once I hear the water raining off the roof, I know that the Rotoplas is full and quickly run down the stairs to turn off the pump. It’s a feeling of success to know that I will not have to worry about running out of water mid week.

As water is a scarce resource in the area, as in many other parts of the world, there are various ways to conserve water. Every small action helps so that I am not constantly filling the Rotoplas. First, I limit the number showers I take in week as well as the length of my showers. I’m now used to turning off the water as I shampoo my hair. I shower standing in a large container that collects the soapy shower water. After each shower, I pour the used water into a bucket beside the toilet. I also have a collection container in the sink to collect the water when I brush my teeth or wash my hands. All of the extra water that is collected in the bucket is used to flush the toilet.

I am reminded daily how much I take for granted the access to and the abundance of water in the States. In the short amount of time that I have been here, these simple actions to conserve water have become routine. As I travel to the States for two weeks at the end of October, I hope that I continue to be aware of my water use and to conserve water in whatever small ways that I can.