Water Trouble for the Water Team

I don't remember if I already explained, but the water situation is more interesting in the hostel this time than last. There are eight pumps down at the lake, all of which once pumped water to a tank at the top of a hill before gravity fed water to our town . . . or so the story goes. Apparently the lake water level lowered, so only one of those pumps still remains under water. While we were home for Christmas, the final, submerged pump broke. There are many stories going around as to why it's not being fixed, but the important part is that now to get water, it must be hauled from the lake.

For a time, while there were lots of temporary guests in the hostel, we got water nearly every day, and we needed it. They would bring a drum, maybe 500L large, full of lake water and pump it up to our tank above the house, assuming there was electricity.

Now that we are only three, we still have water hauled every day. But they bring us about 60L per day, when we are lucky. I don't understand how 500L for 8 people is close to 60L for 3, but we are managing.

We spent all weekend with NO water. Well, when it sprinkled outside we all ran out to try to fill a bottle (1.5L) for showering. I've been managing with one shower every other day. Last night when I went to bed, I thought that the following morning was going to be the first time in my life a shower would be the reason I jumped out of bed without hitting the snooze. Unfortunately, after half a day of collecting samples and survey data in the hot sun on the edge of the Kenyan border, and spending from 2pm to 2am in the lab, not even that overdue shower could keep me from hitting snooze before my Swahili lesson. I admit, I attended the lesson without a shower.

A close second to showering is flushing the toilets, as none of us have agreed that it's time to retreat to the squatty potty, aka the pit latrines. On Sunday a man brought water on his bicycle, as they have been doing while the truck is being repaired. One man with three 20L jerry cans comes all the way from the lake (about a 15 min DRIVE) on his bike for 80 cents. The worst part is I went out to fill a bottle. Then I went for a bucket to get water to flush the toilet, but before I made it back outside he had dumped the water out in the yard and was off. I was confused, so I stood there, looking at the wet grass in total confusion. I still have not figured it out, but one thing I know is that the water was just fine for flushing the toilet. It is true that it was about the worst water we had ever had brought to us; it smelled like cow and was totally brown, not green.

Fortunately, as the water team, we know and have tried nearly all the tricks. Just about the only thing we can't do is make water out of no water. Although it rained so hard on Tuesday that we, meaning the house keeper, filled nearly half of the 500L drum with the best looking water I've seen since our bottled drinking water. Beyond that we are getting along quite well with a cloth sieve, the sand filter, and solar disinfection. The lab results will be in Saturday.

The sand filter had been previously set up to test water in a place where we knew its exact conditions, a control for our experiments. But I must say there is no way to test the filter quite like using it because you need it. I have learned more about that particular filter in the last week than in the prior three months.

The truck is fixed, and water came out of our taps again today; well, the lower ones. So I filled a bottle for tomorrow's shower, and almost wished for the man on the bicycle to come back.

I guess we had been spoiled in the first three months. As much as it sounds pitiful, its sort of fun. How else would I know that I prefer green to brown, algae and schisto to mud and poop?