Water

This week we had a life lesson about the value of water. These clouds moving in are an unusual sight in Kenya but right now a very welcome sight!

We have had to filter all of our drinking water since we arrived. The school does “treat’ the water coming to our homes but it is still recommended that everyone boil or filter. We filter through this device which has 3 sand filters inside. The water coming out is good for drinking and cooking.

On Monday the school ran out of water. When I turned on my kitchen tap Tuesday morning, not one drop came out. It was a scary feeling.

There is a severe water shortage in Kenya right now. Normally, Kenya has two short rainy seasons each year (April and October). The time leading up to those rains can be very difficult. This year the earlier rains were not very heavy and so we are now in a very dry spell with crops and livestock (and therefore food supply) in danger.

Water in Nairobi is controlled by the City Council. Water is rationed (much like electricity) so it is periodically turned off. That means that no water will come from your tap or to flush your toilets unless you have been saving up yourself for these times. Some people have large storage tanks in the yard or on the roof for such occasions. Other people resort to bathing in the muddy creeks.

We have been put on a strict conservation plan. I must now recycle all my dirty laundry water to water the plants. I reuse the rinse water from the laundry to do the next load. We shower in the bathtub and collect the water for flushing toilets. The dishwater is reused to mop the floors. It has been quite surprising to see how much water we waste and how much of it can be reused.

On Tuesday night the rains came for a short time – enough to give us hope. Then another short rain on Thursday and Friday. But last night (Saturday) it POURED all night and it has been drizzly all day today (Sunday)! All of our buckets are overflowing!