I was an exchange student in high school to Honduras. It was the first time I experienced water inequality.
Growing up in Australia, you turned on a tap, water came out, and you could drink it. Not so in Honduras. Sometimes, there was no water, and even when there was, you couldn’t drink it. Just cleaning my teeth with it gave me disentery more times that I could count.
Living on a boat makes you water conscious. Ours didn’t have a water maker, so we’d fill up the tanks, and monitor them. You’d be careful about water, and I kept 5 gallon bottles on board to drink. If we were hooked up to the dock water, you technically could drink it, but in summer, the hoses would get full of green gunk, and it was foul. Best to just buy bottles, and I had a handy little water bottle pump, which meant I didn’t have to turn the bottle. It just sat there, and water came out at the touch of a button.
Moving back to Texas and living on the ranch, we trenched a line from the well to our camp, and I had a go berkey kit that I used. It was tiny, but it did the job.
Now that I’m back in Australia, I’m back to normal tap water. Or so I thought. I had bought a Gentoo Water Filter, and I use it daily. I’m pretty good at keeping it full, but I also drink a lot of water. Sometimes I’ll splurge on some Aqua Panna or Santa Vittoria when I’m at Harris Farm, but I don’t drink it everyday, because I’m not a huge fan of bottled water for no reason. I like to have it as a back up. But one day, O looked at that bottle of Santa Vittoria, and I was like, Yep, I want those extra minerals. (I was a little hungover) and then I didn’t replace it. The water here is free flowing. I got complacent.
Cut to last week, where I took Teddy for a walk, came back up, went to wash my hands, and there was no water in the tap. None.
Lines had burst all over Neutral Bay, Cremorne and Mosman. Water was out for hours, and even when it did finally come back, I knew I wasn’t going to drink it. Mine looked pretty clear, but I boiled it anyway. Other people on Instagram were posting brown water coming out into their tubs.
My husband reminded me to fill the bathtub while I had water in case they turned it off again to repair the pipes. He also got on Amazon, and had a bunch of big bottles sent to me, so that I had clean drinking water available, without having to boil it. He sent me 4 of the 8 packs of the 1.5L bottles of Mount Franklin. I drink about 2L of water a day, so this gave me 1 bottle day to drink from, with lots of back up, in case the water goes out again. Super heavy to carry up the stairs, but certainly worth it to not worry about running out of water again.
As someone who was always so water conscious (aka paranoid) I was surprised I let myself run out of water. I’d become complacent.
Now we’re looking at conflict in the Middle East, and while I don’t think that will affect water here, it is making fuel prices skyrocket, and I wonder what other things people will start hoarding. I’ll admit, I asked him to also send toilet paper, in case people got crazy and started hoarding that again for some reason. It was also easier to order everything and have it delivered, since I figured everyone else was at the supermarket buying up all the water while the lines were down.
So even if you’re not a fan of plastic water bottles, remember to keep some around, in case shit hits the fan, and one day, there isn’t any. You can usually see big events coming, and know to stock up, but things like burst water mains are a surprise, that’ll get you off guard. All your neighbours will also be in a panic, rushing to the store to grab water. Water filters are great, and my preferred method, but when there’s no water to filter, they’re not useful. You can always buy glass bottles if you prefer. They’re just usually more expensive. (and heavier) If I’m out an about, and need a bottle of water, I much prefer glass.
Anyway, just wanted to remind everyone is ok to be a prepper, and have supplies ready for any emergency. Don’t get complacent, and let your stocks run low. The pipes will burst that day after you finish your last bottle.