What happens when the city water supply suddenly dries up? Amoebas, but, we'll get to that. Water is something that I tended to take for granted, since I am surrounded by it......this years El Nino conditions reminded me to really conserve!
Maslow's hierarchy reminds us what the basic needs of survival are, Koror gives us the circumstances needed to appreciate how much comfort is afforded by meeting these needs. In early october I was in the yard watering our plants when the water slowed to a drip and then stopped entirely. Minor problem, I thought to myself, certainly the water provider (a semi-goverment organization in the most over governed nation in the world, who had just dared to raise prices yet again...) was just performing maintenance. Hours later in the post lunch apocalypse that is having two unwashed children and a sink full of dishes in 85 degree weather I made the only sensible decision I could based on the pyramid's infinite wisdom and went to a hotel. Alright, technically my wife made the decision after hours of sweating in our non air-conditioned shelter and many expletives.....
"I have no requirements that you buy me designer purses* but I am going to have to mandate that we stick with the running water convenience unless some serious advance planning happens." We are no strangers to running water outages, every time a typhoon is scheduled to hit the water providers stop the flow of water, but these outages are planned and every family I know has developed the ability to live comfortably during these times. After the storm passes families cook outside with their portable stoves and wash dishes in tubs of water gathered from before the storm struck, the atmosphere is like camping amongst the fallen debris from hours of intense winds.
So there we stayed, exploring the tourist life from our local perspective, until the water hours began three days later. It was glorious to be able to shower and wash laundry in the shiny air conditioned hotel where they had their own rain water collection tanks and that water that emerged from the faucets remained clear. When we did return home, which is in an area of town that was most affected by the outage, the water ran with little pressure and was brown in color. We collected large tubs of water to shower, wash our hands and flush the toilet. It was amazing how much it changed the dynamic of the day the water would remain on from 6 am to 12 pm which meant that right around lunch instead of eating that was a flurry of indoor and outdoor water hoarding. Signs went up at one of the major hotels here saying that the bathtub plug had been removed from the rooms in order to cooperate with the government....that's one way of putting it! The locals adapted, having been through many a typhoon we are used to the power and water fluctuations that accompany islands lives but our health and sanitation suffered! It took over a month and 1.2 million dollars to restore the water shortage that had been caused by an underwater leak.
Truth be told, what I would really love to see is a collection of data that reflects the changes in heath that we experienced during the time of unclean and infrequent water supply, when hand washing becomes unavailable even at major business establishments where there exists a very certain need for sanitation. My own family's graph would reflect a steady decline, we are certainly overjoyed to be emerging from the dark days of water hours.
Now, as I write this, in the aftermath I will tell you, despite all the thankfulness in my last post, all Thanksgiving feasts at this downtown Koror household have been cancelled until the amoebas leave the residence.
It must be something in the water!
*My very grateful wife actually was gifted her very first designer purse in a surprise package from my cousin, I am pleased to report that no additional requests for designer items have been made!
