Sometimes you don't realize how grateful you are for the little things in life until they're taken away.
Well, we had a little excitement on Friday night. Right around dinner time, we discovered that we had no running water in our condo. We had noticed some construction going on down the street when we drove home, so I walked down there to find out what was going on. They told me that our water should be back on in about an hour. I thought that sounded a little optimistic given that they were completely digging up the street, but I was at least hopeful that it would be fixed that night.
I was able to make dinner without any water, but it felt really wrong to leave the dishes in the sink without rinsing them.
After dinner Jeff and I went to see a movie - Julie and Julia, in case any of you are curious. (It was ... ok. They definately had more language and "content" than they needed to. I thought it was a shame, because it would have been a lot better without all that.) We came home to discover that our water was still off.
At that point, I started thinking about all the things I wanted to do that night or the next day that involved water:
Dishes
Cooking
Using the toilet
Washing my hands
Brushing my teeth
Showering
Laundry
We got by on a few of those things with some of our water storage, but I started to get a good idea of how inadequate it is.
Fortunately, our water came back on at 11:30 - yes, we were still up. I was just getting ready to brush my teeth and climb in to bed when I heard the pipes gurgling. And lo and behold - we had our water back. Yay!
So, I know, we were only without water for a few hours. It could have been a lot worse. One thing that I gained from this experience is a renewed determination to increase our water supply. If anyone has any tips, let me know. And I have an increased appreciation for running water.
4 comments:
Tips for storing water:
-You can always buy one of the big barrels to store water in, but they're expensive and take up a lot of room to store. I don't think they're necessary.
-The best stored water for drinking is the kind in individual water bottles. Try buying a case of 24 whenever you see them go on sale for $2.99 or less. They stack easily and can go in a corner of a closet.
-Another easy way to store water (and better for things like washing, flushing a toilet, etc.) is in soda or lemonade 2 or 3 liter bottles (or the clear plastic bottles that hold juice). Just make sure the plastic is clear--water stored in a bottle with colored plastic isn't safe for drinking, since chemicals from the plastic leach in to the water. Wash the bottle out well, and make sure there's no air in the top of the bottle when you fill it or you'll get a nasty film on top. You probably don't buy a lot of soda at your house (neither do we), so ask for the empty soda bottles from work or when you get together at family gatherings or parties. I've gotten quite a few empty bottles from Kendall's work. In fact, he got one for me today. :)
I hope I didn't overwhelm you with all that information. Good luck with this, and just remember to start small and slowly build up and you'll have your water supply in no time!
One thing about storing in 2 liter soda bottles - I did it, and one day I went to switch them out with new water and some of the water was NASTY. The church's website (providentliving.org) has info on it. You could always at a little bit of bleach to keep it cleared out, but they say you don't have to. We got one of those big barrels and it took us two years to get around to filling the whole thing - a bit of a pain, but now we have lots of water.
Every time you finish a gallon of milk, wash out the bottle and fill it with water. Once you have enough gallons, start the rotation... finish a new gallon of milk switch it out with an old one. The sell by dates on the milk jugs help with the rotation. The ones you are getting rid of... use the water to water your house plants... then no water ever goes to waste.
Providentliving.org actually says to never use old milk gallons. They will leak and leave a huge mess. Stick with the clear soda or juice containers if you're going to fill your own water containers. It's definitely a good idea to rotate them, though. I label mine with a sharpie so I know when they were filled, and then I use them to water my garden. You can also use them for cleaning or even making juice to rotate them.
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