Water

Here in Uganda water is very precious! It is sometimes hard to get good water here. Back in Canada, all we have to do is turn on the tap to get water and we don’t have to worry about whether or not it’s good for drinking. In Uganda, things are a little more complicated. I’m going to list some of the things we have to worry about that have to do with water.
• We need to make sure it is filtered in case of parasites and other diseases that may be found in the water here.
• We need to have power to get the water from the cistern to the water tower so we can have running water in the house.
• There needs to be enough rain so we have water (that hasn’t been a problem yet as the rainy season is just ending)
So now I’ll explain how we get water. For drinking water and water for washing dishes and drinking tea our compound worker collects the water in jerry cans. Then our drinking water needs to be poured into our water filter (sometimes we buy drinking water). The water for tea and washing dishes needs to be boiled before it can be used (which isn’t that much of a problem because we would need to boil it anyway.) The water for washing our hands and taking showers is mostly rainwater. When it’s raining the water runs into the cistern. Then, when there’s power we turn on the water pump that pumps the water from the cistern up to the water tower where it then is carried from pipes to our house. The other side to water is that we can never get water in the house warm unless it’s boiled or in the afternoon or evening when the sun has been heating the water up all day. But if you want a shower in the morning then you need to be prepared to get pretty cold.
That is some information about water in Uganda. Sorry I don’t have more pictures. If there’s something you really want to see a picture of you can email me or you can post a comment.
Christina