it is a frightening fact but here in south Africa we are having water shortages and so far the dams are at 35% capacity which is a crisis for the people here. Drinking tap water used to be a luxury for us that we now cannot do and buying water is a strange experience but it is a healthier option now is it not shocking?
Perhaps you can install water filters on your pipes or buy a separate filtering machinery. Filters do not cost that much unless you buy those heavy ones that involve electricity and complicated steps like reverse osmosis, distilling and the like. Simple filtering is relatively much cheaper.
Since late last year, the El Niño phenomenon was in the forecast to warn people of the very dry season when summer arrives. And now we are already feeling the heat and the diminishing water level of the dams.The government has been issuing advice from time to time on how to conserve water. But as an ordinary citizen, there is nothing we can do except not to waste water. But conserving is difficult because as the weather gets hotter, the plants need to be irrigated more.
Welcome to the club. This climate change situation is really taking its toll on the availability of water worldwide. In many places, people are facing the reality of buying water outside of the normal process for the first time, because there is not enough water in the dams or reservoirs.
I wonder why water should be scarce since 70% of the earth's surface consists of water not to mention ground water. The best solution is for governments to effect a policy change to prioritize water as an essential commodity. This would mean desalinization plants would have to be constructed and money allocated to install massive piperage works.
@tasha, I feel for you and can most certainly relate with being right round the corner from you. I'm in Botswana and we're going through the same. We've gone through very long drought spells and now have to contend with water rations from time to time. Luckily, we've had jojo water tanks installed so even when there's a water ration, we still have water. But we still buy a lot of bottled water for drinking and cooking.
It all boils to policy issues seeing things as they are with the fact that South Africa has a large coastline and the capacity to install desalinisation plants. In my country, water shortages are being corrected by digging community boreholes in arid and urban areas and this is quite a dividend since compared to the cost, the amount of water delivered is enormous in the long run.
Your post was from February and it is now June. Can you provide us with an update and let us know how things are in your homeland. Is is still dry? Are you still having to buy water?
How is the water situation there now? I am in California and our water situation is bad too. You would think not because we are right next to the ocean. I am ready to look for situation on ow to filter ocean water and looking at new sources. I have bought some water bottle filters online so I can drink the tap.
