Where did all the water go?

Omygosh! You will never guess what happened to me today! There was no running water in the flat. Like, the water actually stopped running! The tap was totally on, but there was no water! Nothing. Nada. Zip. No water. 

Did you get that yet? There was no water!

So I couldn't get a drink, even though I was parched.

I couldn't cook my dinner, even though I was hungry.

I couldn't water the herbs in the kitchen, even though they were drier than the plain chicken at Nandos (seriously, why is that even an option?).

I couldn't wash the dirty plates and cutlery, even though flies were hovering menacingly around them. 

I couldn't wash my hands, even though they were covered in Public Transport Filth - I dread to think of what I might have caught if it weren't for my trusty hand sanitizer. 

I'm pretty sure that the washing machine wouldn't have worked either - so no clean clothes y'all.


The tap was totally on, but there was no water. For like, at least half an hour. A full 30 minutes. And then, thank God, it suddenly came back. 


Thank God the toilet was still working.

Thank God I didn't have to make the 30 second trip to the corner shop to buy some bottled water (I mean, I don't think they even stock Isklar Water - my favourite Carbon Neutral Norweigan glacial natural mineral water with exceptionally low mineral content. I might have been reduced to buying Evian or something equally mediocre - just the very thought of it will give me nightmares for a week).

Thank God I then didn't have to carry the mediocre bottled water up two flights of stairs. 

Thank God that even if I had bought some water it would have been clean and wouldn't have made me ill. 

Thank God the water came back on.

Thank God the water came back on and I was able to drink clean water from the tap, cook my dinner, wash up and wash my hands. 

#FirstWorldProblems

From Tearfund

The truth is that not everyone has access to safe drinking water - and by everyone I mean 768 million everyones.  This is roughly one in ten of the world's population. 
(WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Report 2013 update)*


The truth is that unclean drinking water increases your chances of developing water related diseases such as diarrhoea, trachoma and typhoid. Some of these diseases can be fatal, especially in children who are less than 5 years old.

The truth is that women in Africa and Asia often carry 20kg of water on their heads, that's the same weight as the average UK airport luggage allowance (UNDP: Human Development Report, 2006: page 34-35)*. I can usually barely lift my holiday suitcase onto the conveyor at the airport, let alone carry it on my head. Every day. And then walk a few miles. 

The truth is that sickness and having to fetch water everyday is a huge barrier to working and education.

But there is Hope - there are some great organisations such as Water Aid and Tearfund who work with communities to make safe and clean drinking water accessible. See how you can support them.

What else can you do?

Buy Belu Water.

Sponsor the 'I carried a watermelon' team. For real, they're carrying a watermelon. 

Tweet about it, facebook about it, instagram about it. Tell people you know - get them to do something about it too. 

*Info from www.wateraid.org