Water outage: It’s no fun to be left high and dry

Day one without water was a bit of a jolt. Although it didn’t come as a complete surprise, the reality only hit once it happened.

But it was the first day and we could joke about it. I brushed my teeth with bottled water and suggested that we eat cake if there was no bread.

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The previous time we were left high and dry was actually a bit of fun, as it tested our creativity. This time round, knowing what lay ahead, it was much more difficult to find any humour.

What was once a fountain of life, had become a dry steel pipe. Night came and then it was morning, the second day.

An urn and five 20-litre buckets of precious liquid sourced from a friend with a borehole ensured that we could at least bath and cook.

Despite full tummies and clean bodies, we did not sleep well. Then it was morning, the third day.

Repeat of the bath ritual, but with mounting dishes and a growing sense of fear escalated by the fact that the Samaritan with the borehole was obviously starting to share his commodity grudgingly while the water beggars increased exponentially in numbers.

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One by one, local shops were running out of water and limiting purchases per customer to keep the masses calm. I hardly closed an eye before it was morning again and the start of day four.

Desperate times, my desperate measure was a 50km round trip, but the reward was a trailer load of water bottles.

Survival was becoming expensive. I sat outside that night and looked up at the heavens.

To my relief, there were no lights in the vault of the sky, but a thick cloud cover. In the distance I could see angels taking pictures, the flash from their cameras illuminating storm clouds.

There’s an old Afrikaans saying: “Wanneer dit pap reën, moet jy skep.” Loosely translated, it means one has to harvest as much as possible when it rains porridge.

There I was, harvesting rainwater in every conceivable container. I am writing this on day six, praying that tomorrow the taps will produce an abundance of life because on day seven, I need a rest.

The last thing I want is to find out what I’m capable of to ensure a supply of water.