Water

Water from the city finally came last night so we all gave thanks. Living in Chimbote, we may not have hot water or drinkable water but we are happy to have water. Some households in Chimbote live without water or plumbing so we were contemplating what their life must be like yesterday.

A neighbor, that lives behind us, is someone that lives without water. She frequently comes over and asks/ demands to use our water. Normally we give without hesitation but we had nothing to give her this time and it took some convincing. She had knocked on our door Sunday morning around 7 AM and three other times that morning asking for water. She is kind of stubborn. The last two times we just let her yell from the street. The whole neighborhood was without.

We were prepared for the initial 24 hours. Courtney was working the fundraiser Saturday and had observed one of the warning signs of the pump running continuously so she turned off the pump before it burned itself out (yea) and had filled and boiled a large container for us to drink. However, the draught went long enough we had to eat out and purchase a few bottles to drink. We run a pretty tight budget so it would have been a significant expense for us if the water shortage lasted longer than it did.

Water management is always a struggle. To give you an idea of our water supply; water comes from the city in the morning and at night. City pipes fill a large reservoir that is at ground level. From the reservoir, the house has a pump that runs water into a tank which resides on top of the house. The water in the tank is the water that comes out of the faucets and is utilized within the house. When the tank drops to a certain level, the pump kicks in.

Our water supply has several potential problems. Aside from the water not coming from the city, or the downstairs toilet running continuously to the point it depletes the tank (jiggle the handle to get it to stop), we have to be vigilant with the maintenance of our water pump. The pump leaks, so we are always refilling it with water to maintain the suction/ water seal. Without constant vigilance to maintain the water seal, the motor will burn itself out. If that happens we have to wait for a repair man to replace the melted part and scoop buckets of water out from the reservoir in the meantime.

With time, one gets accustom to the sounds of the house. We are always listening for the pump to shut itself off or the toilet to stop running. It is just a band-aid but we refill the water pump just about every day. No one seems to have the freedom or desire to stay home from work and wait for the repair man or the money to go after the bigger problems.

It is nearing Christmas, any chance there are any engineers out there that want to organize a mission trip to Chimbote? Our house has the potential to serve as a mission trip all by itself. In addition to the water issues, we need a paint job, roof work, new kitchen pots and pans, backyard landscaping and plumbing work from the damage the guys did the last time they tried to landscape the backyard ;). I am just asking - Santa Claus :).