Water on my island!

Water, water, water!!! I never realized how important water was until I came to Vanuatu. Yes, I was the person who left the water on when I brushed my teeth or stood in the shower longer than necessary just to have the water fall on me. I never really thought twice about water. Why would I? Water was just there. I turn on the facet and it came.

However, living in a third world country, water is very important and precious. I never realized everything we use water for. We use water to bathe, brush our teeth, cook with, clean with, wash clothes, and of course drink. We also need water to flush toilets. Living in a place where they do not have running water, some have asked where do you get your water. So here we go.

I would like to start out by saying this is based on my experience on my island. The water source is different for everyone in Vanuatu. It depends on if you live close to the sea or in the bush. Or you live close to river or not. Or you live on a big island or a small island. Or you live in one of the bigger cities or you live in a remote village. It is all different. So this post about water is just about my village on Nguna Island. 

I will say that all of Vanuatu is suffering from the El-Niño and the water shortage is becoming a huge problem. You will see why? 

Water Tanks

So where do we get our water, well we get it all from Mother Nature. Most houses in my village have a water tank. To fill the water tank, we have cutters on our houses that lead into the water tank. So when it rains, the water falls into the cutters and then into the water tanks. If the tank is not contaminated, then the water is clean and you can drink the water from tanks. Some of the tanks are really old and have cracks in them which means bugs, dirt, and many other things can get in so the water is not longer drinkable. Also, if they tank is not covered properly than many things can get in there and the water is not longer drinkable. The only way to make this water drinkable is to boil it. Which is probably one of the reasons why we drink so much tea.

One water tank behind my house. This is our only source of drinking water. My niece is pumping water to the drum on top.

Drums

Another way we collect water is in drums. It is the same process except this is not for drinking the water. The water that is collected in our drum we use it to bathe, cook, wash clothes, and flush the toilets. So at my house with four people living here, we can go through one drum of water in a matter of two days because water is used for everything.

The drum on top of our water tank. My papa has hooked this up to pipes that allow us to have running water in the bathroom, so we do not have to take bucket showers and brush our teeth with water bottles.

This is the drum that we fill up from the wells. 

Well/Pumps

In my village we have I believe 4 wells. However, only two are working. This is the other water source that we use to get water to fill our drums or buckets. This water is just to bathe, cook, wash clothes, and flush the toilets. One of the chores for the children is to fetch the water. So in the morning or in the evening children gather around the pump and pump water and carry the water back to the house. So children who live close to the pump, it is not a far walk where other children may have to walk about 10 -15 minutes. My house is about a 5-minute walk from the pump. However, if you are carrying a bucket of water it is probably about a 10-minute walk or more. I have been told that the wells can dry up and they probably will this season due to the El-Niño.

I was hoping to get a picture with kids pumping water but they were not there. However, I guess these Goat was jealous that he was not in the other pictures, so here he is. You can see the jugs that are filled and then carried back to the houses.

Saltwater (Beach)

Since my village is on the beach, we also use the saltwater. Many people bathe in the salt water and then rinse off at their house. In the evenings, the beach is full of children swimming (bathing) in the water. We also wash our pots in the saltwater. I am pretty sure that is all we can use the saltwater for.

 

I took this one evening. Children swimming for their shower.

Drinking water from the saltwater

There is a native family that owns a boat and a filtration system that cleans saltwater and makes it clean drinking water. I am not sure how it works, but from what I saw the saltwater goes through a very small machine and is pumped into the huge bag and is now clean drinking water. It is pretty amazing. The water taste really good and I have not gotten sick yet, so I am assuming it works. They have been going around to the small islands close to Efate and putting water into our water tanks. It has been a great help, but water is still very low here.

 

This is full of clean drinking water from the Saltwater.

No Rain, No Water

So how does El Nino affect us? Well we are in the dry season, which started in September and is supposed to go all the way till April. It has not rained at all here except for a few showers that have been really small. Since, it has not rained then there is no water coming into our water tanks or drums. Therefore, we are running out of drinking water. We still have water in the pumps, so we have water for bathing, cooking, washing, and flushing toilets but that water will soon dry up.

So what do we do?

Well my Papa says we pray and God will answer. He knows that we need water and He will provide. The people in Vanuatu have dealt with this before and they are ready to deal with it again. It is all about conserving the water that we have. We will be canceling the last two weeks of school because there will be no water for the students.

Well that is all I have on water. I hope it answered some of your questions. If not, please let me know what else you would like to know.

Thanks for reading!