Earlier this month, our septic system failed and we were immediately forced to consider every drop of water used in the house. A professional informed us that the average human uses between 70-100 gallons of water each day. With a measly 300 gallon tank, the five humans in our home would more than fill the tank if we kept our normal routines. Clearly, something had to change.
Showers were shortened – and timed for the girls – or replaced with frequent visits to the lake. Dirty clothes were farmed out to the local laundromat where the sole method of payment is quarters! I was shocked at how many quarters needed to be inserted to operate the very costly super-sized washing machine. My heart leaped when I saw the 25 cent price on the dryer – only to be crushed when I learned that a quarter bought me a mere 5 or 6 minutes of heat depending on the machine. The dishwasher was only run when jam-packed and absolutely necessary as we felt it was a better choice than running water to wash dishes by hand.
Our water crisis hit so close to home, but was nothing compared to Nya’s daily struggles to get water for her family or Salva’s journey to safety and ultimate decision to start a public water supply, both in Sudan, but decades apart. After reading Linda Sue Park’s “A Long Walk to Water,” the characters’ words in the book painted a bleak picture for both parallel story lines. My head wrestled with the idea of taking resources, like clean water, for granted. I know this has been an ongoing issue in Africa, but due to the ease of attaining water here in the States, sometimes it seems unfathomable in today’s age, that people are still living without such a basic life staple. In my heart, I know that there are individuals and groups that are paving the way to bring the modern conveniences that I have known almost all of my life to the people in areas of need.
In a way, our failed septic system helped me to glean a deeper understanding of Park’s message about the fragility of water and the importance of a call to action. I will never look at water in the same way, and promise you that I won’t ever take it for granted.
Mrs. Palmer Ponders 