It’s official, the hosepipe ban is on. I remember when I was younger, much younger, I never really understood the significance of a hosepipe ban – water was just that thing that came out of the tap. Obviously I wasn’t that naïve and I understood that it didn’t just appear there – just checking….but still, I never thought of water as a luxury, it was just part of my everyday life. You know how it is, spend 15 minutes in the shower in the morning, leave the tap on while brushing your teeth or doing the washing up, never imagine that I would be met with nothing when opening the tap to have a drink of water….not anymore.
When I was India (yeah sorry I’m still on that for those who are getting fed up of hearing my “well in India” catchphrase – it’s not over!) I met women who told me that they had access to water for 2-3 months every year. For many parts of the world, access to water is a real issue, and that’s without even thinking about clean and safe drinking water. Now this is WAY more severe than a hosepipe ban out of choice – this is mandatory, but not mandatory because the government said so. The water is just not there in their communities. Women I met and spent time with told stories of having to survive with one bucket of water for a family of 8-10 people for weeks on end and fight erupting at the water pump every morning (fuel strike carnage anyone? But you can do without your car for a day or two right..). And you know what, unfortunately, it’s just a way of life from them, yes they are upset about their lack of water access, however they don’t expect it to ever change (apart from maybe getting worse with global warming) and somehow in the only way they know how they just get on with it without so much as a groan or moan.
I think this is a stark comparison with how we are dealing with our ‘drought’ condition here in parts of the UK. By the way, I don’t mean to take anything away from the severity of the matter… However, you only need to log on to The Guardian website to be met with a barrage of comments about the withdrawal of our rights to water our garden (in a lazy man way) – unless your terribly old and can’t use a watering can of course. I wonder if people ever think what it would be like to turn on the tap and for not even a drop of water to hit the bottom of the sink. Like many things on our planet, water is unfortunately not an infinite entity (like we think most stuff is) and it will not just go on and on – until some bad ass business man decides to create water. It’s part of our weather system, our ecosystem and it is there to play a part in creating and sustaining life, not to be wasted straight down the plug hole by us humans. I’m no saint, but the anger really rises up in me when I see people leaving taps on. This wastage and lack of respect for our natural resources is why we have a hosepipe ban and I want more people to spare a thought for those people who do not have water in such abundance as we do still.
I do have a test for you all – log onto Google. Type in ‘water shortage’ and see what comes up…………….
Unless the ads have changed because google weren’t making enough money, the first featured ad is for a WaterAid charity appeal, with the tagline – They have no choice. You do. I think there’s two ways of looking at this 1) they have no choice and you have a choice to give money to make a difference to their life, and 2) Unlike millions of people across the world, we are still in a position where we do have water that we can protect and preserve, so next time you turn on your tap, just have a think about what it would be like if that beautiful clear water didn’t come streaming out and you had to stand in a water rations queue every morning before work (you never know!)……let’s appreciate what we have and protect this natural resource. I for one will be cutting down on my shower time…. You do have a choice
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