On World Water Day, we show gratitude for this essential resource
- Millions of people around the world don’t have access to clean drinking water, yet it’s important for all life
- In Cape Town, South Africa, people feared the city would run out of water, so they made sure to use it thoughtfully
Water is a valuable resource, one that many people around the world don't have access to.Today is World Water Day, and this year’s theme is “What water means to you”. It’s a good time to think of the world’s second-most precious asset.
Water is vital to almost all living things, yet in Hong Kong we take it for granted. It’s easy to turn on a tap and have water come out. If we don’t want to boil and cool it, or we think other water is better to drink, we can buy some, wrapped in plastic and shipped halfway around the world to be on our supermarket shelves.
In many other countries, though, that’s just not the case. In many places around the world, there is just not enough water to grow enough food for the people who need it. Millions of people don’t have access to clean drinking water.
Water is life!
The story I’m going to share with you is not that serious, thankfully.
Just recently, my sister and her family were having a terrible time in Cape Town, in South Africa, starting in 2015.
South Africa, the country that’s, well, the southernmost in Africa, is very dry. Not all of it, but most of it. Other parts are quite tropical. Cape Town can be a bit bare in winter but is quite lush in summer.
For years, the South African government had not upgraded the water system and dams. For years, people had flocked to the city, or were already there and just wanted to have running water. Many people outside of cities have to fetch it in great big buckets from a single tap shared by many families.
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So, when the winter rains faltered in South Africa, and the level of water in the dams did not rise as expected, water was rationed. People were not allowed to water their gardens, wash their cars, or top up their swimming pools at first.
Many people ignored the warnings.
Others, like my sister, used her dishwashing water to carefully water the few tomato plants she was nurturing in yogurt containers. It was too hot and dry to leave them in the garden.
The next year, those winter rains were, again, just not enough. The dams even crept lower.
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Bricks were put into toilet tanks so they used less water. People were encouraged to flush only if they had done a poo, with the slogan we had seen before: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down”.
Those who could, put wells in their gardens to tap the water underground. Showers – not baths – were quick as lightning. Many days people skipped them completely because there just wasn’t enough water to go around.
Clothes could only be washed sparingly, so lots of people were happy to wear garments that passed the “sniff” test. And when clothes were washed, that water was carefully collected and used to flush the toilet.
It seemed to go on forever. Each day my family anxiously scanned the skies, buckets ready in case the slightest little shower should pass. But they seldom did.
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In 2017, the rains failed again and people began to whisper about “Day Zero”, the day the taps in Cape Town, the world city, would run dry.
Restrictions were tightened even more, to 50 litres per person, per day. There were also limits on how much farmers and businesses could use.
Food production was hurting. The economy, too was hurting. Kind of like in this pandemic, people lost jobs. Day Zero was drawing ever nearer. Hand-washing was something you had to think about.
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On Day Zero, the government would switch off the city’s water supply. Those who could, would have to fetch their water from carefully controlled supply points.
In 2018, the rains returned, and by last year, the dams were almost full.
It’s hard to think of a scenario where this could happen in Hong Kong, but that doesn’t mean can’t.
Water is literally life. Take a moment today to remember that not everyone has it, and we shouldn’t waste it.