One of my Facebook friends shared this link with me:
Thanks Ronda!
It reminded me of my days in the Peace Corps in the Philippines. We had water off of our roof for 2 years in Davao. Every time it rained the gutters would funnel rainwater into the two tanks we had. One tank was behind the house and connected to the tap in the bathroom as well as one behind the house that Patring used for doing the laundry (by hand of course). We had a flush toilet but the water wasn't hooked up to it. We would fill up the bucket and pour it into the tank or directly into the stool to flush the toilet. (A modern flush toilet is just a water-seal with a tank.) During one dry season we had to go to our neighbors to pump water by hand. In Bohol, we had city water but the pressure wasn't any good except during the night so we had to fill up a tank in the middle of the night.
Thanks Ronda!
It reminded me of my days in the Peace Corps in the Philippines. We had water off of our roof for 2 years in Davao. Every time it rained the gutters would funnel rainwater into the two tanks we had. One tank was behind the house and connected to the tap in the bathroom as well as one behind the house that Patring used for doing the laundry (by hand of course). We had a flush toilet but the water wasn't hooked up to it. We would fill up the bucket and pour it into the tank or directly into the stool to flush the toilet. (A modern flush toilet is just a water-seal with a tank.) During one dry season we had to go to our neighbors to pump water by hand. In Bohol, we had city water but the pressure wasn't any good except during the night so we had to fill up a tank in the middle of the night.
I had dysentery during my time there, probably due to water at places other than our home where we had to boil everything we drank. You had to remember that ice is made with whatever water is at hand.
The water supply in the cities of the Philippines, especially where we lived has improved over the years, but many communities there still don't have reliable, clean water.
Here in Colorado, water is one of our most important assets - too much growth and not enough water will be the problem in the future. The water rights issues between the front range and the western slope often end up in court. Did you know that California has the right for some of the water that flows out of our snow melt into the Colorado River system? If we pollute the Platte river here in the metro area, what does that do to the communities down river? It all reminds me of one of my favorite singers, Tom Lehrer from 1965 and his song "Pollution":