The Four Waters

Today I want to talk about the four waters at No 8/45 THOMAS NAGAR.

We have 4 different types of water, salt, sweet, filtered, and bottled.

The salt is from a 9-meter deep bore well, up to the roof top tank, to use in the showers, toilets, and one tap at the sink. It indeed tastes very salty and has a good chance of something in it that would make us quite sick.

Second is the sweet water (this is a misnomer it still has a strong salt taste) this is delivered by a lorrie about once a month. The truck load costs us 750 rupees. This water is put into a sump underground and then pumped up to the other half of the overhead tank. This water is sent to the washing machines and a sink tap. Drinking it may make us sick.

We also have filtered sweet water, through a UV unit and micro screens, to kill the bugs in it, you can see the filter on our kitchen wall. This we use to cook, wash dishes, brush teeth, and we could drink if we did not mind the taste. (add a pinch of salt to your glass next time you drink...)

Last we have bottled water to drink, 5 gallon bottles poured into a container, then transferred to 1 litre bottles that we take with us everywhere and sip to stay hydrated.

How I learned we had so many sources of water... the bore well tank ran dry. Each morning someone should run two water pumps, one pushing sweet water up to the tank, the other pushing water from the bore well up. It only takes two switches and a half hour... the boys who lived in the flat before us faithfully did that. But alas we did not know, our long showers and toilet use took its toll, the tank on the roof emptied, the bore well lost its siphon, and now what to do.

Go up on the roof, 3rd floor. Go up a ladder that is too short then climb the pipes to the platform the tanks are on, 4th floor. Then pull up the ladder, and climb on top of the tanks, 5th floor. Open the heavy metal covers over both half of the tanks, fill hose with water, and set up siphon from sweet water tank to salt water tank. On way down notice two valves that could have been opened to connect tanks.

The good news is Anna no longer complains about the taste of the water in the shower, now if only she would be happy with the soap. The bad news is we can not get the bore well pump to again, the plumber was called, he told Yohshy that he would be at the apt Monday afternoon. (it is now late Tuesday and we are still waiting, eventually I will post about India time and explain why this is the norm.)