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Water Issues in S Africa

While I was in S. Africa one thing I noticed is that Cape Town and Simon's Town both had signs asking that everyone conserve water and be conscious of how they are using it. The Grosvenor Guest House, the bed and breakfast, where I stayed at in Simon's Town had a beautiful bathroom with a tub that was similar to a claw foot tub. When I first saw it I initially was so excited because I was planning on taking a long, hot, soaking bath after such a long flight from Texas to S. Africa. Besides the tub the rest of the bathroom was stunning and simple yet elegant.

When I was getting ready to take a bath and settle in to my room & bed I went to set up the tub to soak I noticed a sign above the tub that asked that we not take bath because of how much water it wastes. It was then I noticed that between the sink and the shower was something like a five gallon bucket with a sign asking that you use the bucket to catch the water while the waiting for hot water.  There was also a sign asking that you limit the shower time to less than 5 minutes if possible, which included turning the water off while soaping up. I felt the need to be respectful and so I collected the cold water while the waiting for the hot. They use the water collected for the gardens, plants, and other luxuries such swimming pools. I was able to multi-task and managed to keep my showers below 5 minutes. The only day I didn't use the water bucket to collect cold water is when I washed out my swimsuits and sweatpants so that they wouldn't stink.

They also recommended that we don't drink the tap water but use the filtered water that they provided to us in a covered/lidded glass pitcher. I used the water in the pitcher to brush my teeth, take my medications, and use it for any type of consummation. All food and water consumed came from bottled water or filtered water.

While I was staying at the Grosvenor House I was listening to a news story about how dire the water issues were in Cape Town. The story talked about how low the water behind the dam was and how even with what was left only a percentage of that was able to be consumed. It is so bad that they are talking about bringing in desalination ships to try and help provide usable drinking water.

As we moved from Simon's Town to Mossel Bay and then Gansbaai the signs to save water were mostly seen at gas stations/convenience stores.  However, to hear about the water situation and be thoughtful about how much I used was a constant in my mind and made me aware of not wasting water.

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