Water Sins: A Whole New Perspective

This week I found myself comitting what to me is the ultimate water sin: taking for granted my access to clean water in my home.

You see, this week my building has intermittenly had no water. I’m not sure of the details but I am fairly certain it is linked to the broken fire hydrant spewing thousands of gallons of water down W. Thorndale all day long. While the city has been fairly speedy in resolving this, the first night with no water was a shock.

I got home from work around 10 to see the city outside working on the hydrant. Went upstairs and turned on my faucet.

No water.

What?

No water? I refused to believe it, and ran into my bathroom. No water! the faucet didn’t work and the shower didn’t work. After about 2 minutes I realized this was due to the work outside, and that for the time being, I was without water.

Luckily, I had a gallon of water in my fridge so I could brush my teeth, make some tea, and fill up the dog’s water bowl before going to bed. But that few hours made me realize just how much water I use every day. The next morning I mentally tallied every time I turned on the faucet to:

• Make coffee. I was in a cold sweat imagingin my morning without coffee.
• Rinse my dishes before putting them in my dishwasher, which i run about twice a week.
• Rinse the fruit I eat in the morning.
• Make my oatmeal (a cup of water per 0.25 cups of oats).
• Shower, shave my legs, brush my teeth and wash my face.
• Flush my toilet.

…and the list goes on. Not having water was an inconvenience but I knew at the worst I could run to the grocery store and buy a few more gallons of bottled water, and I’ve been showering at the gym during this work. I honestly can’t imagine not having access at all. And that…not thinking what it would really be like, is the greatest water sin of all.

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