This means we could potentially be without water from 7 a.m. - the time of day when most of our water consumption is used. This will take some planning and practise.
We keep approximately 30 litres of water on hand at any given time. This came about due to a need to fill our extra fridge so it wouldn't be wasting power cooling a fridge that was not full and after a time I read that a household should keep one gallon of water per person per day (and one should be prepared to be self sufficient for 72 hours) in case of emergency. I added one and one together and came up with a most excellent solution of cleaning out and filling empty 4 litre milk jugs to fill the empty space within our extra fridge and voila! We are never without an emergency water supply.
If this planned water shut-down begins at 7 a.m., this will severely hamper my coffee intake and outflow capacity and our morning bath/showers. I rinse dishes to the point where they are basically clean so I will need to adapt my morning rinsing habits. Hand washing and tooth-brushing ends the list that presently comes to mind.
This morning, I am practising living with a defined amount of water. I cleaned and partially filled the tub with hot water so my bath is already drawn. I made my lunch before the potential 7 a.m. water shut off time. I have water in the bathroom sink; water in the kitchen sink and I have been conscious of my water usage.
This is a test. It is only a test. When the actual water shut down occurs, I should be able to tell by the road closures in and around 6 a.m. which will give me a little warning to prepare for an actual case of lack of water.
Our water was turned off for a few hours a while ago. This didn't happen during our hours of high volume water usage. I brought some of our emergency water upstairs and my son commented that it was a very good idea to always have this water on hand. I agree.
As I prepared for this planned water outage I couldn't help but think that in a true emergency, we may be without sewer and power as well. How long could we survive a cold Saskatchewan winter day without heat? How long before pipes would freeze? How prepared are we for an outage which would affect our means of communication with the outside world?
One cannot worry about things that have not yet happened but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Just in case.
We have a fair supply of emergency water; we have batteries on hand, flashlights and a battery operated radio; we have candles and matches; I like to top up the gas in my car when it reaches "half"; right now I have a spare canister of propane on hand for the barbeque. We may not be as prepared as we should be but some of the basics are covered.
As we head into the winter season, my head is consumed with being as prepared and safe as we can be. Which brings me back to the car (always, the car it seems these days!). Not only is the windshield wiper pump not functioning, neither is the rear defrost working up to par. This was confirmed on my drive home last night. Thankfully, the car was already booked in at our neighborhood garage. I just hope it doesn't need a standing appointment throughout the upcoming months.
It pays to be aware of potential emergencies. As I consciously go through this morning, I am reminded of the storage of battery power within our dust buster, power drill and our laptop computers.
There is comfort in knowing I can still tackle emergency vacuuming and drilling situations in case of a power outage and knowledge we have water to wash our hands. It's all good.
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