Dry Taps Again !

We live in a beautiful island in Malaysia. Our main water source is from Sungai Muda. Recantly in 2023, we had 2 major water pipe burst that caused water crisis to almost the whole of Penang. At that time MS had come back from UK for holidays and Sofi was also on break. Having this two around was a blessings. They helped to carry water and fill up the water tanks upstairs. I have one 80 Gallon water container in my balcony. We store water inside here for emergency. Since it had been awhile since we had any water crisis, this water had become "stale"and cause itchiness, if we bathe with it. So now we had the tedious job of transfering this water to toilet tanks and the rest for washing and watering plants. Since the pressure was very low, we only had a little water coming from the hose in the porch. MS and Sofi, helped to transfer water from the porch to the balcony by tying a bucket to a rope and pulling it up. They managed to fill the entire 80 gallon water container. Meanwhile Shak had water still in her house since her condominium tank was large and had enough water for up 3 days.

Now in January 2024, we had another burst pipe in Sungai Perai. Water was cut without any notice and 80% of our island was left without any water. Some of us still had the water we collected in December for another water disruption. But most of my neighbours had discarded the water  were left with no or very little water in the water tanks in our houses. This time around, MS and Sofi were not around. Ak had to carry the water to fill up all the pails in the house. The water was only trickling in the porch. So we had to catch the water and transfer to other parts of the house. I helped filling pots with water for the kitchen use. 

So the Water Supply Corporation of my island announced that there will upgrading works for the burst water pipe.The old  underwater pipeline is incurring a leak. This old pipelines will be decommisioned and replaced with new pipes. Thus we have to brace for another major water disruption in 2 weeks. In the meantime, they will try to patch up the leaking pipe and supply water  to all the disrupted area. My neighbour, who has a large family decided to invest in a huge water tank placed outside his house. This attracted so many other neighbours to come and have a look at this shining marvel. My neighbour was so proud of his investment and even tried to influence Ak to purchase one. Of course his sister is selling the motor and she will give us a good price, he said. I put my foot down and told Ak absolutely no tank sitting in our porch . We noticed the pump and motor for this water tank, makes a very irritating noise. I even heard the noise in the middle of the night. So the next day when Ak was chatting wih the neighbour, he brought up the subject of the noise. Now this neighbour admits he didn't know about the noise before buying it. Unfortunately there is nothing he can do about it. So for now we have to adjust living in our house with this irritating noise until my neighbour decides to shut it off.

In the meantime, we are continously storing water and using water sparingly. Clothes cannot be washed at home because the water pressure is so low, we cannot turn on the washing machine. For now we have send our clothes to the laundry. I also cooked a few meals and freeze them. It is not safe to eat out when almost 80% of the island will be out of water. Of course I am grateful that we at least have some water and a roof over head during this crisis. I cannot imagine how life is in Gaza where water is deliberately shut down to torture the civilians. I feel so privileged when I turn on the pipe at home to see water flowing. We have to accept a little difficulties in life and stop complaining too much. What we are going through is not even an ounce compared to the people of Gaza. Anyway, I pray for the safety of the divers who are doing the dangerous job of going underwater to address the leak.