Recently, I had an experience that reminded me just how dry this country is. In fact, we're one of the most water-poor countries in the world with less than a fifth of the renewable water needed to meet UNICEF’s threshold for severe water scarcity. Neighboring countries provide some water, as they control the river, but aquifers are being depleted and there is still a water deficit every year. Water is brought to buildings weekly and stored usually on the roof in a large white drum. If you run out of water for the week, you might just be out of luck until the next water day.
After moving into my new place, we ran out of water the night before water day. I was unfortunately mid-shower, so I quickly rinsed off as the stream of water slowed and tied my hair up, still full of conditioner. When my roommate came home a few hours later, she had the genius idea to use the drinking water to rinse my hair (questionable pipes make tap water undrinkable so you either buy water for water coolers or have a filtration system that filters and stores water from the tap). We filled up a bowl and rinsed my hair out in the kitchen. After a call to the landlord, we found out we hadn’t actually run out—half of our water was still in the drum in the basement and just needed to be pumped up. It was a funny story that thankfully was easily resolved, but also a reminder of challenges in this country.