Taking water for granted

We currently live in Dubai, at sea level with no natural river bodies or oases, there are multiple gorges and waterholes at the base of the Western Al Hajar mountains. The annual rainfall is 35 millimetres  Therefore ALL our water here is desalinated.

With 70% of the World covered with water only 3% of it is classed as drinking water without needing to be processed.

Prior to leaving the UK we lived in Malvern, home to natural spring water, that we used to collect in bottles to drink. Sadly the spring water became infected with bacteria and now it is advised that this water also should be boiled before drinking.

We've travelled far and wide and have always followed the advice for drinking local water, avoiding ice cubes and fruits with high water content such as melons and cucumbers. But we've never worried about bathing or cleaning our teeth. On a camping trip in Canada in 2015, we boiled the water from the lakes in Algonquin to drink, but not to brush our teeth. In Luxor last year we completely forgot about whether we should ask if the water was safe to drink and on family holidays to Turkey and Tunisia in the past decade, we spent the first few days telling the kids not to drink from the tap, but then we just gave up and no one got ill. The only times I've ever been ill due to poor hygiene was on a camping trip in 2000 when I contracted meningitis during a very wet and muddy April and from many visits to townships in South Africa where I was given food at facilities I visited and it would've been considered very rude to have turned it down, despite there being no water let alone refrigeration. 

Our only real problem we've ever had with water is the taste and the temperature. In Dubai in summer, the water was coming out the cold tap at over 40c, so we bought bottled water to use in a water cooler. We've moved house now, and our water tank is under the ground, rather than on the roof, but we're still using the bottled water for the kettle and cold drinks, why? because the tap water here tastes different, a bit woody. When I travel back to the UK I notice the tap water tastes different depending on what part of the country I'm visiting. The water from the tank on the roof or when it's not been used for a while does comes out the tap brown.

Water temp left from the hot water tank that is insulated and the temp on the right from the cold water tap in summer.

We lived in South Africa for 4 years in Pretoria. Currently in Cape Town they are facing the water being switched off in April/May due to the fact that they will run out completely by then, due to lack of rainfall in that part of the country and currently residents are restricted to 49 litres per person per day. I have no idea how much water Peter and I use per day, we don't think about it, despite living in a desert, because we have such good infrastructure here.

Many parts of South Africa go without water on a daily basis, having worked with children's charities in Gauteng and Bushbuckridge near Kruger National park, I've seen first hand how hard communities have struggled without access to water on a daily basis without relying on government water trucks delivering supplies to townships or people having to walk several miles a day to get fresh water. Families getting ill from drinking river water, not being able to keep themselves clean and washing clothes in rivers and streams often highly polluted.

In a world where most of us take water for granted, I think it's time we thought a bit more about our natural resources and what we can all do to reduce the amount of water we use. It might seem a bit extreme in a developed country to think we'd ever run out of water but all one has to do is think about Cape Town being the first city in the world to face having it's water run out in 2018.

Wildlife and Plants in the desert with HDYGG and Animal Tales

Winter in Dubai is similar to summer in the UK except for the sand storms. It's summer now at time of posting and way too hot to be going out into the desert right now, I'm just about managing to walk Bob at 5am and again at 9pm.

Driving into the desert through a sandstorm, that cleared up about 30km inland.

 My mother was visiting in December and we wanted to share with her the places we go on a regular basis as well as the usual tourist destinations, one expects to visit in Dubai.

 She tried to climb a sand dune or two, but wasn't defeated, nor did she do it gracefully. She's 72 you know.

 We saw cranes and a variety of other birds as well as in the distance a new lake that was home to quite a few flamingos, which took us by surprise.

 Bob as usual loved his run out and swim in the lakes.

 We visit the lakes in the desert every weekend when the weather is cool enough and I've started taking Bob out on a Tuesday morning, since I've stopped working, taking my camera, laptop and a picnic to spend a few hours in peace and quiet, writing up blog posts. In February and March we had rain so waterproofs and warm clothing were required.

There are numerous plants out in the desert, whilst there is a lot of water and irrigation systems in place, I can't wait to see what else springs into life after the recent rainfall and spend some time identifying the different plants that grow naturally out in the desert.

Public Toilet Technology - How do you turn the taps on?

I've travelled far and wide, stayed in the finest of hotels, used the basics of bathrooms.

I've found the foot pedals, operated the sensors, turned dials, twisted taps, sussed out if the tap turns left or right or if the hot and cold is on the left or the right.

But this one stumped me and I had to ask at reception how to turn the tap on. Apparently, you lift the elbow and turn left or right to adjust the water temperature.

What's the weirdest tap you've come across?

I'm not the only one who has this issue, see what Michael McIntyre had to say on the subject.

Township gardening in South Africa with #HDYGG?

Update on my visit to Soshanguve in November last year.

I was introduced to this project by the lovely Lee-Anne who I met after I asked for people on social media to let me know if they knew of any deserving children that would benefit from receiving a christmas gift.

Lee-Anne has been involved with Ikaya Lami for a long time supporting them with donations, arranging for long drops to be dug and housed........the list is endless. This week, through a plant forum on face book she received 1200 plants, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Kale, Rape and Mustard which she and a team of volunteers helped to plant, May 2016. I'm hoping to get back to South Africa in July this year for a week and look forward to visiting this project and many others like it.

Original post

Access to water in many townships is not available with adults and children walking up to 4kms each way to get water for drinking and washing, so having a garden in a township for many is a luxury, although it does rain regularly during summer, but South Africa has been having a drought over recent months with the rains arriving late and water is being rationed.

Many people in the townships try to be self sufficient and grow their own fruit and vegetables and they are able to do is if they have a bore hole, they are usually community projects who run after school care, take in orphans, run the local church and support the locals.

The cost of a bore hole starts from around R25,000/£1,100/AED 6,450 depending on the ground being dug and the depth required to get fresh water and the casing needed. These costs are met with donations from individuals and sponsors, but they are few and far between and many communities who try to be self sufficient have to give up early on in the project so many just don't invest the money in seeds or the time for projects they know will fail due to lack of water.

However some are successful like this community project in Soshanguve, North of Pretoria.

They have built an irrigation system and are successfully growing fruit trees and a variety of vegetables to supplement a very meagre income with 18 children from age birth to 18 to feed, plus the adults who live there and run the project.

I've spotted a variety of fruits and vegetables growing but wasn't able to put a name to everything, I think a lot of the gardening here is 'plant it and see'

Peach tree

Papaya?

Onions

 One of the projects in desperate need of a bore hole is in Mpumalanga. Access to water would make a huge difference to the communities lives.

What a difference 3 weeks make with the heat in Dubai

Three weeks ago in Dubai we were having hot showers from the cold water tap, we didn't need to put the water heater on to do the washing up and we were having to fill plastic tubs with water and leaving them outside so they'd cool down in the shade to water the plants and wash the dog.

The water temps in the outside cold taps were reaching 46c. The air temps were reaching 50c.

Now for some reason the water is brown again, we drink bottled water anyway but washing up and showering in it, is a bit off putting.

The water pipes in the house provided us with 30 seconds of cold water as they're out of the sun, now the shower is cool for the whole duration and it won't be long before we need to heat the water again.

June, July and August were spent indoors, apart from a 3 week vacation to Canada during Ramadan, we spent little time outside, we took the dog to the lakes in the desert early on a Friday morning and he had a short walk around the block around 8pm. I did make a point of getting out the house everyday to escape from cabin fever, but I could only manage a very short walk to the bus stop before becoming drenched in sweat. We managed the odd day on the beach in the evenings, with the sea temps around 36c it was hardly refreshing and cooling.

I've finally been able to open the curtains in the house during the day and some natural sunlight is most welcome. The sun no longer streams in through the windows in the morning, which means the house is much cooler. 

It does however still hit the front of the house and if I go behind those closed curtains it's like getting in a sauna, you can see how the curtains are being sucked backwards by the extreme heat.

This weekend I managed to finish tidying the camping equipment in one of the out buildings, although I was very hot, I wasn't drenched with sweat within minutes and abandoning the sort out like I'd done 3 weeks earlier.

The air con temp has been turned up and during the early hours of the morning we've been switching it off as it's got a bit chilly. Our electricity bill has been around £500 a month for the past 3 months.

The average day time temps are now in the mid 30's instead of the mid 40's, although the humidity can catch us off guard every now and then making it feel hotter than the thermometer reads sometimes.

I'm off to South Africa in 3 weeks time and it will be summer down there, I've not had a winter since June/July 2014. I was in the UK April/May and again in September and had some lovely warm weather. I'm looking forward to the winter in Dubai which is similar to a UK summer, but with far less rain.

What happens in the garden when you leave hubby in charge for 3 weeks

This is what happens when you leave hubby in charge of the garden for 3 weeks.

Okay it was just one plant that is hanging under the eaves of the house

The tomato plants never survived the move from the direct sunlight to the more shaded area.

Only 4 of my seedlings survived the heat, they are basil.

The petunias flowered forever but came to a natural end.

I had no idea what I had planted out in the sand pit, I thought they were Petunias but it appears they are Celosia and have different coloured feathery bits on the ends.

There was a sale on at the Garden Centre so I picked up a selection of perennials for around 20p a plant.

Again the weeds seem to be growing nicely. The roots grow much deeper than the plants and that seems to ensure their survival.

It has been so hot the past month around 42c and with the humidity being high the ground just isn't drying out in-between watering, which can only benefit the plants.

There is something funny going on with the Bougainvillea, this plant is changing from white into pink over the 3 weeks I was away.

         Apparently this is caused by changes in temperature as well as soil nutrition and/or disease.

Apart from watering, this is the end of Creating a Garden in the Desert until late November. I have a trip booked to the UK in September and in October and November I will be working on charity projects in South Africa and on my return I will start sewing a wider variety of flower seeds and I'm going to attempt to grow potatoes, beans and strawberries.