20 Liters of Water

Water is truly a precious resource, especially here in Sub-Saharan Africa. In my village of Mashai, we have no working taps. I can collect my water in a well that’s a 10 min walk downhill and at least a 15-20 min walk back up the hill with 20 liters of water on my head. That 20 liters of water gets put to good use, I can use a small amount of water to bath then do laundry (in my dirty bath water) and then water my garden. The other half of the bucket gets put in my water filter and used to rinse my clothes then wash my dishes. It’s amazing how far such a small amount of water can go.

The other day as I was preparing one of my environmental education lessons, I came across a water conservation activity (for American classrooms). It had a list of the different water supply amounts we use each day in America. I calculated my approximate usage of water when I was in America (it took a while to remember how often I use to shower, do laundry with a machine, flush a toilet etc). What I came up with astounded me.

In America on a average day I calculated I used about 605L of water! Here I can get by on less than 20liters of water a day!