Country life sure is different

In the last few weeks, I have been learning a lot about the precious nature of water.

I spent my summers growing up in Guatemala and watched with awe as the women went to the local well to fetch their water. They carried it on the head and walked great distances to bring it back ti their family. I always felt fortunate that we could just have tap water that we could drink, wash our clothes with and bathe. In Vancouver, I was stunned by the great quality of the water that came directly from the mountains.
I knew that water in the country could be a whole different experience, but I never imagined it would be quite so intense. Here most people are on well water. We will have our own well at our new house. With filtration systems, pumps and the works, this type of water can be excellent in quality and taste. We rented a house that is only three years old in the hopes that it would be trouble free and have the best equipment. When we arrived the water was cloudy but usable. We thought that after using the system a bit more frequently, the cloudiness would subside. After a week, the water got pitch black.

I was utterly disgusted and quickly called the owner. The next day a technician came and cleaned the whole system. He advised that the system was in god order and needed a cleaning. He also suggested that the more we used the water the better it would get better. After a few days we saw noticeable improvement. Yesterday, I even dared wash white clothing and it came out pristine. Then, I washed Gilles work clothes. When I got the clothes out of the washing mashing, I noticed a black film on the sides of the machine. My first instinct was to think it was Gilles fault. He must have had grease from the chainsaw on his clothes. I decided to do an empty wash to clean the machine. My aunt suggested a little vinegar would do the trick. Once the water starting filling up the machine, it was pitch black. I quickly went over to the toilet and the same thing was going on. The kitchen sink was no better. Crap! We were having Gilles' sister and her family over for dinner. How were we going to wash dishes, etc. I quickly called the repairman in hopes there could be a quick fix. He got me to test a few things to no avail. Looks like they will come back on Monday to run other tests on the well, notably running a camera to inspect the conditions.
In the meantime, our neighbour mentioned that in Sutton, there is free source water (l'eau de source) that is excellent. I went last week and I can attest that it is superb. Evian, watch out! This stuff is great. So, this morning, off I went to collect some water for cooking, drinking, brushing teeth. I am still not keen on showing in this dark soot filthy water. So, today, I will go to Sara's. Hopefully this won't last long and life as we know it with running water can resume.

I am fortunate for many things. For starters, it is great to have access to the free to the source water. Secondly, I can take my car and haul as much water as I can. No need to carry anything on my head and walk for miles. Finally, I know it will eventually be fixed.

Who knows what the next country discoveries will be?? So far most have been good.

Now off to go to the Fireman's Festival in Sutton!