Water, Water, Everywhere?

So, as we approach the long weekend I am starting to think about the water problem that we have had last weekend. See many of you might not realize, there are no underground pipes in town, so water is delivered daily by truck. Likewise "waste water" gets pumped and taken daily by truck.

No when I say daily, I must clarify that on weekends, there is typically no delivery on Sundays, and sometimes nothing on Saturday. Simply put water is tight on weekends. We get in the habit of not doing laundry, limiting toilet flushes to "solids=only flush", and one (or two VERY short) showers from Friday night to Monday lunch MAXIMUM. We all know these unwritten rules.

At my old house there was only once that we ever ran out of water, however I was only sharing the tank with another single woman, and the tank was VERY large. At this new house, as previously explained, is a family with three toddlers living upstairs and sharing the tank. Last weekend by Sunday lunch the "low water" light came on and within 10 minutes we were completely dry. I had a call from my upstairs neighbour, who proceeded to tell me all of the reasons why she felt like it was not her fault that the water ran out..."Well, I've lived here for 6 years and this is the FIRST time that we have ever ran out of water... I haven't showered since Thursday morning... We never flush the toilet unless absolutely necessary... and on and on..."

Frankly, I didn't have much patience for her... I almost came out and said, "Fine, then just blame me for the fact we are out of water... I mean it makes so much sense that it has to be the single female living downstairs since she is the only new part of the equation... Even though, you family is 4 times larger..." I bite my tongue, and just smiled and nodded. But I am not looking forward to this weekend.

I mean, I did flush the toilet probably too many times(maybe 7-8 times from Friday to Sunday), but otherwise, I only did one load of dishes and had one short shower last weekend. I don't let the water run while brushing my teeth and use a little bit each evening to rinse my contact case but otherwise I have drinking water from the store so I don't think I am using my unfair share... I guess they are just not used to rationing more with their new larger family. I will cut back on the flushes this weekend, but other than that i really believe that I am doing my fair share.

So, in anticipation of another phone call, I have to psyche myself up so I don't say something that I might regret. I think this weekend will be inevitably a bad one since it is a long weekend and even though they are supposed to come on Monday anyway, you never know if they try to sneakily miss us.

Oh what to do, what to do? I guess that there is water sustainability issues experienced in places more that just Tofino, BC.