Making water

Before leaving Canada my friends Mary-Lynne and Antin presented me with a hand-held, battery-operated, UV water purifier. It does up to a litre at a time, so I'm not about to go into business with it. But as soon as I arrived in Ghana I sought out rechargeable batteries and a charger appropriate to the Ghanaian electrical system. I've been re-using the same 1.5 litre water bottles since. Its tap water, and it tastes like tap water, but it is healthy. And between making coffee and generally re-hydrating myself I go through about 2.5 - 3 litres a day, which keeps the little tool busy.

At the Guest Centre two weeks ago a roof top 'polytank' burst its pipe just as I arrived home. As I walked up the stairs to my room, suddenly there was a tympani on the roof beside me followed moments later by a percussion below me. 

I don't even think I had noticed the tank before. If you enlarge the image you can just make out the jet of water from the top of the pipe against the sky. In the time it took to grab my camera most of the action was done. But the pounding on the roof and the clatter below brought a couple of staff and the water supply was quickly shut off.

Unfortunately, this also included my place and the cool shower I was looking forward to at the end of my hot walk home dried up. The water was off for several hours while the fittings were replaced. And when it came back on it flowed dark red-brown until the next day. I didn't think even my UV purifier would get me to drink the brown stuff — of course, since it works on light, opaque water can't be purified. The next day I had to buy water like everyone else.

One of the great luxuries of the Guest Centre is that there is (frequently) hot water. During the hot days of January this was not really necessary. And now that the days are cooler (31 degrees instead of 33 — but less humidity) I haven't had hot water for two weeks. So the morning shower can be a little brisk. It's still hot enough that most days I have two.

As I've noted before, when I arrived, Ghana was deep in the haze of the dry season. In addition to re-hydration, water was necessary just for opening up the throat during the days of inhaling the red dust. But now that we are moving into the rainy season (I still can't get anyone to say we are in the rainy season, or when we will be, for that matter) some days there is an abundance of water. Some homes keep their cisterns at capacity by channeling water from the roof. This can't be done with the roof top units. But you can have a tepid shower if the water in the tank heats up in the sun. Unfortunately, bacteria also prefer the water warmer.

It now rains about every second or third day. This occurs usually in the evening or early morning hours, which is convenient as I'm usually either already home or have yet to set out.

Yesterday was atypical. 

It rained before dawn, but just lightly. I then went down to the Guest Centre restaurant for breakfast. Now that I have exams to mark, and in keeping with my tradition in Canada, I like to start the process off over a breakfast out. During breakfast it began to pour. I had a bag full of exams to mark, so just settled in. The coffee is caffeinated so I always stop after two cups. This allowed me to use my cup to catch the water dripping from the ceiling onto my table. The entire day was drizzly. Later in the afternoon, while at my office, we had two more torrential downpours.

As I type, it just started to rain again. This is the second time today, so perhaps yesterday was not atypical but the new normal. I hope it doesn't last as I have to get to my Appointment meeting shortly. Around here showing up looking and smelling like a wet dog is probably fairly common, but still, you only get to make one first impression. I'd rather the impression is 'that nice dry Canadian'. At least I had the foresight to bring my umbrella today, though I'm not at all convinced it will provide any adequate protection.

Yesterday was a holiday, Africa Day (imagine Canadians celebrating America Day — that's just not gonna take off) and I think in anticipation of it, the guy who cleans my room brought in an extra towel and this:

And thank heavens. I find nothing more bothersome than a nasty paper cut on my butt. I've read the fine print; I've no idea what is safe about the paper. Maybe it's a child safety feature — the roll can't get stuck in the wind pipe of a three-year old.

The university has some of the best washrooms I've encountered. There was a different attitude toward public washrooms pre-1960s. Most grand train stations will demonstrate this. In April I read a paper at the 9th Annual Arts Colloquium, which was held in the Great Hall, the centre piece of the administration complex that sits on the hill top overlooking the campus and surrounding countryside. I had been in the hall in January, but only briefly, and had no need to check out the facilities. But the conference spanned two days.

The urinal was hard to photograph but it is a triplet. As I face the urinals, the door in is on the left, the sinks on the right. Behind me is  a wall of toilets behind beautiful mahogany doors. One was occupied and I didn't really feel I should face my toes that way and start clicking.

And here is another little favourite, in the men's room at the Loggia, the Senior Members Club that I frequent. The star feature here is the all too rare corner urinal, with the little quarter-round tank above. Another nice feature of the SMC is the washroom has cloth towels.

The rain has stopped and off I go to my meeting.