Getting Water

When purchasing the property we were informed that water was provided through an agreement with a neighbour who has their own borehole - a common solution in Zambia where many households are not connected to municipal water systems.

As we moved in, it was clear there was no water coming. The neighbour explained that since there was no power (given the national energy crisis) she did not have power to pump the water from her borehole. Doing so using a diesel generator would increase the cost of the water so much that all the other neighbours on the line would not be able to pay.

Our first solution was to buy barrels of water like almost everyone else. Blue 250L drums of water are filled up at water filling stations and then, for an additional fee, are rolled to the relevant property.

Then the Church being built next to us proved to be very open and supportive. They agreed that once they had built their own borehole (projected for the 1st quarter of 2025) that we could access water from them. Once 2025 arrived, they realised that the 1st quarter was in the middle of rainy season, and not the time for a borehole. The project has been pushed back to at least October....

During rainy season we improvised a rainwater harvesting system. For that we invested in a big 5000L tank, which should eventually form the centre piece of our water infrastructure.

We covered the top opening with netting and collected the rain water running off the roof.

The next step was to invest in a water tank stand. Raising our water tank high above ground will allow us to use the pressure from gravity to feed water into our taps.

We are also in the middle of upgrading the plumbing and sewage system for the entire property - the material used during the original construction was of very low quality and needs to be replaced.

Once that is done we will be all set. The only thing still missing will be the actual water!

For the time being our only choice will be to order water deliveries from a water browser.