WATER RATIONING

Dear Barbel and Michael,

Sorry to have missed you – I wanted to ask this in person.

I have a small request (sorry to impose on you while you are on holiday :). As you know, Istria is experiencing a water crisis and water usage is being severely restricted, so please do your best to avoid wasting water. We’ve had no rain since early May and Istria’s supplies are rapidly drying up!

I now come to my small request. One of the current restrictions is a ban on garden irrigation, which means we have had to switch off our watering system. Without water, many of the plants in the garden will die, so would you mind watering them by hand using any spare household water. Obviously don’t run taps just to generate water, but if you could collect any ‘waste’ water using the bowls and buckets provided and throw it on the garden I would greatly appreciate it (as would the plants!) – every little helps.

Here are some water collection ideas which we are doing at home. Any others you think of please do also – the more water the better:

• Keep a washing up bowl in the sink to collect any rinsing or washing-up water.
• When running the shower, collect in a bucket the water you run before you get in while the shower’s heating up.
• If you feel really enthusiastic, you can also use a bowl to collect bathroom sink water when washing hands or cleaning teeth!

All this water can either be distributed using the watering can, thrown across the garden or tipped into the pots (please, don’t forget the plants near the gate).

For the moment domestic water is available all the time, but if conditions do not improve, it is expected that the water will be switched off for periods of the day. We will do our best to keep you informed of the situation. In the meantime, as water is so limited, please also try to avoid unnecessary usage:

• Don’t leave taps running
• Flush loos when really needed

Of course, I know you’re on holiday, so please don’t let this become a chore and if it is too much effort for you, I well understand.

For your sakes I hope the sun keeps shining on your holiday – for our sakes, please also keep your fingers crossed for some rain!

Have a lovely holiday.

 Many thanks,

Nicky