It's Christmas! We have hot chocolate coming through our faucets!!!

So, earlier today we turned on the water in our house, and we had brown water!!!  Yum!!!  Nope, not a gift from Santa, it's just that one of our water tanks is low and all of the sediment started coming through our pipes.

Hot cocoa on tap?

Water is an interesting topic in Africa and something that we really take for granted in the US.  If you've ever traveled to a developing country, you'll know what I mean.  If you hedge your bets and throw caution to the wind, you do so at your own peril (ala Montezuma's Revenge).

Up until about a week ago, we've been subsisting 100% of the time on bottled water for drinking, cooking, and brushing our teeth, but because that started getting a little expensive (about $120/month), we started looking for options.  So, here's our solution:

A Sand Filter

So, we've started filtering our tap water through this 3-foot tall version of the 4-inch tall Brita water filter that you may have on your sink in the US.  

So, we pour water into the top of the filter with a hose.

Underneath this metal plate is a layer of fine sand, which filters the water.

What comes out is good, clean drinking water!  

Is it pure and safe?  Well, the ultimate answer is that none of us has gotten dysentery, so YES!!!