We ran out of water last Tuesday. I discovered this in the shower with shampoo in my hair.
Nothing came out of the bathroom tap and Sara shouted up that the kitchen tap had stopped too. I went outside to check the tank although I had no real idea what I was checking. It was empty, so at least that part was straightforward.
We spent the next twenty minutes looking for a leak. I checked around the pump, under the kitchen sink and behind the washing machine. Sara walked around the outside of the house looking for wet patches.
There was a large wet patch beside the lemon tree. The hose was lying in it.
The twins had been making a river in the garden the day before. I knew about it because I had given them permission. At the time I was working and they were occupied. It seemed like a good arrangement.
They had dug a channel through the soil and filled the bottom with stones, leaves and several plastic animals. They had also left the hose running all night.
Both denied being the last person to touch the tap. We never got any further than that.
The water company said they could send a tanker in the afternoon but there was no definite time. Until then we had a few bottles of drinking water and whatever was left in the kettle.
It is surprising how often you use a tap without thinking about it. Sara tried to start the dishwasher. I filled the coffee machine and then realised it would need cleaning afterwards. One of the twins used the toilet despite being asked if she could wait.
Leo came downstairs just before eleven and asked what was going on. We told him the water tank was empty.
“Can I still shower?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
That was the end of his involvement.
I went to buy more bottled water. When I got back Sara rinsed the shampoo out of my hair over the kitchen sink. It had been in there for nearly two hours and my scalp had started to itch.
The tanker arrived at about half past three. The driver filled the tank and asked if we had been watering the garden. I told him the hose had been left on overnight.
He said it happened quite often.
It took around fifteen minutes to fill the tank. The water coming through the taps was cloudy at first so we left the kitchen tap running until it cleared.
Sara put the dishwasher on and I went upstairs to finish my shower.