Rain

Well, of course it rained last night. And just as I predicted, right around dinner time. In fact it started just when I left to pick up Kim from work. Naturally I had washed the car yesterday too. So it was steaks on the grill, and cooked under an umbrella.

But, as they’ve been saying, we need the rain. I’m not sure it was a “tank” rain, though, which is the type of rain needed to fill the cisterns. Let me explain. Bermuda has little or no suitable underground water supply, so almost all of the fresh water used on the island is rain water collected from the roofs. Most, if not all buildings, are capable of collecting and storing rainwater. Which explains why virtually all buildings have clean white roofs. The water is diverted from the roof to an underground tank, then pumped to the taps in the house. It normally isn’t treated, and if you keep the roof and the cistern clean, the water is apparently OK for drinking. (I actually took a flashlight and looked into our tank – it was surprisingly clear and clean looking). We happen to have a reverse osmosis filter that treats our drinking water, but I think most houses drink the water straight from the tap.

During very dry weather, you can run out of water, and if you do, you can buy it from a local supplier. We don’t know how often that will happen. My guess is it won’t be that often since I believe the underground tank is sized for the number of bathrooms, which usually indicates how many people live in the house. Since we have three bathrooms and there are only the two of us (normally), we should have adequate capacity. Not only that, we’re fairly frugal about our usage.

Regarding the “tank” rain, apparently there are times when it’s rainy, but so windy that the water doesn’t funnel down into the collection system. Instead, it just blows off the roof and is “wasted”. Great for the grass and greenery, but not a “tank” rain.

Here are a couple photos of our roof. You can just make out the large ridge that channels the water into the tank.