SHARJAH // Appley Groch lives on a modest water budget, but that is still too much for her.
So Ms Groch, a Sharjah resident, has cut the amount she lives on to a sixth – just 30 litres a day – for 30 days.
The Australian teacher has calculated that she uses an average of 180 litres a day, compared with the 550 to 900 litres the average resident is estimated to use.
Showering, for which she sets aside a measly one minute, has so far been one of the big challenges.
“I have to mentally prepare before I go in,” Ms Groch said. “It is freezing for the first 12 seconds and then the hot water comes through.”
She planned the challenge, Water30, to mark her coming 30th birthday and raise money for a community struggling with water scarcity. Until June 13, she will have to collect and reuse shower water for flushing the toilet or watering the many plants on her balcony.
Ms Groch sets asides 5 litres for drinking and cooking, and the rest to wash dishes and clothes.
She has managed to stay well under 30 litres for the first nine days, but the unused amount is not carried over.
“I really thought about it for a while and I decided if I do not use it, I lose it,” she said.
It is not the first time she has helped collect money for water-related causes. In 2012, her pupils raised Dh29,000, which was donated to the Dubai Cares Wash in Schools programme, which provides clean water, sanitation and hygiene in schools around the world.
Ms Groch’s interest in the issue started in 2010 when she and her pupils at the Emirates International School were finding out about water scarcity.
The issue affects the UAE, which is one of the most arid places on Earth, but it has desalination to provide plentiful and clean, potable water to its citizens.
This is not the case in many developing countries where finding clean water is a daily struggle for people.
Ms Groch’s mother, Lynda Groch, explained in a post on Facebook how much her daughter loved water. Once she even caught pneumonia from walking in the rain.
“I think that is why I am so proud of her for taking on this challenge,” Mrs Groch wrote.
“Water is so dear to her heart and to have to live with so little to really empathise with those that do not have easy access to safe clean water is a deep, personal challenge for her.”
The teacher has already raised a little over US$2,000 in donations for Charity: Water, an international organisation that provides wells and sanitation to arid communities in Sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia and South America.
Ms Groch’s goal is to collect US$10,000, the cost of building a well for one community.
The location of the well will not be determined until later this year, but she is confident the funds donated will go directly to the people that need them.
“I love that they have 100 per cent of public donations going directly to water projects,” Ms Groch said. “They track every dollar and they have a separate group of donors who cover all of the administration and running costs.”
She also saves Dh1,000 out of her salary every month and by the end of July will have more than US$3,000 for the cause.
“We are all united by our need for water and we just take it for granted,” she said.
Her colleague, Dona King, said she hoped Ms Groch’s message reaches more people.
“She is very focused on it and she has put a lot into it,” said Mrs King, who called her colleague a “very proactive person” who “does not let things go by”.
For more details, visit sites.google.com/site/water30appley/, or donate at my.charitywater.org/water30
vtodorova@thenational.ae
