Survival of the fittest – how to make it through utility cuts
No matter where in South Africa you live, you are facing electricity cuts and water problems too. Yes it’s frustrating, but it’s a reality so here are some guidelines to help you get through power and water outages as painlessly and stress free as possible.
Load shedding
- Make sure that you know when there will be load shedding in your area by printing out the load shedding schedule for your area from www.eskom.co.za. Stick it somewhere that you can see it so that you can prepare accordingly for when your lights go out. Also, if you have an Apple iPhone you can download the new load shedding app from the App store.
- Opt for LED lights and globes that are battery chargeable (and make sure they are always fully charged) so that when the power cuts hit, at least you will have some source of light. You can purchase these from any lighting or home stores.
- Fill up old water bottles, freeze them and keep them stored in your deep freeze. This will decrease the chances of your food defrosting and going off.
- Invest in thermos flasks and make sure they are filled up your with boiling water so that if you feel like a cup of tea or coffee, or if you need to fill up your baby’s bottle, you can.
- Keep stock of non-perishable foods in your grocery cupboard so that you and your family have something to eat. For example, canned foods, bread or dried fruit. Also, consider foods that don’t need cooking like cold meats, cheese and pickles. Don’t forget that if you usually use an electronic can opener make sure you have a normal one as well.
Water outages
Water outages are not as easy to prepare for as electricity cuts. If a pipe bursts unexpectedly there is not much one can do besides sit it out and hope that the water comes back on quickly. However, there are times when we are warned about water outages and here are a few things you can do to prepare.
- Make sure your bath is filled up with water so that you can take a bath. The water may not still be as hot as you would like, but at least you can wash yourself.
- Make sure your kettle is filled up so if you want to have a cup of tea or coffee, or if you need to fill up your child’s bottle, you can.
- Fill a few pots with water incase you want to do any cooking.
- Fill up buckets with water so that you can fill up your toilets. You don’t need to use mineral water to fill them up; water from your pool will work just fine.
