It all flows downhill

I had a great education on Mozambican life on Christmas Eve and I could hardly wait to reduce it to writing--but i stifled my excitement about it in deference to the delicate sensibilities of those who might not have considered it appropriate fare for Christmas day reading.

Houses produce waste--both of the liquid and solid variety.  I had been under the impression that the sewer pipes that I see in the back whisk it away in a flash (just like the wind does to the fallen leaves of Camelot--at night of course).  Well, apparently not.  They use what might be called a modified septic system here: Pipes leave the house, bearing liquids and solids and run to cement boxes buried in the ground.  The pipe to the sewer flows from these boxes near their top.  Solids stay in the boxes and the liquids drain off in the sewer pipe.  Well, after a period of time, those boxes become full and those solids begin to back up into your home (no more description needed I believe).  That necessitates removing the cemented lid of the box and emptying it out (into a hole in the yard which you have dug for this express purpose).  Then the box cap is cemented back into place and life goes on pleasantly as before you became aware of the issue.  This entire process played out at our home on Christmas eve.  It took six hours work for each of two men and cost about a hundred dollars.  I believe that it was money well spent (as I just don't think that Debbie would have gotten it done in time by herself on Christmas Eve).

The plumbing site described above.  Visible is the sewer pipe and the two caixas or septic boxes that are about six feet deep. 

Part of the whole water system is the water tank on the roof which is the actual source of water for the house.  Everything is gravity fed so at least we still have running water for a couple of days from this 1500 liter tank when the city water runs out.  And since gravity does not require electricity, we have water when the power is out too.

This tank on the ground receives water directly from the city system (irregular at best).  A pump will send water from this tank to the tank on top of the house.  That is subject to electricity availability of course.  All in all, the system works fairly well and we are rarely without water (not since the week we arrived and yesterday).  Now, water pressure is another matter--we have only what gravity through small-diameter pipes will provide--which is simply dribbles.  We do not use a massaging shower head.