Bucket Loads Of Health (360G-Wellcome-209586_Z_17_Z)

The drought that is currently affecting Cape Town has driven the implementation of maximum level water restrictions. To meet these requirements, city residents are experimenting with various water saving methods, including harvesting rainwater and recycling grey water for household use. Bucket Loads Of Health responds to the multiple health risks that are associated with these approaches to reusing water. The project will engage residents from three communities that vary significantly in water availability. Through a series of participatory audio-visual workshops, the community participants will explore their individual and collective experiences of water shortage and water saving. The workshop outputs - including body maps, personal stories, musical narratives and short films - will create platforms for co-learning between the community participants, water scientists, government representatives and other community members. These engagements will enable the exchange of knowledge about how water saving efforts can compromise health, and generate new thinking about practical measures to make these efforts safer. This work will emphasize the importance of public engagement in making scientific research more accessible and relevant to communities and policy makers. It will also enable policy makers to draft guidelines underlining the health-related aspects of water saving and reuse in different contexts.