In the Valley of Peace: Watering the Dates

It's hard to imagine there is enough water for the thousands of date trees growing in South Shuneh but it's possible. Below the earth there is what seems to be an everlasting source of brackish water that is used for irrigating the land all year long. Mohammad explained that the water has 500ppm of minerals and salts that makes it unfit for humans but perfect for plants. To compare, the water that comes from the municipality to the house has about 100ppm of minerals and salts. In a quick google search, NYC's tap water ranges from 20-50ppm of minerals and salts. So for drinking, we have to buy bulk bottled water which has been purified like Aquafina or Dasani. Twice a week we go to the water store where the bottles are sterizlied with steam and refilled. The price of these big plastic jugs in 5 JD and to fill them is ridiculously cheap. Otherwise, you can buy bottled water and 1.5 liters only costs 0.35 JD. I cringe at the site of all the millions of plastic water bottles that are trashed along the roadways and piling up in metal dumpsters. Is there a way to reduce this plastic comsumption when it comes to one of our basic needs for survival? There's not even a deposit on the bottle to encourage the slightest effort for recycling. The only upside is that the goat farmer, who has his camp near a landfill, has an unlimited source of plastic bottles to store his goat milk and he uses this to his advantage.

Going back to the date farm, I thought I should share about the irrigation system which is quite complex. It starts with the well room which houses the pump. From there one main pipe feeds 2 slightly smaller ones which then go to the four pipes that go to the trees. If we removed all the trees and weeds, the irrigation system would look like a broken spider web the size of 10 football fields of black tubing that goes from big to little tubes. The whole network is above ground which makes it vulnerable to damage and eventually tiny leaks that can get bigger. The system ages quickly and water ends up going to weed growth rather than to the date palms in some places. The amount of work and up keep is overwhelming! In his past, Mohammad was a successful irrigation system businessman with a manufacturing plant but he didn't spend much time learning about their maintenance. Luckily he has an expert team of pipe fixers in his friend circle because the other day I caused a pressure explosion in the system which was my worst nightmare. The palm watering mantra is "open [vavle] first, then shut" which is said in English by non-English speakers who train us workawayers on watering the dates. Anyway, the guys were working on a pipe that goes to the pool and they had closed off the main valve. I didn't know and I turned on the pump and BOOM! a gushing geyser was coming from the main pipe outside of the well room which was a total shock for me and Andreas. Ugh. I felt so ashamed and sorry but it was fixed in no time using fire, date palm leaves, plastic pipes, and rubber tubing. I'll tell you how because you never know when this could come in handy.

How to fix a broke irrigation pipe: 1. Obtain a metal inner joint. 2. Fit joint with a plastic tube (that is slightly bigger in diameter) to one side of the joint. 3. Cut plastic tube to proper length of damaged area. 4. Use fire to heat the inside and the outside of the plastic tube so it will slightly flexible. 5. Place other side of metal joint into the hot side of the plastic tube. 6. Slam together and pinch closed using rubber tube like a tourniquet.

Aside from using the brackish water for the dates, we also can use it for swimming. The pool doesn't have a filtration system so when the water gets too gross, it can be pumped into the watering system and routed to the date palms. It takes about 6 hours to fill this pool which is about the same to water all the dates so no water is wasted in this luxury (well except through evaporation as Andreas pointed out).