Being in a fragile environment makes one more aware of what one should and should not dispose of in the water. Read further about water management of The Antigua.
The Antigua, the ship of the expedition, uses salt water tanks to flush the toilets. All passengers had an exercise in being careful with water usage as unfortunately the salt water pump was broken on the Antigua, meaning drinking water was used to flush the toilets, lowering our water supply daily. Precautions were taken – everyone was rationed to a one minute shower each day, and for the toilets the following rule applied: “when it is yellow let it mellow, when it is brown, flush it down”.
Every day the water usage was monitored and the captain gave us updates. Close to Ny-Ålesund only 1500 liters of water were left. As the meter of the water level is placed above 1500 l, one couldn’t measure the decline of water any further. It was uncertain when we would run out of drinking water and only the side the ship was inclined had water. In research station Ny-Ålesund the water station opened for us and gave us a refill. Our water scarcity was resolved and all passengers were allowed to shower again. However, by now we were used to water scarcity so had proper training in taking extremely short showers.