My View: Water torture brings cold comfort for families who go with the flow

My heart goes out to the people of Northern Ireland who have been cut off from the water supply since before Christmas. I know what they are going through, as our taps ran dry on Boxing Day after we left the house empty for less than 48 hours. Despite leaving the central heating on, the plummeting temperatures caused external pipes to freeze – leaving us with no running water. It is hard to describe the feeling of desolation and helplessness as you stare in vain at the barren tap in the hope some miracle may happen – well it was Christmas – and the waters start to flow again.

We were told the only thing we could do was "wait until it thaws", but even when the thaw came not a drop of water could be seen from our taps. Even my husband's attempts to thaw things out himself with the help of my hair dryer under the sink proved fruitless. Not surprising really, as the frozen pipes – possibly 10 metres long – were well buried below the solid earth. His attempts did little more than make very hot pans. It is amazing how we take something so fundamental as running water whenever we want it for granted.

Suddenly, we could not flush the loo without copious buckets of water borrowed from the neighbours. Hand washing was relegated to that dreadful hand sanitiser which we cleared the local supermarket out of. Boiling a kettle, cleaning our teeth, washing the pots and running the washing machines were all off limits or made tediously time-consuming, with friends and relatives offering much-needed showers and use of their washing machines.

It made me think of places where they do not have the joy of freshly running water whenever they want it at the twist of a tap. Basic hygiene becomes terribly difficult. Health experts in Ireland are already warning of potential disease outbreaks as the water officials struggle to reconnect everyone. What must it be like in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia where access to fresh water is a luxury which we see as a right? Any water they do have is often contaminated aiding the spread of disease.

Luckily for us, the dawn of a New Year brought a thaw in our stubborn pipes and much to everyone's relief the taps started to flow again. I can't say that I have been much happier to see anything more than the water gushing out.

I have pledged not to take this precious commodity for granted again. I have always tried to conserve water but when I now have a new found vigour. In the past when I told children to turn off the taps when brushing their teeth they thought I was slightly mad, but now even they understand just how important it is