Hot and Cold Running Water???

In the West, most residences have hot water. In the US, most homes and hotels have gas hot water heaters, and in the parts of Europe where I've travelled, they have electric hot water heaters.

In the UAE, most residences have electric hot water heaters. In winter, the tap water can be colder than 15 (that's 50 for Americans), and most residents switch on the heater for a hot bath or shower (though the poorest take cold showers).

Now, it's summer, and the affluent not only have hot water heaters, they have cold water chillers so they can take cold showers in the summer (but why do they need them?)

But those of us who are not affluent lack the cold water chillers, and the tap water heats up to more than 50 (that's 140 for Americans).

In early summer, the tap water cools down at night, and is almost bearable between midnight and dawn, but eventually it becomes unbearable all the time. A partial solution is to switch off the hot water heater, which cools down to room temperature, providing a small supply of cool water with which to shower (if one can afford to keep room temperature at bearable levels).

So, for now, the English 'C' on the shower tap has become the French 'C,' though I don't think the French ex-pats stuck here over the summer are rejoicing about the victory of their language.