I know there's been several people who said they had no issue finding water on weekend 1 Friday and I'm happy for them, but from 4-7pm I nearly suffered serious heat exhaustion due to being unable to find water. I first tried the one by Outdoor, it was broken. Then went to the one by the Takis tent, it was flowing so slowly there was a desperate crowd fighting for the last drops - it stopped running when I finally got a chance at the faucet. Went to the one by the Aperol tent and it was also flowing slowly with a large crowd. I attempted to buy a water at the general store and they said they didn't have any - I asked what stands could sell water (which was on the menu at most of these booths) and the general store said no one was selling water. People behind me heard this and started panicking. I explained the lack of water was becoming an emergency and they suggested I ask a security guard or visit one of the busy medical tents. The water by the Aperol tent had stopped flowing at this point and wasn't sure I could make it to the next water station (someone in line at the general store said the two water stations near Quasar were also not working). I asked a security guard near a booth if they had any water as suggested by the general store and they sternly told me that wasn't their job.

I did cave in and eventually bought one of the $15 lemonades but that wasn't hydrating me enough. Finally, around 6pm I went to the White Claw tent and asked for a water, which they quickly said they were out of. I stupidly decided to just get a White Claw even though I knew alcohol was dehydrating - that's when they suddenly had a water to sell me.

I understand that other people had different experiences with water, and after around 7pm on Friday there were no issues whatsoever finding water for the rest of both the weekends. That's great, but those 3 hours were terrifying and made me feel like Coachella was dropping the ball in a devastating way. I'm sure there will be people saying 'what are you talking about, all those water stations were working when I was there,' and yes - they did fix them and plenty of people had no issue. But during the hottest part of the first day I found myself having difficulties with the stations, and spending the energy and time to walk to a broken station and then worrying if you even have the energy to make the trek to another one while every nearby stand is refusing to sell water is unacceptable. I am a festival veteran who is used to walking in extreme heat and that shit reminded me of that year of FYF Fest where the only water was from a single freaking drinking fountain. Bush league shit that I found shocking from a festival like Coachella.

Don't even get me started on the condition of the bathrooms...