Now imagine if I told you that you have to do all of that with only one big container of water.
When I arrived in my town, I first wanted to understand if the water was safe to drink or not. So I took water samples in various towns and reviewed the lab analysis of the water, which showed very high levels of bacteria that could make you extremely sick. Most people here know that they cannot drink the water unless they boil it to kill the bacteria. However, sometimes children drink water from the tap or from the hose, and later become sick. I wanted to help educate families about alternative ways to ensure they had access to clean drinking water, such as chlorinating. I started training people in the community about cleaning and disinfecting their water systems, and how to add chlorine into their reservoir to kill the bacteria. I also began teaching in the schools about how to save water for long-term storage and use.
Here on the coast of Peru, most of the water comes from underground wells. These wells require pumps to bring the water to the surface. Pumps require electricity, which can be expensive. In many of the rural towns on the coast, each family pays about $3 a month to receive water, but they only receive water a few days a week. This can still be expensive for many families here.
Many small towns rely on community support to ensure they have access to drinking water. Occasionally, people from the health posts, such as nurses, will come out to the small towns to take water samples to see if the water is clean. In most cases, it is not safe to drink.
