Water

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Water is very plentiful here, but is not always easy to obtain. The city of Ongole has a municipal water system. Not all homes have running water, so you will see portable pumps on stands along the streets in some neighborhoods. These pumps are connected by flexible hoses to taps in the city water system. In the morning women fill jugs and large pots and carry them back to their houses. Some carry them back on their heads. Frequently water is only available in different parts of the city and outlying areas every two or three days. People keep a supply of extra jugs of water in their homes.

To supplement the sporadic supply of city water there are bore wells located around the area. Bore wells are called that because they are bored or drilled with modern portable machines like we use to dig wells. Because Ongole is close to the coast of the Bay of Bengal, the water from these wells has a high salt content. It is safe to drink, but most people prefer to use the brackish bore well water for cleaning and bathing.

Another common well is a hand dug well. They are mostly located in the villages, but I included a picture of one in the city that is so old that buildings were built all around. They are not as deep as the bore wells and tend to go dry in the summer.

Even with all these water options many of the tiny villages and poor neighborhoods around the city go dry in the summer when temperatures go very high, sometimes as high as 120 degrees in May and June. The city trucks some water, but their resources are stretched very thin. IERF Ministries bought a water tank and a tractor to pull it. They deliver water free of charge to the very poor areas and the prisons. In many small villages the Ministry has paid to have wells drilled for the community. They cost $800 each. We visited a prison Thursday where the Chaplin is asking for help to get a bore well. In India prisoners have to pay for food and water. Many of the prisoners are extremely poor and their wives and families cannot afford to give them money.

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Photos

Tanner village well
Hand dug

City well
Old hand dug well surrounded by buildings

Modern bore well
his the bore well we saw all around town and that IERF Ministries is installing

Water Truck
Water tank on a tractor that is used to take water to the poorest areas and the prison

Portable pump
Portable pump attached to city system