Carol's Chapter
Sharing Water and Learning to Save Every Drop
told by Carol Mae Guild Sutton
Carol recalls a family well that repeatedly went dry. Their water tasted and smelled good, unlike some neighbors' sulfurous water. Mom hauled water from Reichenberg’s well for laundry. Ruth and John Reichenberg and their children, Kent and Carolyn, were close friends and neighbors. Daddy fitted a wagon with a five-hundred-gallon tank he had made and fetched water from town two or three times a week to replenish the family's and neighbors' wells. These shortages taught Carol lasting water-conservation habits.
In the family's own words
We had a well for years, and it went dry many times. Our water tasted and smelled good, but some of our neighbors had well water that tasted and smelled like sulfur. Mom would have to haul water from Reichenberg’s well to wash clothes when our well was dry. Ruth and John Reichenberg and their two children, Kent and Carolyn, were neighbors and very good friends. At one time, Daddy had a big wagon fitted with a five-hundred-gallon water tank that he had made. He went to town two or three times a week to get water for us and for our neighbors to put in our wells when they went dry. We learned how to ration water in those days, a lesson that has held over even today. I still cannot let the water just run and run when washing dishes or brushing my teeth.
Referenced in
Carol's Chapter, told by Carol Mae Guild SuttonRelated stories
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