We are very thankful for the wonderful well that we have at the Clinic.  The well was dug in 2006, and since then we have had a reliable source of water – even during our dry seasons.  We have had some challenges with the submersible pump – but we are still very blessed to have a consistent water supply.

The Clinic has two water pumps.  One is a submersible pump that is 200 feet underground in the “new” well.  The second is an above-ground pump that can be used to either pump water from the “old” well, or from our cistern.  The cistern can be filled by either of the two pumps from each one’s respective well, and also receives rain water that we collect from the roof of the Clinic’s guesthouse.

This past week both of our pumps stopped working.  That means that we are unable to retrieve water from our deep, reliable well.  We will be able to use the water in our cistern, we just are not able to pump it out.  So, we have resorted to getting water of the cistern by siphoning, and carrying water in buckets.  We will now be dependent on rain water to keep our cistern full, but unfortunately we are now entering the dry season in San Lorenzo.

Carmen and I siphoning water from the cistern

So for now – we have no running water at the Clinic.  It’s not too bad for the issues of daily living, it just means baths out of a bucket and flushing toilets the old fashioned way.  But it’s a bit more labor intensive for the work at the Clinic.  Water must be carried to each exam room, and it makes our laundry issues a bit more difficult.

Carmen siphoning water into a 55 gallon tank

There are certainly people that can come help us with our pump problems.  But pulling up our submersible pump is not a simple task, and not an inexpensive one.  Karl and Jody Needy (of Newport, Tennessee) have been our pump experts over the past three years, and have performed all our pump maintenance on a yearly basis.  They will be back at the Clinic in about a month – and so we will most likely wait for them to arrive to fix our pump problems.  So for the next month we will be using buckets and siphoning hoses – and praying for rain!

Papi Don and Cristian manning the water tanks