FRESH WATER: ARE THE OLD GREEN PUMPS DISAPPEARING?

In 1950, my parents purchased a cottage on a small Indiana lake. The house dated to the beginning of the 20th century; and both it and its contents were about as "shabby chic" as possible. An endearing feature was the kitchen. At the old sink was a hand pump. It had been painted green ages ago, but the paint had worn off on the handle due to what must have been thousands of pumps over the years. The pump sat on a well pipe that invaded the kitchen floor. The water was wonderful-cold, crisp and endless- all for a push on the handle. The green hand pump and its water became a central feature of every visit to the cottage, and more satisfying than a fudgesicle from the Royal Blue grocery on a steamy summer day.

After my parents passed away, and before I could secure and sell the cottage, it was vandalized extensively, doors and windows broken, furnishings smashed or stolen. But in all that chaos, the old green hand pump stood like a timeless sentinel, producing wonderful, cold, crisp and endless water.

In the world today, the green hand pumps and the fresh water they make available are becoming scarce commodities, as demand seems to be running away from supply. In the United States, aquifers and water bodies are being depleted in quantity or quality by irrigation, urbanization, mining for natural gas and coal, etc.

Internationally, many countries do not have adequate supplies of safe, fresh water. Water For People is an organization that assists people in developing countries by supporting locally sustainable drinking water resources and sanitation facilities. It estimates that, world-wide, 884 million people do not have safe drinking water; 2.5 billion are without adequate sanitation facilities; and each day 6,000 people, mostly children, die from water related illness.

In the United States, as well as in other countries, there is a growing awareness of the imperative need to conserve fresh water resources. We can expect expanded governmental regulation of water appliance and plumbing related efficiencies; restrictions on water use; higher rates for water and wastewater service; rate structures which discourage demand; and reuse or recycling of wastewater for domestic use. These and other measures are being developed and imposed so as to conserve water and help assure that old green hand pumps continue to flow.