water water everywhere but not a drop to drink

Last night was surely an adventure. For the past two weeks in Chengelpattu the motor bringing water from the well to the homes has not been working. A technician came 3 times to fix the motor unsuccessfully. For most of this time I was frolicking around Tamil Nadu, but I have returned to the comfortable apartment that Mathew resides in and with my return I automatically get enrolled in the water informational course in D2 of the Ranga Apartments. The first day I got back, somehow I managed to do all my washing with the water had been saved in three buckets. I had to fill one small bucket for proper rinsing so I went to the kitchen to because the water in the bathroom had been shut off. That water was spitting and spurting like usual, so I left the bucket to fill. Then the neighbors niece came to tell me more about the motor problem, so I hurried to turn off the water. She informed me that we can use one tap at a time so I finished the rinsing, filled the buckets, and hung the clothes to dry. The next evening her father came and said at 9:00 the water would be shut off so we should prepare for a day at least without any water. It was 8:45 and we had just finished eating so Mathew hurried to collect extra buckets we purchased for the LF students camp and began the water transportation to all buckets in the apartment. With the new buckets that was at least 12 buckets and containers. After filling the buckets we waited for the water to stop, but it kept coming, so Mathew washed the dishes and I took a bath. Good thing we collected all that water because the next day there was running water all day! No problems for cooking, washing, cleaning or rinsing. I kept waiting for the water to stop. In Mathew's apartment there are two types of water being used. One from the well, which is for drinking and one from the municipality which is for washing, cooking, or bathing. Usually around this time there is a great shortage of well water which everyone is depending on. The problem with the motor is only affecting the well water so at the time we were filling buckets every family in the apartments were also doing the same. The water shortage is really serious and not much is being done in terms of conservation. Many people are not aware or careful with the water and will leave taps on overflowing as this precious commodity trickles down the drain. We can be sure when people start dying from dehydration the government will be forced to do something, but will it be too little too late? For the sake of my friends, i sure hope not.