Would You Live Without Running Water in America?

Friday, 03 April 2009

Would You Live Without Running Water in America?
I am currently living in Fairbanks, Alaska. We are far enough north to have permafrost, which means that the top soil is frozen all year long.This makes drilling wells very expensive or impossible for most people. Due to this, a significant number of people in the city of Fairbanks and the rest of central and northern Alaska live in dry cabins (without running water).
Dry cabins aren't like your uncle's hunting camp in the back country. Dry cabins are actually just like houses, some are more than two bedrooms, some are just one room and only big enough for your cot and a rocking chair. The only difference is that the kitchen sink (if there is one) doesn't have a faucet and there is no bathroom.
These cabins are usually cheaper and much nicer than apartments with running water, so quite a few people have no problem living in them. Most have an outhouse, but some have a composting toilet inside. Residents take showers at work, church, the gym, or school (most of these places have showers just for that purpose) and transport water from public pumps to their cabins.
Before I moved to Alaska I had no idea that so many people in one of the most developed nations in the world live without running water. It seems to be one of those things that we take for granted, but something that is certainly not essential to life or happiness.
I am considering returning to Alaska next year for graduate school and will most likely be living in a dry cabin at that time. Would you ever do this voluntarily? Do you know of other areas in the US where people live without running water? Did you even know that there are people without running water and indoor plumbing in the US?

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Comments (24)

Voluntarily? No. I'm too spoiled.
- 4/3/2009 5:29 PM
- PsychedelicBreakfast@xanga (message)
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If I didn't have running water, I would have to adjust it.
- 4/3/2009 5:32 PM
- chPanda@xanga (message)
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sounds like an adventure! if i had to go to alaska i would want to try it out
- 4/3/2009 5:43 PM
- black_lie@xanga (message)
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hmm i wonder if i'll survive lol
- 4/3/2009 6:02 PM
- starberri92@xanga (message)
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I've done it but only on vacations. I think I could handle it just for myself .I don't even want to think about how hard it would be if I tried to do it with children.
- 4/3/2009 8:54 PM
- echois23@xanga (message)
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I could try it... but I don't think I would last long. I would go crazy within a couple of days... maybe even hours.
- 4/3/2009 10:00 PM
- spanz@xanga (message)
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I, like the first commenter, happen to be way too spoiled for that. I'm used to the luxury of having running water, so I would not voluntarily go to an area where I had none.
- 4/3/2009 10:18 PM
- pillowpixies@xanga (message)
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I can't imagine life without the use of water at the turn of the tap!
- 4/3/2009 11:31 PM
- dead_cockroach@xanga (message)
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no...I' ve been america for 3 years (only for study) but I've never know about that. It's sounds awful, but I would like to try live the dry cabins. It would be too hard for me. Alaska is a strange place to me, I would like to go some day. I will get used to that while I'm living in the dry cabins.
- 4/4/2009 12:54 AM
- cliffyjohang (message)
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I have heard there are some very poor areas in the South near the Appalachians that have little or no plumbing... I don't know how btrue it is now though. never been there. I could definitely live that way though. its'd be an adjustment, but I did live in one of the most arid deserts for a while (Arava in Israel) and thought we had running water, there was very little to go around as it came out of a fossil aquifer, so we used compost toilets and used as little water as possible. We also sometimes used sand to wash things or ourselves, as it is just as effective as water and soap, and comes right off when the air is so dry!
- 4/4/2009 2:41 AM
- rosehips_for_autumn_strain@xanga (message)
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I would love to try, I have a huge fascination about living as far north as I can...
- 4/4/2009 4:14 AM
- whonose@xanga (message)
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A very good friend of mine lives in Tennessee, his family isn't super poor or anything, but they didn't have an indoor bathroom till the 1980s. Some people nearby him still have outhouses.
- 4/4/2009 4:33 AM
- SeanHarrington@xanga (message)
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I would have a hell of a time adjusting to that. I always shower in the morning, but i'm not a big morning person and i'm usually late. Also, I have a son who's about to turn two and I give him baths at night so that would just add another errand to my currently hectic schedule. I don't think it would be bad if I was out of college and my son was older though.
- 4/4/2009 1:42 PM
- stefinini@xanga (message)
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Me, live without running water? More like, do you guys want to smell me after two weeks without a shower?
- 4/4/2009 8:03 PM
- Jeff91199@xanga (message)
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Once used to it, I don't think it would be a problem at all.

I didn't see a chimney on the cabin pictured. Maybe I missed it, or it is not viewable from the photo. But it makes me wonder what the usual heat source for these type of places?
- 4/4/2009 8:28 PM
- OwlieTucker@xanga (message)
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I think I could live without running water for a couple of days.

@starberri92@xanga - you can't! You need take shower twice a day!
- 4/4/2009 9:08 PM
- Blueberry_xh@xanga (message)
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Well, my family lived without heat for about a year, and without water for about...six. It wasn't fun, especially 'cause there were no options other than to get some water from a well for cleaning, cooking, etc. It's not fun, I wouldn't do it voluntarily unless there was an upside that made it all somehow worth it.

Like...if it helped the poor, or I went somewhere without water to help the poor. Or if going someplace without running water would keep me safe...stuff like that. Big good reasons, in other words.
- 4/4/2009 9:42 PM
- MyFreedomWings@xanga (message)
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@Blueberry_xh@xanga - hmm, you are right! lol.. but you said u don't mind tho, lol
- 4/4/2009 10:43 PM
- starberri92@xanga (message)
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Wow, that's cool. I had no idea people voluntarily lived without running water (people who aren't survivalists, anyway) in America. But how do you wash your dishes and clothes? I'm guessing dishes with the water you bring in, and clothes at a laundromat? Do people ever melt snow as a water source?
- 4/5/2009 3:59 AM
- KissMeImKati@xanga (message)
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I don't think I can do it. I'm so dependant and used to having running water.
- 4/6/2009 12:49 PM
- dannyb0y@xanga (message)
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@OwlieTucker@xanga - I'm not sure where tripcrazed got that picture, but the trees around here are horribly small so not many people use wood heat. They use the usual oil, propane, or electric. All of the heaters in the cabins that I have seen are like permanent space heaters. You know what I mean? Like a little box on the wall blows the heat out from one area, as opposed to baseboard heat.
- 4/6/2009 2:43 PM
- LupusInvictus@xanga (message)
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@rosehips_for_autumn_strain@xanga - Sand is a pretty good idea
@KissMeImKati@xanga - People carry in water from public pumps for dishes and take their clothes to the laundry mat... I haven't heard of anyone melting snow just for water at home - I think it's too inefficient when you've got a gas or electric stove.
- 4/6/2009 2:46 PM
- LupusInvictus@xanga (message)
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Its not that hard actualy you can be lucky if you live close to a spring water that comes out of the ground and you can accoualliy use the rain water to do dish, mop floors what ever but dont use it for cooking or drinking
- 4/6/2009 4:47 PM
- jesse
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@LupusInvictus@xanga - That is very interesting. Thank you for your kind reply.

-Owlie.
- 4/6/2009 7:19 PM
- OwlieTucker@xanga (message)
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