Developing Theme: Water

I've decided to dedicate this week to the theme: Why you might think of Brazil as a developing country, but why I think it's doing some things right - or alternately, things we might learn from other places if we aren't too proud to see and learn? (I think I could find a week's worth of photos on this topic. It'll be a matter of having my camera on me and being brave enough to whip it out.)

These are the water storage containers you'll find on top of a lot of houses/buildings here. I don't know if rainwater is collected, but the slope of some of the roofs would suggest yes. Either way, water is pumped up on occasion and stored there until you need it, where by gravity feeds it to your faucet or toilet or whatever the case may be. Though not very sightly and giving the appearance of a "poor" country, it's actually quite logical and, I suspect, saves on energy in the long run. Additionally (though this isn't a worry in US cities) when the power goes out, you don't have to worry about the pump burning out (again, a problem for the rural folks back home :) ).

Not to say it's perfect. Our house ran out of water a couple weeks ago for some odd reason, but now you can hear water being pumped back up into our storage container in the evenings.