WATER: Flow, Interrupted

2012 Tinker Recipient John Erickson describes the challenges many cities face in providing a clean and consistent supply of water.

Imagine waking up at 1:00 every morning to fill barrels in your backyard with water, since water only comes to your tap in the middle of the night. While much easier than hauling water from a well, this isn’t exactly what most people think of when they hear that a city has a piped water supply with a tap in every house. However, this situation is common in many cities in low- and middle-income countries.