Open Well
An open well, as seen in the picture, is not the typical well that we all imagine. It is simply a pit dug in the ground where water from a subsurface spring flows. Often times there are logs laid over the well so that people gathering water can reach it more easily. They lie across these logs and fill their jerry cans with water from the well. Open wells vary greatly in size, and some are always functioning, while others only have water during the wet season.

Boreholes
Boreholes are what we in the United States might equate to a well. They are shafts from around 20 to 100 feet in depth, and are encased in steel. At ground level, there is a hand pump. Often times boreholes break, and some believe that this is due to rough pumping, however others think that the companies employed to drill the boreholes hurry through the work, causing the borehole to break easily.

Shallow Well
Shallow wells are similar to boreholes, however they are generally only about 10 feet in depth. Shallow wells receive their water from an open well nearby, and the soil between the open and shallow well acts as filter, slightly improving the quality and cleanliness of the water.

Rainwater Catchment

Rainwater runs off the metal roof of houses into a gutter, which the feeds into a rain barrel like the one seen in the picture. This device is only used in the rainy season. Although it is useful to have water so close to the house, the system is not able to prevent initial dirty water that comes off the roof after a new rainfall.