Living on empty in a drought.

• Author: Deering, Emily
• Position: Voices

HOLLIS, ME.--As I ran off the turf after field hockey, sweaty and tired, I imagined taking a long, relaxing shower. But that was no longer possible at home. The only showers I was getting were torture.

My family had barely any water. We were drought victims, among the millions of Americans affected by abnormally dry weather in many parts of the country. Our 25-foot well, which worked for decades without problems, dried up in October.

Especially on cold Maine mornings, I dreaded taking a one-minute shower. As soon as I heard the water pump go on--a sign our water tank was empty and there was air in the pipes--I had to get out.

The inconvenience and extra work of supplying our house with water was annoying. Every Saturday morning, from last fall until March, my dad and I took his truck over to our family's lakeside camp and filled 6- and 10-gallon jugs with water from the hose.

I hated reaching our driveway at home, knowing what was next. We had to carry the 14 heavy jugs to the bathroom. We used some of the water to manually flush the toilet once a day. Otherwise, it wouldn't flush at all. We also boiled some of the water to purify it so we could wash dishes. We had to buy spring water for drinking.

At school, I...