Original article can be found at https://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/news/hometown-h2o-brings-potable-water-to-jacksonville-residents/article_64a5b3a8-3950-11eb-b601-af181d1031dc.html
David and Beverly Daily were the recent recipients of a water well installed on their property, located off County Road 3222, as a Hometown H2O project. Although their mailing address is listed as Jacksonville, the Daily home has never had a water connection due to its distance from city utilities.
The Dailys, along with their three children and their families, live on a property covering approximately 83 acres, according to Beverly Daily. Other homes in the area use water wells, but installing one was cost-prohibitive for the family, according to Daily. Instead, they relied on bottled water for drinking and filtered rainwater for other uses.
The well installed on the Daily property was the third project of Hometown H2O, a program expansion of Waterboys’ existing efforts from its initial focus in East Africa to bring clean, sustainable water to communities in need across the United States, according to Susan O’Grady, Director of Marketing-Building Services and Agriculture, Xylem Inc.
The first project took place in February of this year in Suffolk, Virginia. The second brought clean water to a retired couple living in Jewell, Oregon. The well on the Daily property will supply four households and their 11 residents.
“The Hometown H20 program works with Water Well Trust to identify, fund and drill water wells for low-income households that do not have access to water at home or within a reasonable distance,” O’Grady stated. “The partnership combines Xylem Watermark’s community of stakeholders, employee volunteers and product donations with Waterboys’ base of dedicated volunteers and partners to bring clean water to households in need.”
The Dailys learned of the Water Well Trust from daughter Kimberly Holt, who had been researching various options online.
“They called about a week after she applied to them,” Beverly Daily said. “Once they decided they wanted to do it, after talking with us, they contacted the different entities that were involved in donating. The Water Well Trust is kind of like the hub.”
The Hometown H2O projects involve several entities including the Chris Long Foundation’s Waterboys’ initiative, Xylem, Inc. and the Water System Council’s Water Well Trust.
“Working with Xylem’s acclaimed corporate social responsibility program, Watermark, and activated by the company’s Goulds Water Technology brand, this partnership works together to deliver a series of water well projects to provide rural communities with reliable, safe water access,” O’Grady stated.
Donations and price reductions from local businesses also make the projects possible. For the Daily project, Wholesale Pump & Supply of Tyler donated casing, sand, and concrete. Well installation services by Jackson Distributors of Cushing were provided at a discount.
The well was installed on Daily property Wednesday, Dec. 2. The trench work and connection to the house were being worked on Monday, Dec. 7, according to Daily.
“If you’ve ever done without water for even a few hours, it’s inconvenient, but if you do without it on a regular basis for a period of months or even years, it’s a whole new aspect,” Daily said. “We’re very grateful for it.”
The family looks forward to the convenience and capabilities the water well will provide. The family had donkeys, goats and a cow when they first moved to the property, but could not sustain them.
“Now we’ll be able to have our animals back out here. We’ll be able to put in a nice big garden without having to worry about it drying up and blowing away,” Daily said. “Most people are used to having that convenience and that’s something we had to be concerned about, so now we can get on with life.”
Water Well Trust is a 501(c)3 non-profit and can be found online at waterwelltrust.org.
Information regarding Hometown H2O can be found on the Waterboys’ website, waterboys.org.
For more information on Xylem, Inc., visit xylem.com.
Water Well Trust, Goulds Water Technology, and Xylem, Inc. also maintain individual Facebook pages.
