WATER

MEMORY LANE

WATER

BY R. AUBREY LA FOY

Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink. If you have ever been on the ocean or flew over the huge bodies of water it is hard to imagine that you can’t drink the stuff. The sea water looks so inviting but it has salt and it will kill you in matter of time if you drink it. Fortunately we don’t have that problem here at the Iowa Great Lakes but is the lake water safe to drink? I don’t know about today but it hasn’t been too many years that when we were out sailing in races with the Okoboji Yacht Club it was not uncommon to dip a cup or your hand in Lake West Okoboji for a nice refreshing drink of water. Early on the towns bordering the lakes employed the lake water into their water system. I know that Milford had a town well for many years but early in the 1900s erected a pump house and water line from Terrace Park.

I was born and grew up in Milford and knew the water came out of the kitchen or bathroom faucet. Kids make assumptions or that what is in your home or town is the way it is. It was a real learning experience to learn that water does not always come as easy as turning on a knob on a faucet. My parents bought a lot and erected a cottage at Milford (Jones) beach in 1925. My parent’s cottage was mainly an investment so we seldom stayed overnight. When we drove up to their cottage it was to make the beds, mow the lawn, rake, erect a dock, paint the rowboat and sweep out. Once in awhile we stayed and had a lunch and did swim and play in the lake. The cottage was rented to tourists through by Walter and Elizabeth Jones.

The cottage had neither running water nor sewer in Jones Beach in the early years. The outhouse was in the back yard next to the road and waste water from doing dishes was collected in a bucket under the kitchen sink. Evidently the water level at Jones beach was quite high. My father dug a hole and placed a large tile in the hole west of the cottage. A pipe was immerged into the water that was only about a foot or so from the top of the tile connected to a cistern pump at the side of the kitchen sink. It didn’t take but a few pumps on the handle to get nice clear water. The water was used for drinking, washing and doing the dishes. If you wanted hot water the teakettle and kerosene stove was available. There was no shower and if you wanted to take a bath just go jump in the lake. By today’s standards it was pretty primitive but nobody really complained except my Mother who hated the renters who failed to empty the slop bucket under the sink.

We obtained our first cottage in 1954 at Terrace Park. The main structure was a small tenant house from Connie’s parent’s farm near Wallingford that we moved to terrace Park. It was 24 x 24 feet in size making a kitchen large front room and a small bedroom. We had electricity but no running water or sewer. We were indeed fortunate to have wonderful neighbors across Wade Street who had a well. Remember those pumps were on about every farm in this area.  By pumping the long handle up and down sooner or later water would gush out of the facet in the front. It was wonderful cold, clear and pure water. Friends would inquire of us if we had running water? We would reply, “Yes. We run over to the neighbors and pump some and run back with it in a bucket.”

Several years later the town of West Okoboji brought water and sewer to Terrace Park and we hooked on. It seemed a good idea at that time to enlarge our cottage so we doubled the size and also built a 20 x 20 foot patio on the lake side. We grew up in this area of Iowa and knew that sooner or later we would need a “storm cellar” or at least a basement. When digging the hole for the basement lo and behold they struck an artisan well just below the west side of our original cottage. It was a real stream of nice pure water and we had a difficult time redirecting the flow of water. Our new basement was perpetually damp. We enjoyed the new facility and addition with a new kitchen, bathtub, sink and stool. We lived in that cottage until 1971.

If you grew up on a farm during the 1920s, 30s or 40s could you ever imagine your farm being hooked up to a rural water system? Many of you can recall having to pump water for the household needs and carrying water in buckets for the chickens and livestock. The windmill was a necessary item if you had livestock and horses. Did you ever go swimming in the horse tank or put pop or beer in it to cool off? Was okay but ice cubes and refrigeration are better.

 The Iowa Great Lakes are indeed blessed to have access to water. All of the towns bordering the lakes get their water supply from them. The water needs to be checked for impurities but it is good. The sewer system that encompasses the lakes has come along a great deal to keep the lakes in good shape. The Lakes Sanitary District is a story in itself. The elimination of the septic systems used many years has done a tremendous job to keep the lakes in good condition.

There is an ongoing argument between bottled water vs. city water but regardless I didn’t ever think I would see the day of having to buy a bottle of water. Traveling in foreign countries bottled water is a “must” as we see many warnings of “don’t drink the water.” There must a few wells and old hand pumps still around. I recall about the last old hand pumps were in the cemeteries used by people to water plants but even there rural water had taken over. The old water towers in Arnolds Park and Milford, that were landmarks for years, are gone and replaced by newer and more efficient ones. Are there any wells still in operation in the lakes region? I don’t know how much liquid our bodies need but good cool clean water is still a good bet.