Authorities in Sao Paulo were working Wednesday to repair a broken pipe that left 750,000 residents in a slum without water for days, prompting several to dig wells in a local cemetery.
The water supply company Sabesp said it had sent water trucks to the poor western Paraisopolis district to make up for the sudden cut that occurred Sunday.
It said Tuesday it was close to having the break fixed.
But residents told media that they only had running water for three hours before it cut off again.
Some had dug wells in the neighborhood cemetery despite not knowing whether the water found there was safe to drink.
"Nobody guarantees the drinkability of this water. But it's the only way they can get any," a member of the local residents and shopkeepers' association, Juliana Oliveria, told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.
"If it wasn't for this water, we wouldn't have anything to drink," said Maria Helena dos Santos, one housewife lining up to tap some of the graveyard water.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
