What is your home like?

You can't get running water if your area doesn't have an aqueduct and sewer system.

We only recently got the sewer system but had town water, neighbors have well water. Had a septic system which was getting disgusting, now we have to pay sewer tax which is cheaper than a new septic system.

You can't get running water if your area doesn't have an aqueduct and sewer system.

Actually yes it is possible to have running water and not have a sewer system...It just depends on how you look at it....I lived in the outskirts for sometime and we had running water (from a well) but we had a septic system, which in a way is a sewage system but in a different form...So yes it is possible to have running water with out a sewage system. Having a septic system and a well is hard if you've had them then you know what I'm talking about...You have to constantly keep up with the maintenance yourself and it costs money to repair of your own money if it goes down...Usually if it's a shared well then you will have to share the cost but it's still NOT cheap to maintain...I know of a neighbor of mine who's well dried up just within a month after he purchased the place, first the water started turning brown, then mud started coming out of the faucets...forget about flushing the toilets because that was already ruined due to the well drying up...When the well inspector came out he estimated it would cost the new neighor $40,000-$50,000 to fix the well....that's just the cost of repairing the well itself....Now for the septic system if it goes out on you, we're talking about the same in cost, maybe a bit less but not much...But that's just for the septic system, not including the damage to your yard if it backs up and kills it and your whole house...So having a sewer system and water maintained by the city is much much better...Also your well can be running great, and your septic system can be shot...and that would have to do with the lack of maintaining the septic system because if you're not constantly maintaining it can get plugged and ruined...It's hard to explain but I'm sure you can get the picture.

We only recently got the sewer system but had town water, neighbors have well water. Had a septic system which was getting disgusting, now we have to pay sewer tax which is cheaper than a new septic system.

Alex I pat you on the back...Been there and done that with the septic and well systems....I know exactly what you're talking about...

I'm talking about people in developing nations, guys, not us living in a rural area.

It would be easier and more economically feasible to get a used PC than running water.

Ok, my knowledge of developing countries is all second hand, that is why I asked this question. But how can you run a computer without electricity? If I had to choose, between water or electricity I would choose water. I was without electricity one time for almost 3 weeks, we had running water and were so lucky, people who had wells had to wait for a water truck to come everyday.

Alex I pat you on the back...Been there and done that with the septic and well systems....I know exactly what you're talking about...

The worst was well the septic system was all backed up, we had raw sewage poring into our basement, it was after midnight.....while my husband and son were filling up garbage cans with sewage, I had the pleasure of calling a pumping service. That made us petition the town for a sewer, glad we did it since with the economy we would never get it approved now.

Well, i'm from an underdevelopped country and it does aggravate me to see on tv that the only image that is shown from third world countries is sickness, hunger, death, poverty, war, illiteracy and the like... That's all that's shown by the media and of course, most people (that I have met here at least) believe that's all that there is to it. For Alexk49, people dont choose between water and the internet. And just like you would, people there would rather have water that the internet if they had to choose. Internet access is pretty easy in cities, you have plenty of internet cafes, and in my country a lot of people (a minority) do have internet at home. So young people like me do have facebook, myspace and the like profiles and use msn messenger or skype; they are far from being "computer/internet challenged".

What they show on tv is only a part of the reality and too bad that they need to show images that appeal to feelings and emotions or looks/sounds sad/weird/different for the sake of audience. An example is that commercial about a little boy that has lost his parents, lives in a small single room "house", sleeps on a piece of plastic sheet and is cold at night, has nothing to eat and has to care for his little brother...and of course...call now and send $XX and you'll receive a picture, just like they do for abused animals... pfff. Tt's all about business anyways.

By the way, I'm from Congo, central Africa.

Alexk49, sorry, i mispoke, you said choosing between water and electricity. They are both important. Water first of course, and this has nothing to do with cultural differences, that's just natural common sense... we need water to live, no electricity doesn't kill. Plus usually, the infrastructures like running water and electricity go hand in hand. So people don't choose really, unless you have outage or something like that. As long as they is potable/drinkable water. But contrary to what the media tries to portray, cities do have water and electricity, they are... cities!