US | water Drought Drying Up Home Wells Families forced to adapt in a hurry By Kevin Spak Posted Aug 24, 2012 1:53 PM CDT Copied Water hauler Carl Marion of Athens, Ill., pumps water from his 2,000 gallon water tank on the back of his truck into a campground well in Petersburg, Ill, Aug. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman) If you rely on well water and live in the Midwest, hopefully you're not too attached to the idea of showering. The drought pummeling the nation has been drying up a lot of private wells, the New York Times reports, forcing rural homeowners to either take the not-exactly-cheap step of drilling deeper, or travel miles to import water. "It's just crazy right now," says the owner of a Missouri drilling company. "I've never seen anything like this in almost 30 years." Midwestern officials say hundreds have complained of water either turning milky or stopping entirely. The reason is simple: A lack of rain has dried up aquifers, while forcing towns and farmers to drain unusually high amounts of groundwater. One man says his family spent weeks relying on gallon jugs of water from their neighbors. "It's amazing how far you can stretch a gallon of water," he says. Read These Next A former NFL Pro Bowler has died at age 36. The massive AWS failure exposed a big problem with the internet. A man ended up dead after trying to steal from Spirit Halloween. Backlash for Trump nominee who said he has 'a Nazi streak.' Report an error