Abastecimento de águas em vilas e áreas rurais do Jequitinhonha e Norte de Minas Gerais nos séculos XIX e XX

Abstract

Access to waters sources and supply methods vary depending on time, place and culture. Thus, adopting the dialectical method and employing procedures of bibliographic and documentary research, this article analyzes the waters supply in villages and rural areas during the 19th and 20th centuries in two regions of the state of Minas Gerais, Jequitinhonha and Northern, based on the records of memoirists, travelers and chroniclers. The study showed that fetching waters from public points or collecting it directly from watercourses were daily tasks of families, which persisted throughout the two centuries. Interest in good and healthy drinking waters and health precepts mediated the practices regarding waters. In addition to providing waters, the sources and forms of supply were active elements of sociability.