Before piped water systems reached the Dominican Republic, communities across the country, especially in the Cibao region, depended on community water carriers known as aguateros, who used donkeys and, at times, horses and mules organized into pack trains, to deliver water for daily use, according to an account by Dominican sociologist Juan Cruz Triffolio.
The carriers transported water in large bottles held in baskets, along with cans, gourds and drums, all fastened to wooden boxes hung on either side of the animal, Triffolio wrote.
In Santiago de los Caballeros, from the final decades of the 19th century into the early 20th, aguateros drew water directly from the Yaque del Norte River and carried it on the backs of mules, donkeys and carts, according to testimonies cited in the account. The water was stored in clay jars and tanks, while cisterns and wells also served as reservoirs.
A Historian's Record
Dominican historian Carmen Duran documented the daily routine of the aguateros through the testimony of a resident named Pedro R. Batista.
According to Batista's account, hundreds of young men worked as water carriers, loading donkeys with baskets that each held four sealed jugs of three to four gallons. Water was also sold from barrels mounted on carts pulled by three mules. Batista said the number of carriers never dropped below 100, that a delivery of four jugs cost four cents, and that an additional five cents had to be paid to the police tax collector.
A Tax on Donkeys
As the trade grew common on the streets of the historic center of Santiago, authorities imposed a tax requiring every donkey to carry a metal identification plate, without which its owner was barred from transporting water, Triffolio wrote. Some accounts hold that the donkeys carried plates before the few automobiles then in Santiago did.
Santiago's First Aqueduct
The aguateros' trade remained dominant until 1905, when Santiago built what the account describes as the first rudimentary aqueduct, delivering water through pipes for the first time, though with limitations. The project was undertaken by the Casa Azul company, run by Pedro Redondo and Enrique Pastoriza, at the intersection of Comercio and Barranca streets, which also offered public baths and showers. Some accounts say the service later stopped working because of problems with the water supply.
Salcedo's Water Sellers
A similar trade existed in the community of Salcedo, today known as La Flor de la Patria, from the late 19th century until the middle of the 20th, according to the account. Water was drawn from numerous cisterns and wells using a jug tied to a pulley, often in the patios of wealthier families connected to the business.
Among them were Pascasio Toribio, known as Paquito, and his wife Lalita; Toribio was described by residents as one of the wealthiest men in the Salcedo area. Entrepreneur Luis Maria Florentino Alba, known as Luis Tutu, also owned several water reservoirs as well as a carpentry workshop that specialized in building coffins. His son, Dr. Manuel Antonio Tejada Florentino, became the country's first qualified cardiologist and a prominent opponent of the Trujillo dictatorship. Some townspeople said they occasionally saw him working as an aguatero himself.
Remembering the Carriers
Triffolio also recalled Ramon Emilio and his brother-in-law Totono Nunez, who came from modest, hardworking families and were often seen leading donkey trains through Salcedo's streets, hauling water and also selling sand dug from the now-depleted Juan Nunez River for use in local construction.
To avoid wasting water as the donkeys walked, the carriers covered the opening of each gourd container with a piece of corn husk or a damp cloth patch. For the same reason, they placed guava and lemon leaves inside the drums and open cans used to transport the water.
Triffolio described the era of the aguateros as one shaped by a socioeconomic reality very different from today's, framing the recollection as an invitation to remember in order to live.
