RElatives didn’t have town water, didn’t have a well. Had a 1200 gal tank strapped onto an old old flatbed truck which they would drive to the FS store in town and fill from a high volume overhead water spigot for a few bucks in quarters. Then they would take it home and empty it into the cistern. Finally got city water, just 3-4 years ago. What a nightmare.
Did the relatives live in an area with regular rain? Catchment is always a possibility.