In reply to Mike Bosio a.k.a. Don Miguel.

Thanks for the attaboys. The design is my own, based on some local examples the villagers said they liked. Dimensionally and formally they are about the same, the big difference is in the guts. The locals make theirs with block and then plaster them; I'm a concrete-and-steel sort of guy. I KNOW that will work, and I don't have a lot of confidence that unreinforced block will hold water (so to speak) if the ground settles or they have a quake.

Good question about the working height; it's about 6 inches lower than in the US. Our aching backs can attest to it every time we wash clothes, do dishes, or knead bread on our kitchen counter. These pilas, though, are perfectly at American working height. That isn't cultural insensitivity on my part; it's so they can hold more water. Existing ones are like that too, and the owners ramp the dirt up in front of the washbasins to accommodate whatever height the lady of the house wants.