Snakes in a Well

This past week I narrowly escaped the scabies attack (thank God) -- which we treated and it subsided -- but we began to wonder if something fishy was going on when the itching soon returned leaving the girls in tears, coated in baby powder, or frantically tearing off their clothes and scratching uncontrollably. Yesterday Bendang Uncle mentioned that he thought it might be due to our water supply. I've written previously about our small well and how we often run out of water, but our issues have grown a bit more....slimy. Our well is not only small but poorly positioned and has no ledge to keep dirt and grime from falling in. Before calling the 'water man' (a guy on a speeding tractor towing a water tank) some of the boys climbed inside to clean and ended up hauling out a bucket of snakes, some snails, and a frog. There are also some mysterious caterpillars hanging around that have caused allergic reactions and it is entirely possible that they have fallen in the well too. Not only have we been bathing in this water, we've been brushing our teeth with it. (In the beginning I used bottled, but my body has grown accustomed to the water so I've been using tap for everything but drinking for months now.) Our drinking water is just a filtered version of our well water, so even though it is run through our new 'purifier' it is still not the cleanest. If the water is the problem, seeing as we are running it in, over, and through our entire bodies it's no wonder everyone is feeling a bit out of whack.

Even with my immune system of steel, I can't help but feel I've got the phantom itches when I'm surrounded by all my scratching counterparts. If this is what's making everyone crazy, how do we fix it? What do you do when you are allergic to the water?