Saturday, January 15, 2011

Shite, shite, shite...

Two weeks I've gone without running water, because it was just too cold to deal with the system.  Two weeks.

When I got back from the city I noticed two things that bothered me, but 21o below zero put it out of my mind:
  • The cistern was empty.  It wasn't empty when I left.
  • The concrete under the pressure pump (which we left unplugged) was damp.
Should have stayed bothered by those things, but to be truthful I'd forgotten about them both. 

The past few afternoons have been fairly pleasant, with temps slowly climbing upward.  So late this morning after walkies I plugged in the well pump to get some agua in the cistern.  Two hours later I went back to check on developments.  Shouldn't have waited so long.
  • The cistern is empty.  Should have held 800 gallons or so.
  • The powershed is completely flooded.  Water's pouring out of the newly (not so) repaired pump.
The only good news is that now there's a shut-off valve, so I could stop any further flooding.  But tonight our gulch is gonna have its own indoor skating rink.

Shite!  Shite!

3 comments:

Big Wooly said...

That plug you replaced in the pump? How about replacing it with a nipple connected to a valve so you can drain the pump when you leave for an extended time. Also, consider moving the pump inside the house where it is better protected, warmth wise. Or you might even consider using gulchendiggendrivingyoucrazy to dig a hole to put the pump in, like 8-10 feet down, covering it with an access hatch and covering that with hay so everything is below the frost line. My Grandad's well pump was set up like that. Never froze and was a great place to hide the booze from Grandma. You could test this by digging a hole, throwing some jugs of water in tied to a rope and covering it over. It won't freeze in the winter and it'll be a great fridge in the summer. Not that I ever knew where Grandad's beer was. Or how cold it was. I'm just sayin'.

Mayberry said...

Technology is a pain in the ass. Turns around and bites you more often than not. Especially now when everything is "high qwarity, make in China"...

Anonymous said...

Er...well...at least the cistern didn't crack...