Weary Water Woes

Dan and I live 10 miles from our town whose population is 900 on a good day. The whole County contains about 7,550 residents so it’s fair to say we are rural living at its best! On our acreage, water is usually not a complicated issue. Maybe not as simple as turning on a faucet in the city but pretty manageable. We have both Spring and Well water and the quality is superb! Unless there is a break in the line. Then it’s not so nice, or superb or what the heck, it just is plain old ugly. And there in, lies my story.

When we first moved here 5 years ago we had an ever bubbling, babbling Spring connected via underground pipe to our house, orchard and garden. Over time we decided to dedicate the Spring water to irrigate the orchard and garden and a fine job that Spring has done! We have a plenteous supply of Pears, Apples, Plums, Cherries and Peaches.

The Spring Irrigated Orchard and Garden

We had the Well connected to the house in 2014 and it puts out 8-10 Galleons / minute which is a wonderful outpouring of crystal clear, clean and crisp drinking water. And all was well ( no pun intended) until……………..

The Frost Free spigot attached to the Spring source in the orchard had a rupture in the line last week. Went from irrigating the orchard 8 hours a day to nada in the blink of an eye. Now, we knew there was a slow leak but this was a total rupture in the line. Dan could stand by the Frost Free and hear water running underground but nothing was coming out.

So he dug, and dug and dug to see if he could reach the line and repair it. And he was close. So close. But then….

I came home last Friday. It was such a hot, hot day and I was sticky and sweaty and just wanted to hop in the shower, but I was greeted with Sparky saying “——–!!!!!,” well never mind what he said, the bottom line was the Frost Free line from the Well out next to the Barn ruptured and we had No….No….NO WATER at the house. Uh huh. Friday on a holiday weekend. No water……..Pause to reflect on that for a moment. Dishes, toilets, showers, drinking water, water for pets, gardens, orchards and more….gone. Just gone. Not a drop anywhere except pouring into the ground.

Sparky tried to dig it out to close the shutoff valve. Surprise! There was no shutoff valve. Via pump there was 20 galleons per minute turning the ground into quicksand and undermining the Barn.

The Barn Frost Free

If there had been a shutoff valve, he could of turned the water supply off at that point and still had water to the house. Nice thought. BTW….we did not install this system. Just saying……….He called the local Well and Water Supply people who said they could come out on July 7th. Mind you, that day was July 2nd. Is this getting uglier by the the minute or what? Remember, I just wanted a shower!

I…we…filled every container we had from buckets to pots and pans to sinks to bath tubs and coolers with water from many sources.

Many, many thanks to Wayne, Jenny, Vickie, Audie, Doris and more who offered assistance and provided water and containers for us!

Come Saturday morning we tentatively formulated a plan to figure out a way to bypass the broken pipe, cap it off and send water to the house. It only ( sigh) involved Sparky spending hours and hours in THE hole in the stifling heat with snakes, spiders and bugs off all kinds. Yep… a real can of worms!

The plan included seeing if he could unscrew and pry apart the pipes. Cap off one end to the Frost Free and divert the Well water to the house.

It only took 5 trips to town to Hardings Hardware Store fpr the correct fittings.

I was the ultimate “Gofer.”  Handing him tools and supplies including a mirror for backwards views. Of utmost importance was waving the lid from a tote to keep away the Wasps and Mud Daubers! It was so hot in the hole that Dan had to come up for frequent air and water breaks.

He bought plugs  in several sizes because, well…ya just never know. And YEA… one of them fit. After prying and cutting and prying and cutting. he was able to use plumbing compound and get that sucker attached!

On the right. In that little teeny, tiny space, in the heat, with the wasps and spiders and bugs and water, Dan finally pried the pipes apart, inserted the plug and……..

Glory, glory Hallelujah! We have water!

Never underestimate the value of running water! Never underestimate the value of a man with the knowledge ready to tackle such problems. Never underestimate the value of the woman who plotted it all out, coordinated the efforts and made it our goal to work.

This is a temporary fix, but be assured Dan will have this system working as it should for years and years to come.

And that’s life today in the Back of the Beyond in Republic, Washington where we choose to live and love living here, especially when we have water!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Wherever your journey leads you today, I hope your glass is filled to the optimistic brim with cool, clean water! Journey on!

Hugs and much love from me,

Karen, TJG

www.thejourneygirl.com

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