To borrow a word from my sister...
August 13th, 2006 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pandasheartCrappity!
As the ex was making his coffee this morning, he commented that the water pressure did not seem too strong. I turned the faucet on & agreed with him, but did not give it much thought.
Bad move ... a little while later, the ex announced that we had NO water. Thankfully, he is one very handy guy. After testing some water-sending thingie in the basement, he determined that our water pump had gone bad. Off to Lowe's he goes to fetch a new pump (with double the horsepower) & all the needed trimmings.
Upon the ex's return, I learned how the whole water pump thing works. We have to pull the pump & the hose that actually gets water to the house up by a rope that is secured to the pump. Paperwork that came with the house indicates that we have a 160 foot deep well. That sounds like a LOT of pulling.
The ex rigs up a pulley system to pull the rope. As he pulls the rope, I will manage the hose & electrical line that are attached to the pump. It does turn out to be a lot of pulling. Messy pulling to boot. I was surprised to learn how little the actual water pump is in light of how much it does.
Another trip to Lowe's was needed before we could put the pump back down into the well. By the time the ex returned, I was getting nervous about running out of daylight. After everything was back together, it was time to put the new pump down into the well. We fed foot after foot down the pipe, finally reaching bottom, got everything in place & off I went to flip the breaker back on.
We could hear the pump running but we had no water. OY! After waiting a bit, we brought the pump back to the surface & found the openings clogged with clay. After cleaning it out, the ex suggested cutting the hose to raise the pump above the muck. He wanted to cut it by 10 feet, but compromised for 2 when I balked. He made the splice & we lowered the pump back down with crossed fingers.
After a minor heart-stopping moment when the rope attached the pump broke at the splice, we were able to get the pump back down & everything back in place again. With daylight about gone, we flipped the breaker & held our breath. The pump was humming & when we checked the outside hoses we had water!
There was MUCH rejoicing!
Now if I can only get this mud & silt out from under my fingernails!
As the ex was making his coffee this morning, he commented that the water pressure did not seem too strong. I turned the faucet on & agreed with him, but did not give it much thought.
Bad move ... a little while later, the ex announced that we had NO water. Thankfully, he is one very handy guy. After testing some water-sending thingie in the basement, he determined that our water pump had gone bad. Off to Lowe's he goes to fetch a new pump (with double the horsepower) & all the needed trimmings.
Upon the ex's return, I learned how the whole water pump thing works. We have to pull the pump & the hose that actually gets water to the house up by a rope that is secured to the pump. Paperwork that came with the house indicates that we have a 160 foot deep well. That sounds like a LOT of pulling.
The ex rigs up a pulley system to pull the rope. As he pulls the rope, I will manage the hose & electrical line that are attached to the pump. It does turn out to be a lot of pulling. Messy pulling to boot. I was surprised to learn how little the actual water pump is in light of how much it does.
Another trip to Lowe's was needed before we could put the pump back down into the well. By the time the ex returned, I was getting nervous about running out of daylight. After everything was back together, it was time to put the new pump down into the well. We fed foot after foot down the pipe, finally reaching bottom, got everything in place & off I went to flip the breaker back on.
We could hear the pump running but we had no water. OY! After waiting a bit, we brought the pump back to the surface & found the openings clogged with clay. After cleaning it out, the ex suggested cutting the hose to raise the pump above the muck. He wanted to cut it by 10 feet, but compromised for 2 when I balked. He made the splice & we lowered the pump back down with crossed fingers.
After a minor heart-stopping moment when the rope attached the pump broke at the splice, we were able to get the pump back down & everything back in place again. With daylight about gone, we flipped the breaker & held our breath. The pump was humming & when we checked the outside hoses we had water!
There was MUCH rejoicing!
Now if I can only get this mud & silt out from under my fingernails!
