Monday, April 1, 2013

1 April 2013 Well well well



          At 0400, the water pressure was still inadequate.  Same story at 0600.  I grabbed a shower at 0630, hoping the water supply would let me rinse off all the soap before dwindling down again.  I woke Gloria at 0730 so that she could take advantage of any repressurization that might have magically taken place.      
          At 0755, I called the well/drilling company that we use for water solutions.  They showed up at about 0930.  We were concerned about pressure switches and sensors, pressure tanks, and other above ground but under the house components.  We also were worried about the pump. 
          With all the house faucets closed, yesterday the flow rate varied between 0 gpm and 3gpm.  That should have told us more than it did.  Rather than suspecting a leak, I thought that the low flow was due to a slow and long pressure tank refill cycle.  This morning the flow rate jumped to 8 gpm.  That pointed to a leak. 
          Fortunately, the leak was located at the faucet feeding off the line to the house at the filter shack.  A T-fitting 18 inches below the surface had split through the male threads and would have certainly failed by this time tomorrow.  When exposed, it showed a semi-circular split where formerly connected to a 1-inch water line.
          The leak is closed.  The bad line was cut out and a very well engineered replacement section now carries water to the house.  We are running water through all the faucets in an effort to clear the turbidity in our water.  The well crew said lots of people are having similar problems, mostly due to the recent rain and snow feeding down into the aquifer.  Until it clears, we have our RO system to provide drinking water. 
          Not a bad outcome to a potentially major problem. 

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