Frozen Water

These days of sub-normal/sub-zero temperatures have taken their toll. It goes without saying that our water line into the house from the well is frozen whenever the temperature approaches and/or drops below zero Fahrenheit. This happens in spite of the fact that the well access is filled with insulation. Several days in a row, we thawed the line using a hairdryer. The water line comes into the house from the well inside a large PVC pipe – about the size of a dryer vent pipe. On Monday morning (February 5), Mike set up the hairdryer to thaw the line; when he thought it should be thawed, he turned the pump back on – and water ran into the basement outside the water line.

So, we’re without water and the temperature is sub-zero. We called a neighbor who has done some plumbing for us. He didn’t have any power tools with him, and Mike didn’t have his cordless screwdriver batteries charged up, so we couldn’t remove the panel from the porch, through which we access the well. The guy who built our new porch several years ago screwed up royally, and only put the well access panel in as an afterthought, and it’s not squared with the well. Also, with the old porch, the top of the well access was flush with the bottom of the porch, so the cover was part of the porch floor. With the new one, we just have a makeshift cover that lies loosely on top of the well. Since we couldn’t get the panel off, and the temperature was just barely above zero, and nothing could really be done, the man said he’d come back Wednesday, when the temps were supposed to be up a little.

The temps were up a little – very little – on Wednesday and the man never showed up. I finally called him on Friday. He had got very busy and forgot he was supposed to come. He doesn’t do plumbing jobs for a living anymore; it’s just a sideline. He came over, got the panel off, pulled all the insulation out, found that the problem was relatively simple – the line into the house, which is actually a plastic hose, had just popped off the well inlet. But it was frozen solid, and it was still too cold to put an electrical device in the well to thaw it. So we wait until Monday, which will probably be the only day warm enough next week to work on it.

For our water needs during this time – we had several 5-gallon buckets of water in the basement, that we had saved from the dehumidifier in past summers; this water served for minimal washing, and for flushing the toilet (also minimal) for a few days. We filter all our drinking water, and we already had 3 or 4 gallons of that on hand. Fortunately, we had just run the dishwasher on Sunday, so we had a good supply of clean dishes. On Thursday, I got all the empty (clean) plastic milk jugs we had, and went & got water at a roadside spring. I also filled 2 5-quart picnic jugs. Those had to be used for washing, because, not having been used for a long time, they had developed a little mold in the bottom. For flushing the toilet, we melted snow. It takes 2 of those big buckets (slightly over 5 gal.) full of snow to melt down to enough water for a minimal toilet flush. It is amazing the amount of junk that is in that “nice, white snow.” Among other impurities, hemlock seeds float to the top.

On Saturday, I managed to wash my head, and took a spit bath. On Sunday, I loaded jugs and a bucket into the car with the thought of getting water from the church. But as I headed for church, I noticed that our neighbors across the road were home, and I knew we could get water from them if we needed it.

The sink is piled with dishes. The dirty clothes baskets are full. 2 weeks worth of laundry is waiting, since the day the line broke is my normal laundry day. And as for the minimal flushing of the toilet – I hate even to think of the cleaning job I will have there.

Monday afternoon: the water is running again! The plumber is going to get a heat tape for it, so that I won’t have to worry about it any more. Hope he gets back with it before the bottom drops out again.

Mike has had a shower and has gone out to pick up a pizza. The toilet cleaner is soaking in the bowl, and the dishwasher is running. I can’t do laundry & dishes at the same time, the well doesn’t recover fast enough for that much water usage. It will probably take me all week to get the laundry done.

(Originally posted February 12, 2007)