(new vases by Gary Rith)
February has had some challenges. We are told Ithaca has had its coldest February on record BUT, even worse, it has been the coldest month on record. EVER! And today and Saturday: still below zero.
As a matter of fact, NO temps have been above freezing all month. Sunday 3/1 looks better, 30s and snow! As a professional dog walker I have been frozen like peas since October.
Yesterday we had a terrible shock: no water. The well was not getting anything into the house at all. That is a real "OH SH!T" situation: broken pump, deep down there? Full of ice??? BURST PIPES????
I spent the morning digging around in the filth, ice, mud of our well head and found it was OK, but the clever heated and insulated box protecting our pipes had been breached. 7 times. There were 7 little mouse holes into what would be a warm space for them to spend the winter, but which allowed the below zero temps to blow on our pipes.
It was all pretty terrifying and frustrating. I didn't know what to do to get water, which is scary, but I had to do something, so filled the mouse holes. Apparently this allowed the warm air in the pipe box to work, and suddenly there was water. No problems at all... you hear that mice can eat your wires and cause a fire, but they can do other destructive things too, right?
The wife sent the first quote.
I thought about it for a second and wrote the reply. Have a great weekend!
“Be careful when speaking. You create the world around you with your words.”
From the Navajo Nation
"Be careful when farting. You create a foul world around you with your winds."
From the Nasal Nation
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7 comments:
What, no selfie of you confronting the wildlife which stole your water system? You are a pioneering man, dealing with all the wilds of nature!
Those mice have not been your friends this winter. Glad it worked out for the best and you didn’t have to melt snow for your water source.
Your wife is a classy woman.
Terrible when stuff breaks when it's miserable harsh cold. Good on you for the repair!
Frozen pipes and well pump are soooo inconvenient! We have been battling it here in the south too. We too have an insulated box with a light in our pump house to avoid the dreaded freeze.
Ack.. I feel for you.. messing around out there in the cold but so glad you've resolved the problem. Drink up!
How horrible! Mice are miserable creatures. Sorry about the mess they made, but lucky you got water back so easily!
You can get self regulating trace heating tapes for your pipe. The tape is formed of two electrical wires that are connected by a material that only conducts electricity below a certain temperature. You simply attach one end to a gfci protected outlet (you could use a plug-in gfci adaptor), wrap the tape around the pipe in a long spiral, and when freezing temperatures are close, the tape will heat slightly. It's trivial power usage, 5W per foot. Insulate over and all's well.
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