The End of Brutality
The brutally cold weather has come to a merciful end ... for now. That doesn't mean it's effects have.
You already know about the frozen pipe in the ground at the well head and the two pipes that burst in the house. The newest twist, however is a delayed one. I am getting water at the rate of one quart a minute. Diagnostics suggest this is so because underground pipes to the house from the well are nearly frozen shut. The little water that we do get is just above the freezing temperature. The only solution, of course, is to wait for heat from the warm air to reach the pipes and thaw them. This, too, will be delayed.
Odd things happen when water arrives at a quart a minute. The toilet tank holding five gallons of water takes twenty minutes to refill. And, then there is the matter of your morning shower. The pressure of the water that doers get through is so low that it will not hold the valve to the shower head open. Accordingly, not even a trickle shower is possible. My solution this morning was the one-gallon manual shower. Here is how it goes.
1. Fill a quart container with warm water. This, of course, takes a minute.
2. Slowly pour the quart of water over your head.
3. Shampoo your hair while the second quart of water arrives.
4. Slowly pour the second quarter of water over your head to begin rinsing the shampoo from your hair.
5. Whistle "Dixie" while the third quart of water arrives.
6. Slowly pour the third quart of water over your head to complete the shampoo rinse ... more or less.
7. Begin lathering your body with soap and washing it while the fourth quart of water arrives.
8. Pour the fourth quart of water over your body to begin rinsing the soap away.
9. Use the quart container to reclaim water from the drain area of the tub.
10. Pour the recycled water over your body to effect rinsing.
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until you are satisfied that no further soap can be rinsed from your body.
12. Drain the gallon of water from the tub while you dry your hair and body by normal means.
You will be appalled at just how dirty that gallon of wash water got!
You already know about the frozen pipe in the ground at the well head and the two pipes that burst in the house. The newest twist, however is a delayed one. I am getting water at the rate of one quart a minute. Diagnostics suggest this is so because underground pipes to the house from the well are nearly frozen shut. The little water that we do get is just above the freezing temperature. The only solution, of course, is to wait for heat from the warm air to reach the pipes and thaw them. This, too, will be delayed.
Odd things happen when water arrives at a quart a minute. The toilet tank holding five gallons of water takes twenty minutes to refill. And, then there is the matter of your morning shower. The pressure of the water that doers get through is so low that it will not hold the valve to the shower head open. Accordingly, not even a trickle shower is possible. My solution this morning was the one-gallon manual shower. Here is how it goes.
1. Fill a quart container with warm water. This, of course, takes a minute.
2. Slowly pour the quart of water over your head.
3. Shampoo your hair while the second quart of water arrives.
4. Slowly pour the second quarter of water over your head to begin rinsing the shampoo from your hair.
5. Whistle "Dixie" while the third quart of water arrives.
6. Slowly pour the third quart of water over your head to complete the shampoo rinse ... more or less.
7. Begin lathering your body with soap and washing it while the fourth quart of water arrives.
8. Pour the fourth quart of water over your body to begin rinsing the soap away.
9. Use the quart container to reclaim water from the drain area of the tub.
10. Pour the recycled water over your body to effect rinsing.
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until you are satisfied that no further soap can be rinsed from your body.
12. Drain the gallon of water from the tub while you dry your hair and body by normal means.
You will be appalled at just how dirty that gallon of wash water got!
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