Dihydrogen Oxide
We am completely without water this night. We had plenty of water last night at this time. But, alas, the temperature dropped below 32°F and all the water in the garden hoses froze.
Yes, I should have drained the water from the garden hoses before I went to bed but didn't. This, you understand, I must develop as a habit because water is now to the house through a series of garden hoses from the well. And, this is a permanent state of affairs until the spring thaw.
I had performed a thorough analysis of the water supply system last Friday morning and concluded that my previous assessment of the water flow was somewhat flawed. Yes, only a trickle of water was reaching the house at a very low pressure as indicated when I disconnected the water supply line at the water tank in the basement. But, when I disconnected the water supply line at the wellhead, no water was forthcoming at any pressure. The well was dry.
I turned off the pump and waited for half an hour. Boom! Plenty of water flow. New analysis.
The waterline between the house and well had indeed frozen somewhere underground. In fact it frozen sufficiently to burst the waterline somewhere between the house and well. The split in the pipe is sufficiently large that the pump can generate a pressure high enough to produce a trickle of water to the house. The bulk of the water was being pumped into the ground. This occurred until the well was pumped dry. The pump continued to run until the thermal protection switch cut it off. While the pump was off, water ran into the well. When the thermal protection switch allowed the pump to restart, the pump once again emptied the well and the cycle was repeated.
Now most folks do not take kindly to digging water pipes out of the frozen ground. Thus the garden hoses until the spring thaw.
And, now you know the rest of the story.
PS: The garden hoses are in the basement thawing out. I have hopes of actually taking a shower in the morning.
Yes, I should have drained the water from the garden hoses before I went to bed but didn't. This, you understand, I must develop as a habit because water is now to the house through a series of garden hoses from the well. And, this is a permanent state of affairs until the spring thaw.
I had performed a thorough analysis of the water supply system last Friday morning and concluded that my previous assessment of the water flow was somewhat flawed. Yes, only a trickle of water was reaching the house at a very low pressure as indicated when I disconnected the water supply line at the water tank in the basement. But, when I disconnected the water supply line at the wellhead, no water was forthcoming at any pressure. The well was dry.
I turned off the pump and waited for half an hour. Boom! Plenty of water flow. New analysis.
The waterline between the house and well had indeed frozen somewhere underground. In fact it frozen sufficiently to burst the waterline somewhere between the house and well. The split in the pipe is sufficiently large that the pump can generate a pressure high enough to produce a trickle of water to the house. The bulk of the water was being pumped into the ground. This occurred until the well was pumped dry. The pump continued to run until the thermal protection switch cut it off. While the pump was off, water ran into the well. When the thermal protection switch allowed the pump to restart, the pump once again emptied the well and the cycle was repeated.
Now most folks do not take kindly to digging water pipes out of the frozen ground. Thus the garden hoses until the spring thaw.
And, now you know the rest of the story.
PS: The garden hoses are in the basement thawing out. I have hopes of actually taking a shower in the morning.
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