Wow, it's been almost a month since I've posted! I've been incredibly busy with an avalanche of tasks, I daresay, I am over taken by the onslaught!
Lots of things have happened since my last post. Most importantly, after several years of waiting, and a seemingly failed attempt to drill a well, (at $3200) almost 2 years ago, we finally have water!
In the summer of 2010, we had scrimped, sacrificed, and saved for about 6 months in order to drill a well. During this time, hubby had researched and gotten advice and counsel from different sources. After a painstaking process, he finally picked a spot to drill. Going on an ole' timer from Holly Mountains' calculations, which were less than 5-10 yards from Winnie's calculations, the day finally came to drill the well. I was SO excited. No more harsh water conservation! No more hauling 400 gallons of water (which is approximately 3,336 lbs in the back of your truck!) down this ski slope we call a driveway. This is a very scary task during and after a rainstorm, I assure you! Doing laundry and washing dishes whenever I wanted, wow, what luxury!
Many hours passed and after 250 ft. and $200 over budget, we came up dry. I cried, bitterly I cried. I was SO upset. Not only was there no water, but all that money was wasted! After the shock and disappointment wore off, hubby's wheels began to turn in his head. He's ingenious and creative that way :) About 6 months later, he started putting together an idea to "jump start" the well we had already dug. He was certain we were very close to a water vein and had missed it by a mere few feet. Long story short, he worked on it a little every week until he had created a pond at the well sight and a drainage and natural first filter system. Now, I'm not going to pretend I know how it all works, I have an idea, but I'd be lying it I said I understood it all!
It took about 4 months for the pond to fill (as he dug it in the dry season). And then several more months to see if the well would fill and retain water. Winnie faithfully checked water levels in the well pipe every week. It seemed to be maintaining a good level during the dry season and was overflowing during the wet season. Finally, after more scrimping, sacrificing, and saving ..... he was able to buy the actual pump, filter and a bunch of other stuff I know nothing about, to actually get the well working ..... another $3800. This time, I did not allow myself to anticipate. I decided, if it works, it works, if it doesn't, I'm no worse off.
I was actually gone when the first trial run took place. I came home to a full tank of water! We have another 400 gallon tank connected to the house. The water from the well actually pumps into this tank and then into house. This way, the water filters twice naturally, and once more by a bought filter, and we will always have 400 gallons of water in reserve. So, I'm all excited, the first thing I decided to do was take a long, hot, DEEP bath in my big, big jacuzzi tub without the guilt of wasting water! I put in the plug, turned the water on and left the restroom to get my essentials. As I'm gathering all my things I'm basking in the joy of no more saving tub water to flush the toilet, no more washing dishes just once a day, and all the long, hot bubble bathes I can handle! I walked into the restroom and was stopped in my tracks! There, in the tub, was not the crystal, clean, beautiful water that flows in my creek, but this light mustardy yellow, cloudy stuff that was wet like water, but was a scary rendition of the substance!
I cautioned myself not to panic. OK girl, just ...... smell it. Yeah, smell it. That's a good first step. OK, no smell, it has no odor ..... big sigh of relief, that's good. Feel it, see if it's slimy or grainy or something. OK, so I feel it. Feels fine, feels like water, smells like water, but it doesn't LOOK like well water, it looks like Cowboy's mud hole (ok, that's quite an exaggeration, it's not that bad, haha). I'm talking myself into this ...... I've bathed in the creek on camping trips, I can do this. At least it's warm .... and deep :) I took my bath and came out smelling good and clean, so I'm not freaking out. But I know I'm not about to drink and cook with this water. Cautiously, I approached Winnie, so not to appear ungrateful and picky .... and showed him the color of the water. Much to my relief, he didn't seem surprised by the color at all and I released a big, deep breathe that I was inadvertently holding. He assured me the water would clear up, not to worry.
After almost 2 weeks there has been only a slight improvement in the color of the water. Winnies wheels have once again been turning and he believes he knows why, and of course, my resourceful man, has a plan. Today we will add or change something on the pump (I think) of which I get to help, yay. And once again, we will wait and see. I've been washing our laundry (whenever I want I might add) dishes, and bathing in this water, and it doesn't seem to have any negative effect. The whites come out white, the dishes don't have a dingy film, and no one has gotten sick. This is a huge plus for us :) After our adjustments today, we're going to test the water for yuck and stuff, and see where we stand.
So, while many, many events, changes, and adventures have occurred in the past month, this is the one that's prevalent on my mind today. Hopefully tonight, I will be drinking the water we're pumping!
