I mentioned a couple of days ago that the pressure gauge over the sink had finally gotten a chance to perform its principal function, which was to warn me of a drop in water level at the tank at the top of the ridge so that I could stop climbing a ladder every few days to check for myself. It was proven two and a half years ago that water level would directly affect pressure at that gauge, not that there was really any doubt, but this was the first time the gauge actually got its chance to do its job and it did it well. Big Brother, who recommended it in the first place and also supplied it, is vindicated.
Not, you know, that he needed vindication. Just saying. His idea. Good idea. Anyway…
Yesterday when the sun came out, Tobie and I went up to the pumphouse and confirmed that the well pump was running. This did not actually confirm that the pump was working: only that it was audibly whirring. Confirmation would only come with a visible rise in the water level and a corresponding rise in line pressure. That pressure difference would be slight, no more than a pound and a half or so. Which is why the big goofy gauge. But it would be present. And this morning it was. Late yesterday morning the water level wasn’t obviously higher but I didn’t check it in the afternoon. I do notice, however, that this morning the pressure has risen slightly. Later I’ll do a visual confirmation but I already know what I’ll find.
Oh, and yesterday I replaced the toilet tank valve, fixing the leak that caused the low level in the first place. So the only thing I have to worry about now is the next freeze’n’break. Haven’t had one of those in a few years, and with improvements in insulation I shouldn’t need to worry about it anymore but I still do. The gauge is also good at telling me about those.
Hey Joel, what do you use for waste disposal out there in the high desert? I’d guess a septic tank or cistern? Do you have to get it pumped every decade or so? Any issues with your sewer lines freezing? Hope you are having a merry Christmas season out there!
Digging the septic system and scrounging parts added most of a year to the project, but once indoor plumbing became possible it wasn’t really optional.
Oddly I’ve never had the slightest problem with it. Hasn’t been necessary to pump it out – a properly functioning septic tank really shouldn’t need that. Which is really good since I’ve got no idea how I’d go about doing it.
Around here (south central Oregon, with a combination of shale and pumice/clay soil), it’s recommended that the tank get pumped every 7 years. The failure I know of never got pumped for 20+ years, and had an undersized leach line and was in slightly boggy land.
Desert sand? Maybe a looooong time.
And yeah, the fun part of doing some of the pumpouts is figuring where the damned tank cover is buried, if it was done that way.
Glad Joel got ‘er done!
Hereabouts, the authorities require that the tank is pumped at least every three years.