I actually had plans for a Monday morning post. You see, I'm supposed to be at the Grand Canyon teaching a class on our facility maintenance program. I was going to write a post up with some very belated thank yous.
It doesn't always go as planned.
Saturday morning I headed out to my Mom's to feed the horses. As I was walking around I kept hearing the sound of running water, but couldn't figure out why. That's when I discovered this:
 |
| Insert bad words here. |
This was bad. Mom's house water comes from a well. Her holding tank had caved in, probably due to age and the recent flooding we've had. After a quick panicky moment I called a very wonderful neighbor and explained the situation. Aaron and I do not have the equipment to deal with what had happened - we needed help. The neighbor came over, took a look, and summed it up. "It's gotta come out." Easier said then done - this tank is under a wooden deck, as well as any access by equipment was hindered by a 40 year old pine that died over the summer.
 |
| My heroes and neighbors - Shawn, Roger, Wally and Tristan |
Seriously, if you don't know your neighbors - go out and introduce yourselves. This would have been a total nightmare if they hadn't stepped in.
The first step was getting rid of the tree.
 |
| I held my breath here. |
Next was the porch. The guys had the idea of cutting it away in one piece and hopefully reinstalling it when the new tank was dropped in. The porch needed replacing anyway - I wasn't sorry to see it go.
 |
| Heave! |
We got our first clear glimpse of the hole. With all the activity it had caved in a little more.
 |
| I also found out this weekend I have a phobia to water filled holes in the ground. |
After capping the water and pulling the electrics off the tank, we started to dig into the tank.
 |
| This had to happen - when you are dealing with this much water, a gusher has to occur. |
We stopped after exposing the tank. The dirt kept caving in and there were some concerns that the A/C unit would drop into the hole. That board is keeping the unit from falling in.
 |
| In which we discover the root of the problem, or at least part of the cause. |
This was a natural stopping point on Saturday. We dropped a pump into the tank and started to suck the remaining water out.
Sunday morning was beautiful...
Our goal today was to get the old tank out and dig the hole down. We couldn't do anything to purchase a new tank till today (Monday).
 |
| The tank in the horse corral. |
Those are my Friesian girls in the back ground. They didn't care what was happening. Take the tree down? Not interesting. Drop what was left of a 2500 gallon steel tank in the pen? Boring...
Today I'm tank shopping - not as cool as it sounds. We are estimating it will take us a couple of days to get this completed. I saw very little of my pups this weekend, but spent a lot of time with my Mom's chihuahua...
 |
| It's a dog blog - here's a dog... |
Wish us luck!
Oh no. Good luck with getting the new tank fitted. What a pain. Have a marvellous Monday.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Molly
Wow! That's a big project! Good Luck and thank goodness for kind neighbors!
ReplyDeleteCountry living and good neighbors, that's worth blogging about.
ReplyDeleteAroo to you,
Sully
Not all about the dogs?!? Don't tell Harlow that! ;-) But seriously, yay for good neighbors with a skip loader!
ReplyDelete-Fiona and Family
Thanks for blogging about this in more detail. If you didn't, I was going to be asking a lot of questions next time I saw you. My pump repair guy is always trying to educate me on how well systems work, so that I can better communicate with him every time something goes wrong. One time we had water bubbling up to the surface, leaving a little pond in our yard. I thought the tank had a leak, but the problem was that the indicator that told the pump that the tank was full and it needed to shut down was no longer working. With our latest issue, we had no water in the tank. My husband opened a control box and sparks flew out. He tightened down all the wires, and the tank began filling again, but now the pump that sends water from the tank to the house is grinding and vibrating so loud that we hear and feel it in the house. I told the repair man to go take care of his customers who don't have any water right now (like your mom), and then come by my place when he doesn't have any urgent calls. I don't think I have ever had neighbors as caring and generous as yours. I usually wind up with the type of people who throw trash in my yard or peep in my windows at night. Ha ha.
ReplyDeletethat sounds like one big job and thank goodness for wonderful neighbors
ReplyDeleteOh blimey. I would not know a single thing about wells and holding tanks. So glad your mum's neighbours are wonderful people. Good luck with the rest of the work. Take care mates. No worries, and love, Stella and Rory (and Carol)
ReplyDeleteOh...and I bitched about a two-thousand dollar lift pump. And that was done in one day. What a nightmare but I'm so glad you found it when you did. Yes, good neighbors are such a joy.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry for all your trouble. This sounds like a LOT of hard work and a HUGE expense. Hope it all works out OK.
ReplyDeleteWoos - Phantom, Ciara, and Lightning and Mom
I knew you'd manage to get a very cute dog photo into this saga. So sorry about the tank... I agree about neighbors! Ours have bailed us out just like yours are doing now. I hope it all finishes up soon!
ReplyDeleteYOU are a good daughter!!
ReplyDeleteBusy weekend but you are a good daughter
ReplyDeleteGood Dog! What a nightmare! Thank goodness, indeed, for helpful neighbors. Sending our strongest White Dog positive energy that the project does without hitch and is quickly completed so life can return to normal.
ReplyDeleteThese are not fun problems to have. We hope everything goes your way and water is restored asap!
ReplyDeleteWow. That looked like a potentially dangerous situation. Glad your neighbors were able to step in so quickly to help out. I have good neighbors with access to machinery too!
ReplyDeleteUgh. Not a fun way to spend the weekend. But then I saw the caption with your Mom's chihauhau and snorted coffee out of my nose. Bravo on keeping your sense of humor :)
ReplyDeleteMum's four paws :-) looks very twig like :-) xxx what a little cutie.
ReplyDeleteThose are some seriously awesome neighbours!
ReplyDeleteSounds like in this case the neighbor was man's best friend. Chihuahua's are dogs. And trip hazards but that's okay.
ReplyDeleteI hope all is well with the money pit now.