Water Woes

Last Tuesday (November 11), I stopped at the end of the driveway to read the water meter in time to mail our monthly check to the NRD. Since I'm too stubborn to get my eyes checked, I snapped a photo of the meter in order to magnify the numbers and record our water usage. Imagine my confusion, however, when I realized the number at the left . . .which rarely changes....had rolled over from 1 to 2....meaning we  used over 112,000 gallons of water in a month!

The previous month's reading was around 155,000 so we were responsible for figuring out what happened. Scott's immediate response was to call the NRD and have the water turned off which seemed prudent until we thought, "now what?" After an unsuccessful afternoon of looking for a trenching company to help us out of the situation, we spent the night with Mom and Dad Camp. It was the best part of our otherwise cold, crummy day! (Thanks, Mama and Dad for the hospitality!)

The following day, Scott continued the search for a plumber or trencher to find and fix the leak. He hit many roadblocks from people that didn't have time to people that wouldn't call him back. We had our fingers crossed that the water line's original installer, Midland Trenching, would be able to zoom right over. Sadly, Steve reported that his new tractor was in the shop and he didn't expect it back before the end of the week. On top of that, all of us were concerned about the frigid temperatures that enveloped the entire country in a pre-winter fit of fury. My bright idea was finally adopted by the boss:  turn the water off and on at the meter twice a day for showers and clean-up. This way, we could stay in our own house and just suffer the inconvenience of drinking bottled water and flushing the potties with buckets of water.

Scott was a real trouper! He didn't complain about meter duty, rising each day at 6:15 to trudge outside to turn on the water, then turn it off when he left for work, then turn it on so we could cook dinner, then turn around and go back outside in the cold, dark night to turn it off. He did this every day for 6 days.

Finally on Tuesday, November 18, Steve was able to bring his tractor and crew to noTTafarm and to our rescue. After a fruitless morning of digging, the culprit was finally located just after lunch.

By the time we got home from work, all was right with the world!

Now all we have to do is wait for the bill. 

<sigh>

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!