Well dressing

You know how it is. Sometimes you just can't be bothered to wash the dishes, the clothes - or yourself - reckoning, quite naturally, that you'll do it all in the morning. You tell yourself you'll feel much more energised tomorrow. That's fine, so long as you don't wake up to find that there's no water in the morning. 

This happens fairly regularly on Gabriola - every time the power is out in fact. No power = no pump = no water from the well. Most of us are prepared for that - and in any event, what's the point of having water if there's no power to run the washing machine or dishwasher? But somehow yesterday was different. The bedroom clock told me it was 7.30 - which, in itself, was a sign that everything, power wise, was hunky dory. Except that there was no water in the bathroom. That's not good, when your water supply depends on a pump to lift the stuff from a 40 ft well. 

Since buying our island home, we always new there was a pump somewhere in the shed - but there had never been the need to find it, or indeed to check that it was working. After all, if there is water in the tap, the pump is working, ok? Visit the shed. Unwrap the winter insulation from the pump. It looks like a pump - what did you expect?  Previous owner was fastidious in keeping instruction books - and receipts - for everything he bought, so within minutes I was able to go through the checklist of possible faults in the 1997 instruction manual. 

Carry out all of the problem solving tests. Nothing. The pump was, sadly, deceased. I suppose 13 years is a reasonable life for a pump that cost $279 in 1997. But what's it going to cost to replace it?  13 years of inflation? I brace myself and go off in search of a new one.  I take the 1997 instruction manual with me, to make sure that it`s compatible. 

Now, in a country where a high proportion of homes do not have mains water, it`s not too difficult to find a new pump for your well. Home Depot (or B&Q to those of you in the the UK) sells them; even Canadian Tire (a sort of overgrown Halfords superstore) sells them. The problem is, they don`t employ people who are sufficiently clued up to intelligently answer questions about them. But Rona does - and Rona has a pump in stock that looks suspiciously like the old one. An intelligent life form offers to open the box and let me check the installation instructions. I take the 1997 manual out of my back pocket. Not only are the diagrams identical, the words are too - this is the same pump that Peter bought from Sears in 1997 for $279!  Today`s price? A snip at $269!! That`s $10 less than it was 13 years ago!!!

With an identical pump, replacement is relatively simple. Not totally, of course - that would be too much to expect. The rubber(ish) hoses are still intact - and, with a quick dip in hot water, they slide readily off the galvanised steel connectors. The problem is, the connectors have been eaten away by 13 years of immerson in groundwater and, inevitably, they look as though they will disintegrate under the pressure of a new pump.  I replace the two that have visible signs of corrosion and fit the new pump. Bingo! I prime the pump and it`s soon delivering the goods at the recommended 25 psi. Then the third connector gives up the ghost and delivers a mighty shower that removes the cobwebs from inside the shed roof.

I`ve dried out now; the washing machine has completed its cycle; the dishwasher is merrily buzzing away, and all is well with the world. I have my well pump back - for less than it cost 13 years ago. The only difference - it`s made in Mexico now, not Ontario.