All’s well that ends well water.
July 17, 2008
Once upon a time, in the dark ages which ended just days ago, we had a well. Actually, we had several, one after the other, because they kept drying up. The latest well started off pretty good, as wells go. It pumped clear water, but at a very slow rate. (As opposed to a previous well that pumped iron-orange water but lots of it.) Our well water was even safe to drink, though we couldn’t stand the taste so we used Polar water for that. (By the way, our well pump didn’t look like this - but my grandmother’s did, back in the day.)
We took great care with our friend the well. We spaced out the laundry over several days. Ran the dishwasher only when filled to maximum capacity. Past on planting annuals and let the lawn turn to straw. Even skipped a daily shower if we didn’t smell. But still, after a while, our cistern started to repeatedly run dry. (Imagine standing in the shower, shampoo in your hair, and the spray reduces to a stream…then a dribble — you frantically try to rinse the remaining shampoo out of your hair — and then … the water … disappears.)
So we built a 5,000-gallon holding tank, to store up the slow accumulation of precious liquid life. Now we had water when we needed it (as long as we continued to conserve, of course).
But then, slowly, there came the rotten-egg smell of sulfur. And stains in the toilet bowls no matter how often we scrubbed. Then I began noticing a black residue left in the tub, and I honestly wasn’t that dirty. Soon after that, I noticed a similar sooty ring around the top of the walls in the bathroom. (Remember Amityville Horror?) Sulfite was solidifying in our hot water tank and being turned into steam. (Boy we felt clean, bathing in that.) We tried filter system after filter system, each one reducing the water pressure but not the water problems. We wept for the well and worried what was happening to Mother Earth to cause her water to wither. And we wept for ourselves and the predicament we were in.
Then one day, two princes visited our land. They were excavators, the cousin Koziks, and our friends. “Let us help you,” they said.
And so they ran water lines over a mile long to connect us to the closest source of public water. It cost us a king’s ransom (even with the friend discount). But now there is great joy in Long Land! For the water runs clear and strong (though no longer free).
We promise not to waste it. We vow to use it wisely. And we pledge to pause for a moment of gratitude every night, when we brush our teeth without tasting rotting eggs.
The End.
P.S. This week’s CSA bounty: Patty pan squash, sweet corn, black raspberries, onions, romaine lettuce.
Tags: public water, water problems, well water








