Rain becomes precious once you don't have a water supply. Last night I collected about 120 gallons -- enough to allow the birds a nice bath in their kiddie pool, plus drinking water for a week. I drink bottled water, fear not; but I do use the rainwater for my bath too. What's good for the goose, gander, and duck is good enough for me.
The news on the well pump is that replacing the "motor start capacitor" and blown fuse did not fix anything. My guess, as explained to me by the motor repair shop, is that this pump is simply at the end of its life -- somewhere between 10 and 15 years. That is the expected lifetime. When the motor goes, it takes out the motor start capacitor (that's the first thing they asked me in fact, "Did your motor start capacitor leak fluid all over the place?" Yup.) I replaced said capacitor, then the fuse blew. It all seems to make sense. Except that the timing of the well pump going at nearly the same time as the pressure pump is still a mystery.
In the meantime, I'm storing rain in all the garbage cans and kiddie pools I have. And special purpose rain barrels are on order -- 240 gallons worth. Once they are in place, we can take the usual weekly California rain/drought cycles in stride.
1 comment:
i lived on a well for a while. when one component goes, they usually take 3 others out with them.
suggestions:
new pump and cap
new line float (if yours floats)
new wiring to pump head
other suggestions: have you considered elevating your storage bladder? You can slowly pump up into it, then gravity feed really helps with pressure.
However, in CA, I do not know if freezing is an issue.
Just thoughts....
and if you need, you are always welcome to use one of our showers.
C
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