Water

Here at CrabAppleLane, our water comes from our well. The well is about 110 feet deep. Patsy prefers bottled water but I don’t mind drinking water from the tap or even from one of the outside spigots or the garden hose when I’m out in the yard. The water here is fine except for one problem.

Our first shower head in the upstairs bathroom was a straight, no frills variety the contractor decided on. We replaced that one soon after with one with an extension hose. It was plastic and I broke it after about a year. Then we replaced its replacement soon after because we didn’t like it. Because we changed shower heads often the first few years, our water problem was unknown to us for longer than it otherwise would have been.

Around year 7 or so I noticed the water pressure was kind of low in the upstairs shower. That it occurred gradually over time and that we had good water pressure everywhere else in the house went unnoticed so I thought we had a leak somewhere. OK, yeah, I wasn’t very sharp about this. When the water pressure finally got to the drip, drip, drip stage, I decided to see if I could figure out where the leak was. Checked outside ... no leaks that I could see. Took the shower head off. This was the last resort for me because a plumber was going to have to be called in if the leak was somewhere in the walls or floors. The water just poured out from the pipe the shower head was attached to. Replaced the shower head and the problem was solved. About a year later, it was back to drip, drip, drip again. Replaced the shower head again and the problem was solved. We have minerals in our well water. It only manifests itself over time in the upstairs shower because that’s the one we use and because the holes the water passes through there are small enough to be affected by the mineral deposits ... but it takes about a year or so to get to that point.

We were told we could get a filter for our water supply if we take a sample of our water to the well supply store and have it tested. The matter-of-fact way that was relayed to me made it sound simple and inexpensive.

Water test: $35 (Our neighbor had our water tested for quality after his well had failed so we knew we were OK in that regard but this test was going to tell us more about our water’s composition).
Filtration system: $1200
Filter (Needs to be replaced after X hours of use): $300-$500 depending on the filter we needed based on the outcome of our water test.

We decided against having the water tested. As we were driving home, Patsy asked me what kind of filter the guy said we would probably need. She wasn’t serious about doing this. At least, I don’t think she was. I told her I didn’t hear anything after the $1200 part. It’s costing us about $50 per year to replace the shower head once it gets clogged. I can live with that. The cure in our case is worse than the disease.

Quote of the Day

It's important to realize how cool it is to win the World Series, but the key is to build off it. … I have a lot to work on this spring. I can't think about winning the World Series.

Adam Wainwright, St Louis Cardinals

Blog of the day here.

Quote from said blog: "The scythe still hung from the maple when he returned from the war, and what remains of the blade is undoubtedly still there, embedded in the wood."