We Need Running Water and Water Storage

Hello there from the Quigley corner,

as many of you know, we moved to a rural farm a few years ago, to help give our 3 kids (2 with severe Autism, 1 with severe Autism and Down Syndrome + nonverbal) a life where they can get outside more without as many traffic dangers (2 are "runners"). Also, city life was getting a bit expensive, and I wanted to raise sheep for yarn production.

 

What you probably don't know, is that every summer, we get a drought, and being on well water, that can be a bit challenging. We have learned from our helpful neighbours to do things like a load of laundry, then don't use any water for an hour to let the tank refill, then do a load of dishes, wait an hour again, then someone can have a shower, etc.

One of our kiddos, really loves to shower, and insists on about 20 showers a day, usually about 2 minutes long each, but that is still difficult when he can't, as he doesn't understand why there is not water, or why he can't take a shower. He refuses to use the toilet to pee or poop, will only go in the shower. Sometimes he will tolerate diapers, sometimes he just rips them off and does his business where he is. As you can imagine, this is not only frustrating, but a cleaning challenge, that requires water. When we have a water shortage, it becomes a dire situation.

 

This year, things got worse. The pump developed an air leak, ran dry, melted on the inside and so now

we have been without running water for 13 days. The pump specialists have come 3 times in the past 2 weeks. At first they thought the problem was that the well only had a foot of water in it, so they re-primed it (which I had already been doing a few times a day for at least 3 days before they arrived), and they have a special tool that I don't have, so they can do a better prime job that sucks the air out too. They noticed a melted area, switched that out for a metal one that won't melt, and said we should be good, but to keep checking the well for the water level to not use too much. We started a load of laundry, and got about half through it when pressure dropped down to zero. I thought maybe there just wasn't enough water in the well, so 2 days later, when there still wasn't any pressure even after priming, I called them back. They said on the phone it must be because of the well being low. So I called in a truck of water, filled the well, and after it still wasn't working, I called them back.

They visited us again, and said the pump was not very good, it might be melted on the inside, and we need a new one. We had another pump for the barn, that was better, but needed some fixing, so they said they would take that, fix it and bring it back the next day. The next day, they came with no pump, primed our pump again, managed to get water, it looked good. They left. A few minutes later, our son went to take a shower, and no water. The pressure had plummeted again to zero. I called them back requested a call back to at least discuss it, but they didn't call back. This was on a Saturday, extra rates apply. So Monday morning I called, they said they have our pump and were going to fix it, then bring it out. They didn't arrive. Tuesday, I called many times, they said the pump was fixed, they would bring it out. No arrival. Today is Wed, I have called a few times, they said they will let me know if someone will come out, but no commitment.

 

I have called for a plumber to come tomorrow to give us an estimate on getting a cisterne put in, as that would solve our water shortage problem, and the new pump should never run dry, if there is a cistern of water, between the well and the house. I have also been hooking up rain collection bins to the house, which could be used with bucket to flush the toilet, and can be boiled to do dishes. The collection bins can also be diverted to the well, or to the pump if we get a special installation in place.

 

Cisterns are super expensive for us though, and we are broke now from special renovations that we had to do on the walls from one of our kiddos who ripped our wall apart. (we are installing puck board ontop of the new drywall).

Please help us secure our future water needs, by contributing to paying for the cistern, pump, plumber and pump specialist labour costs.

Updates will be provided, will lots of cute pictures of clean happy kids and clean running water!

 

We have managed as well as we have the past 13 days because I have been really good at collecting rain water, and storing it, but we have had to be very conservative in its use. It has been challenging to do things like boil past, make coffee, clean the dishes, washing food (boil water, let water cool, then was vegetables etc). Things like washing the floor get skipped for now, aside from spot washing urinated areas. We also need clean water to use in the Bissel Green Machine which we use to spot clean couches and beds that get urinated on. All three kids are toilet training, and with the toilets being "if it's yellow let it mellow" my son has started using a new word: "scary", which he has assigned to the toilet, which is now being avoided.

I might point out that toilet training kids with autism is already quite challenging without toilets being "scary".

Animals water needs to be boiled as well. We have been using bottled water for drinking. Showers have not been an option, so we boil water, let that cool, and wash with a wash cloth, but it just isn't the same.

It rained hard last night, so a few of us showered in the rain.

 

Your help would be most appreciated. For each donation of $100 or more, I will hand spin a ball of yarn from our own sheep and ship it to you if you like, or you can choose to receive a one of a kind drawing from my son, which might be on paper or a piece of drywall.

 

Thank you so much for your time, generosity and love.

From Momma Quigley, aka Bobbi Jo, aka EwetifulAcres.