Bad luck had struck us again. We had been without running water for about a month. Our water is supplied by a well. Suddenly the well pump refused turn off and water started gushing from underneath the garage. At first Brian thought the pipe for the outside faucet had broke because that is approximately where the water was flowing from. We turned off the well and disconnected the faucet. After the simple repair, we turned the well back on only to have the water flow again. I knew we had to start digging. My only hope was that the hole in the pipe was not too deep. Honestly if we had rented an excavator we probably could have had the job done in a week or less, but with the other expenses that we have accrued the last couple months, any additional expenses was not an option, so digging we did. We were only really able to work on it during the weekends as the weekdays were just to busy. We were still able to turn on the water when we needed to cook or wash our hands, but showers and clothes washing was done elsewhere.
The toughest part was getting through the concrete in the garage. It is where the pipe emerged from underground and connected to the tank which then supplied the rest of the house. Brian first tried drilling into it, but because it is a couple inches thick, he was able to get one hole done an hour. We ended up getting a diamond blade for his saw and cut out chunks of the cement. That worked much faster. After finally getting the pipe loose from the concrete and digging out the entire length underneath, we were able to find the offending leak. It was just at the elbow where the pipe turned towards the well. A big hole had rusted in it. I assume it was leaking a little bit for quite a while, but it finally gave out. So now we knew where the problem was and headed to the store for supplies. Twenty dollars and several hours later and we were ready to turn the water back on. Was it still going to leak? That was the big question. Moment of truth. I flipped the switch and we crossed our fingers. The pump turned on and ran for a few seconds then turned off again. No leaks! Finally I can do some laundry!
We filled in the hole and decorated it just in time for trick-or-treating. :)
