Thursday, July 7, 2011

Cool Clear Water

Living in the modern world I really don't understand what it's like to do without water.  I always enjoy the luxury of turning a handle and receiving safe water whenever I like.  Water is something I never give undue consideration because it is always readily available.

When we purchased the farm one of the concerns we faced was the lack of city water or well.  All the water on our farm is supplied by a spring.  Our cistern stores 2200 gallons of water but a family of six plus animals makes quick work of that water supply.  We were told when we purchased the home that the spring water was brought to the house through plastic pipe that had been laid within the last ten years.  Evidently, this was less than accurate.

Last week we ran out of water.  The spring was running fully but the cistern was empty.  Being new to the world of cisterns we'd failed to check it and were unaware that there was a problem until the problem became a crisis.  There's never a convenient time to run out of water but Thursday night seemed to be especially inconvenient.  Thankfully, neighbors came to the rescue and supplied us with the water we needed while we took measures to find and solve the problem.

Within a week Rob located and solved the problem and the water is flowing again.  We have plans to store more water for our animals in a location separate from the house cistern.  While we don't anticipate losing water again, we want to be sure we are managing our water properly for ourselves and our livestock.

I found myself wondering several times this week what it would be like if I couldn't get water with a phone call.  How did/do people without the resources manage when water is short? I find myself saying prayers of thanksgiving for every drop that comes through the pipes to help our entire farm flourish.

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