You drive back from the mighty DFW Metrosprawl and get to the Compound a little after noon, and what do you see? A veritable river heading down to the street by the side of the house. What? Is the AC exhaust going turbo, is there some kind of mains leak?
Good questions, so you exfil the rig to have a recce. Sure enough, water is bubbling up outta the ground, right where the boys installed a couple of clean outs. You stare at this, entranced by the cool water flowing up to water the earth. How beautiful, but this isn't some blessed, newfound aquifer, no, it's an aquatic disaster. Just picture, if you will, the mains meter spinning out of control, as if USGOV debt.
Problem. Solution? A neighbor drives up in his lifted Chevy, "What's up, man?" and you point to the watery adversary. He takes this in, a plumber, and says, "I'll dig that up and fix it. First I'll turn off the water at the mains with my cut off," which he did.
Some 30 or 40 minutes later we'd located a burst pipe, hose attached to PVC and split at the joint, and D produced some relevant SHARK BITE fittings, right sized PVC tube, and fixed the line. Utter disaster averted, and I asked, "How much do we owe you?" He replied, "Nothing." I shook his hand, "Appreciate you, brother," and that I do; you'll be glad to know I let him park his rigs in the church car park, gratis.
At the time of writing, this line holds. And there is a moral in this short story of country life in Texas, if you care to draw it.
Your Old Pal,
LSP
And I bet it will stay holding.
ReplyDeletePraise the Lord.
I had a different sort of problem with my water last week.
And I praise the Lord for fixing that, too.
You all be safe and God bless.
Linda, the fix is way stronger than the original. Glad you got a fix too. God bless.
DeleteSharkbite fittings are your friend in such situations…and are designed - when installed properly - to meet or exceed pressure requirements. You’re good to go, and the plumber friend deserves a gold star.
ReplyDeleteHe really does, Paul, what a good man.
DeleteIf it's municipal water, call them and tell them what happened. They might cut you a break on the water/wastewater bill.
ReplyDeleteAs to the plumber, it's good to curry favor with people in the trades. Or the janitorial staff.
It was ours, Beans, unfortunately. Plumber? What a good neighbor, and yes.
DeleteYour generosity in letting him park is repaid. Good begets good.
ReplyDeleteThank you, WSF, for answering the question. Good call.
DeleteOh, sure - just because you have a dog collar and a parking lot you get free repairs. A few months ago my friend at the water company showed up to tell me our water overage was off the charts and there must be a leak somewhere. I knew immediately where it was - one of my outside water hydrants. My plumber had to dig it up and replace all the goodies. How much you ask? How about THREE THOUSAND AND SOME ODD DOLLARS. Ooooops - sorry for shouting, but I'm still in shock...
ReplyDeleteAdrienne, DAM! Outrageous. Sorry to hear that.
DeleteHate plumbing issues, for obvious reasons.