“Hey, David,” Henry said. “We need to check the pressure tank and water pump because the water pressure in the cottage is really low.” We had noted the same thing in the main house, and it was usually because the filters were dirty, blocking water flow.
So David changed the filters….and 30 minutes later there was again no water pressure, and the new filters were filthy and clogged with silt. He peeked into the catchment tank and saw that our water level was lower than it had ever been in our twelve years here. Henry and David could find no leaks between the tank and the pump. The catchment liner was more than 12 years old, there were rips at the top, so likely at the bottom, too, and with the water level so low, we were pumping the dregs where dust and silt had settled.
We decided it was time for a new liner and tank cover. Henry had a dinner engagement, so David and I worked all day in the beautiful Hawaiian sunshine to cut up and remove the old liner, finishing at 530pm. We opted not to try to install the new liner that late in the day, but wait for Henry’s help the next day. We did install the new cover, hoping that if it did rain (we had had none for the last two nights) the now liner-less tank would not fill up……
…..and during the night it stormed…poured…..deluged.
In the morning I woke him early to start the liner installation, but he was afraid to start the project as just lifting the new liner out of the car was difficult for the two men. The thought of lifting the 100+ pound liner off the ground and up over the edge of a 7′ tall tank was daunting…..and I remembered that ten years ago when we last changed the tank liner, we lifted it into the tank with his (now defunct) tractor.
Henry appeared at the door to discuss our options while David cooked breakfast. David looked out the kitchen window while he cooked. Up the hill, on the next property, he saw a truck and trailer appear and park next to the Kubota tractor that had been brought there earlier in the week to cut the bush. Henry (our resident schmoozer) hauled butt up the hill to talk to the guys who had come to take the tractor away…..and within minutes they were following him down the hill to our place. We peeled back a corner of the newly installed cover and the liner was placed into the frontloader, and easily lifted over the edge and dumped into the tank.
A sump pump easily pulled out the water that had accumulated overnight, and we were able to (without TOO much ado) unroll the liner and install it.
Somehow, these lines from the appointed psalm reading for today, Second Sunday in Lent, are appropriate:
Psalm 121
121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills– from where will my help come?
121:2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
(and who sent us two guys on a Kubota!)
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