Friday, January 20, 2017

This Week in Our Home: It's All About Water!


Water is a precious resource and I've learned first hand this week how much we depend on it.  We can't survive without it. We need it to live. We need to protect our water resources and also think about what we would do if we didn't have any water available.  



Our week started with freezing rain that came down in our area Monday night. The ground was frozen so they said be careful on the roads because they could turn to ice. We made sure we were home safe and sound by the time the rain started.  Went to bed and woke up Tuesday morning to the soothing sound of rain dripping.  We realized pretty quickly that it wasn't coming from outside.  Kind of scary let me tell you.  The sump pump had quit working while we were sleeping and the little basement was filling up fast. The water was above my husband's knees!  

First we had to call a plumber to help us drain the water with another sump pump.  We do have an ER sump pump but we couldn't make it work. We were scrambling.  Total cost for the plumber was $85.00.  Then we took the sump pump back to the local hardware store where we had bought it just over a year ago. He put another part in it for free and my husband installed it.  Crisis over or so we thought. 

It was then we realized that we had another problem no water. The well that was located in the same area now needed points and new wiring ($27 for points).  A wonderful neighbor came over and helped us fix it.  It was a stressful day but we had so many blessings!  The cost alone of this disaster could have been so much bigger!   Our total cost was only $112.00!  

I was without water for one day.  It was eye opening.  We had bottled water to drink but not enough to clean anything with.  The house was a disaster with mud tracked in.  There was no cooking that day at all. 





Then, yesterday, I made it to my first Master Gardening Class yesterday and loved it. I know I'm going to learn a lot, would you just look at this large book!  It's over 1,000 pages!  

The first class was about, you guessed it, water.  Really!

Here are a few facts the instructor gave us:

The United States is number 1 in water usage.  We are reported to use waste up to 200 gallons of water a day for each person.  We waste a lot of water people.  In Florida alone they use 3,000 gallons of water for golf greens per game.

On the other hand: Sadly 3.3 million people die from water related illnesses a year.

We learned so much about our water resources: like how water drains into the landscape and how easily it is to pollute your water source if you don't know what you are doing.  I hope to give you more information as time goes on.   

I'm working on improving my preparedness if something happens to our water supply again.  I'm taking a class online over at Patsy's blog A Working Pantry.   I've been getting tips in her Facebook group on surviving with little or no water this week. Unfortunately, this class is full but maybe she'll have another one again soon.  


How long could you last without water?  Are you prepared?


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This post has been linked to The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Making a Home-Homemaking Linky, Waste Less Wednesday, 




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