Not Much Activity; Well Pump Failed

I have been busy solving other problems.  Our well pump (or at least part of the supporting electrical system) has failed.  American Home Shield, our home warranty company, has performed well on the only other problem we have had but that was a dishwasher, which is nice but hardly an emergency. Not having water in the house for cooking, laundry, dishwasher, and especially toilets is another matter. 

Our first service request yesterday is apparently working through the system. I called this morning to emphasize the emergency nature of this.  We are promised a service provider call today. 

I confess to being rather spoiled by past experience. The house I had built above Horseshoe Bend was never a problem. I designed it with self-sufficiency in mind although I was not truly off-grid. The backup generator ran off the LP gas tank.  It powered the well pump, the pressurization pump, the furnace and A/C and the kitchen.  When Idaho Power dropped the ball, as they often did, it had little impact.  We had a 1000 gallon tank.  I have no idea how much gas the backup generator used but we never ran out. 

The well pumped water into a 1000 gallon cistern which had enough elevation to give us 5 psi. This was enough that when the pressurization pump failed once, we still had enough water to hand wash dishes and flush toilets.  Also, 1000 gallons takes a long time for two people to use.

I miss that house. 

Anyway, after going through a lot of bottled drinking water to flush toilets, we suddenly realized that the canal water for the sprinklers, as gross as it, will flush toilets just fine. My wife labeled some of our empty drinking water bottles Toilet.

Whoever put together our sprinklers did something a little clever. Our Red Lion sprinkler pump in most applications needs to be primed every spring. The air trapped in it, will hold a bubble that the incoming low pressure canal water can not push through.  The system we have uses pipe with a faucet to allow air to escape. 

When the air finishes bleeding through, irrigation water comes out, even if the pump is not running. I hooked up a hose to that faucet.  Irrigation system gravity pressure let me fill up those jugs in a hurry.