The Water Debacle Continues Part One
Ah, the waiting place…
In the attempts to remain positive while the well water is being tested at an independent lab, a hole is being dug. Yes, another hole. These boys and their holes. Yesh.
Why the hole you ask? Well, it’s for the well. The well water that is. For the third time in as many weeks, we will be attempting to flush the well in hopes for better water. This time instead of allowing the water to drain into the field, the water is going to be contained. Hence, the hole.
Digging the hole will answer many questions. What type of soil is located below the shallow top layer? How far down can a hole be dug before the tide level water seeps through? Knowing this allows for a more accurate design of structure footings. After filling the hole with well water and determining the amount of water held, absorption time can be monitored providing the rate at how much gray water can be filtered.
Of course, there are other reasons to dig a hole. First and foremost, because you can. Secondly, it creates a great playground. The kid couldn’t wait to get in there and get dirty. The mind of a child is a precious thing wasted on adults. His sole focus was on his collection of dirt clumps. He was creating a pile of the best of the best of the best. He would climb into the hole to find the best clump of dirt after each tractor bucket full was removed.
What he failed to notice was each time he came back up, the clumps were of a different layer of soil, each one lighter in color than before. Maybe the difference was so subtle when carrying only small handfuls at a time. But when piled by the bucket loads next to each other, the difference was vast.
It did not take too many bucket fulls before the tide level was achieved and salt water started seeping into the hole. Several more bucket fulls were removed before the hole became too steep for the tractor.
Just in the few minutes it took to park the tractor and measure the hole, the hole had gained a substantial amount of water. Yes, the answer to your thought, it’s salt water. Why you would have thought differently is beyond me. It is not like our water was drinkable from the well so what makes you think shallower water would be any more or less salty? Did I say you this whole time, oh excuse me, I meant me.
To say the least, I was quite disappointed after crawling into the hole to realize the water was just was salty as it was from the well. It may still in fact be more salty than the bay, too. Drinking water from the bay is not safe with all the pollutants and what not so there will be no taste test to confirm. If I can borrow the refractometer again, I could compare the two waters for sality levels.
Oh, well. At least this hole served a purpose, unlike The Hole to Nowhere. A trench was dug, the generator was attached, and the hole was filled. Moving water, be a creek or a river, trickling or raging, is mesmerizing. This event was no different.
Ok, so it was only mesmerizing for a little bit. There was the occasional mudslide into the hole but other than that, it was like watching paint dry. At twelve gallons a minute, the hole, as it turned out, was just big enough to hold 720 gallons of water. Well, salt water. Not to be confused with salty well water or just plain well water. It held 720 gallons of salt water from pumped out of the fresh water well.
The water level was measured to determine how quickly water is absorbed. Just a few days after the flooding during the summer, there was very little standing water other than in drainage ditches. Standing water is bad. Standing water becomes stinky, makes driving a mess, and it promotes mosquitoes. Ugh. Just what we need, the promotion of more mosquitoes.
So as we stood there contemplating the fact our water remained salty we dreamed a Peter Pan moment. Sometimes it is easier to live in Never Never Land. Sure there are bad alligator clocks and a mean pirate but you get to live in a tree house and are friends with a fairy. Oh, and you can fly away from your problems and there is plenty of fresh water!
As it turns out, water absorption in the hole took longer than expected. The next afternoon, there was still a fair amount at the bottom of the hole. What was more unexpected was the sheer level of salt in the water. We know the preliminary tests state there is a high level of salt in the water but when the water dried off the tractor ruts, salt remained. This was not a dusting either. This was a thick layer that shone like glitter in the sunlight. And since you don’t know much about me, let me state that I HATE, HATE, HATE glitter! Was the strong enough for you? I HATE glitter! There, in case you needed clarification.
So just imagine how I felt when our top soil glittered in the sun? Sometimes there are just not enough words…. At least I can watch the Kid play while the sun sets upon our dreams of well water.