We were able to get the deck framed out and Trex hauled from the driveway to the rear.
We had to adjust the joist spacing as you can see in two spots to accommodate the power service entry and of course one of the anchor bolts I put in a couple of weeks ago.
You are probably wondering about the the height of the posts. I am going to put a border pergola along the outside edge of the deck. I left 9' above the deck level, at this point, but I suspect I will cut down later. Of course three of the posts were straight, but the second from the north end has a curve I will need to deal with. Although this picture makes it look like all of the posts are leaning to the outside, they are plumb on. I think is is keystoning from the camera lens (cellphone).My plan is to finish the deck the week of June 30.
Now to the mystery of the disappearing water -
Our well, recovers at about 260 gallons a day, so it pumps into a 1700 gallon storage cistern, which in turn pumps into the pressure tank located in the furnace room for use in the house. I always turn off the water into the house when we leave, because I am always concerned about a leak that would pump the entire 1700 gallons in the house somewhere.
Over the last year I have periodically opened the manhole into the cistern to check the level and it always seems full, as you would expect given that we are only here on weekends.
Twice in May the cistern was empty on Sunday. We of course assumed the worst and figured the well had gone dry. So we had Rick's Pump service come out and check and had Dan Ainsworth fill the cistern. I also installed a float gauge so that I could check the water level easier and more accurately.
Since that time the cistern has always been full when we arrived on Friday night and over the course of the weekend the level would move down a couple of inches.
So imagine our surprise when on Sunday morning last weekend the cistern was empty again.
It was full Friday night.
It was only down a little on Saturday morning
And down about 6 inches late Saturday afternoon.
So Sunday morning I am looking for about 1600 gallons of water.
The ground wasn't wet where the water line goes from the cistern to the house.
It wasn't wet in the lower level.
It wasn't wet downhill from the house.
I went in to the cistern and there weren't any visible cracks.
The lower level concrete floor wasn't wet from below slab seepage.
There was no water dripping out a ceiling or wall.
Where did it go?
This is a mystery.
A possible clue.
- This only happens when we are there and the water valve is turned on.
So where did the water go?
If I couldn't find it, in the house or on the ground, did it go down the drain? How could it do that since there is no place where fresh water actually hooks up to the drain system. Ah but was a faucet or toilet running.
I went around and checked each one. All seemed good.
Another possible clue.
- All afternoon while working on the deck, Derek kept commenting on the sewage smell. To be clear, with our type of drain field and the soil it is in, we have been told that this can happen during certain weather changes and we have smelled it before.
So Monday morning, I called Rick's back and the first thing they asked was if I had a toilet running. I said no. I had run around and checked them all. They said they were going to ask their folks and call me back.
I couldn't wait so Monday afternoon, I called back and talked to Jack the tech who had been out in May to check the system. the first thing he asked was if I had a running toilet. I said no I had check them, but could a toilet empty a cistern in a day I asked. Jack said you bet he had seen it happen a number of times.
So Monday evening I am wondering where or how did I have a leak somewhere in the house that I couldn't find?
I had discounted that the leak was outside, as it only happens when we are there and the water is turned on.
But I was flummoxed, as I had checked everything inside.
Where did the water go?
Another clue: Derek was visiting us this weekend.
Monday evening Marlys and I walked to the downtown YMCA to lift weights. During the walk I recapped everything to her and what did I hear...the lower level toilet had been running on Saturday and she had had to go in and jiggle the handle to stop it.
Ahh... a suspect!
Why didn't I see it running on Sunday morning?
Because there was no water in the system so there was nothing to see running...duh! Explains why no leaks were found!
So I have a theory and that is that the lower level toilet has been running. That Marlys fixed it Saturday afternoon, but that Derek used it again afterwards and it opened up again.
On Monday June 30 we will check this out and see if I have sherlocked this correctly.
What do you think?
1 comment:
Two thoughts...Can you check the drain field run when the cistern is dry? In other words, can you remove the caps at the ends to see if the water went into all parts of the run. Maybe this is only feasible if you have a series of field tubes and a junction for them all. In our field, once a section is full of liquid, the liquid "backs up" and the next field section begins to fill. If all field runs contain liquid or most of them, it would be an indication that the water is going through the house into the drain. This would confirm your leaking toilet theory but maybe the water would not still be present by the time you return.
The second thought, would only work if you have a water softener with a countdown dial and you run softened water through the toilets as we do. You could note the number of gallons until regeneration when you leave and see if the number decreased when you returned again, confirming the leaking toilet. The softener counts down the number of gallons until regeneration.
We pretty much always shut off power to the well pump when we leave for more than a day.
Good Luck, Tom J
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