Water, Water…

What a year 2012 has been for water related incident. We kicked off with hosepipe bans due to the dry winter and finished off with it being the wettest year on record. You may recall the photo on the right from my Facebook feed. It is from Kelmarsh in July, one of several events rained, or should I say flooded off, though none quite as spectacularly as the river that appeared there overnight and ran straight through some people’s tents (fortunately, not ours, though we did have a couple of inches of standing water at one end). On balance, I think an ark might have been more use than a tent this year. Certainly, my rather perished and under-utilised old wellies were not much use at Kelmarsh and I had to buy new ones which did get a lot of use subsequently. I am also now the proud owner of a long waxed coat as my “water-proof” wasn’t very effective and did nothing to keep my legs dry.

As if having half of my events cancelled either completely or partially wasn’t enough, my water related woes followed me home and we are ending the year with yet another plumber’s visit today. Several weeks ago, the hot water stopped working altogether – the taps were are dry as the country wasn’t.

Several days and numerous call outs to the boiler, plumbing and water people, normal(ish) service was restored with much soaking in lovely, full, hot baths. (Just as well I’m used to living in a field with minimal bathing facilities for several days at a time, but, oh, I do look forward to a good soak when I get back!)

The hot water had stopped working because the tank had run dry, as due to poor cold water pressure it wasn’t filling up. This issue wasn’t exactly rectified, but messing about turning the stopcocks on and off seemed to have restored some measure of functionality and the tank was filling once more, but the cold water was now barely dribbling out of the taps. A number of callouts, a couple of replaced stopcocks, new ball valves and a ripped up kitchen floor later, we are no further forward (though I now have an excellent idea of where the pipework runs) and so today, they are coming back again to check the exterior pipework for leaks. Funnily enough, this is where I suggested they start at the beginning when it became apparent that the pressure was rubbish via both stopcocks*.  Honestly, I do wish people would just do as I tell them in the first place, it would save so much time and effort.

*Yes, my plumbing is peculiar – I have two main stopcocks. The house was built in 1903 and has had some sort of extensions and…well…plumbing weirdness added, so the main incoming water supply enters the house in two places.

So, I’m sitting here awaiting the arrival of the plumbers, who will turn off my water for at least half a day while they try to establish the location of the leak by filling the pipes with gas. I am prepared – the kettle, water filter jug and large container are all full, the washing up is up to date, the heating os off as a precaution, the children have been kicked out of bed and told to clean their teeth and use the loo and now we wait.

Here’s hoping that in 2013 the water will be in the right place, namely, in my pipes and not lapping around my boots.