Seedlings - and Problems with the Well

The seeds I sowed are beginning to pop up - lots of Nassella cernua, nodding needle grass, and buttercup, Ranunculus californicus, and odd little seeds of other kinds which I'll itemize in another post. Most excitingly, I think the above is a seedling of Giant Wakerobin! And also potentially exciting (to me anyway) -- something is growing in the Hound's Tongue container!

But for a couple days now, the smart meters PG&E installed recently have disrupted the electrical setup of our neighborhood well system. The well is on one property, and the water is pumped to a huge tank on another property, upon an electrical signal that the water in the tank has fallen below a certain level. The water reaches our home via another pump, as we are not below the tank but along the ridge from it.


No electricity = no water.


A neighbor has been switching on the pump to the tank manually as needed, and folk who get their water by gravity are not affected now.


We dined with some kind "gravity fed" friends down the road last night and I begged a can full of water to keep the seedlings going until the electrician can come and fix the water systems again.


We only expect to be without water for three days at most. Meanwhile, I'm contemplating the fragility of our existence here, and our mutual dependence on others to keep these very local systems going.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I think everyone who is living in earthquake country should be prepared for being without water for up to a week.

Hope your water will be restored soon.
Country Mouse said…
Yes, I agree with your comment, Anon. We have bottled water on hand for humans, and we are also in a good community that is mutually supportive. We are behind hand with rainwater harvesting but it is in our plans.