Well, well, well

City people don’t know much about wells. The magic of turning on a faucet or flushing the toilet and water appears.

Mountain living changed my expectations.

In the 16 years I’ve been living up here, the well hasn’t been a problem. Other than dealing with hard water it’s all been fine. Turn on the faucet, out comes water.

Well, except for those times when the power’s out. No power? No water. That was a surprise. You only get one flush of the toilet and the tank drains, never to refill until the power comes back on.

Most people have generators to provide power that kicks on when the power goes out. My solution is Tidy Cat litter in the 20-lb jug. Six of them, in fact. Lined up in the hallway, ready to go.

Use the toilet, take the tank lid off, flush, and pour water from the jug into the tank. Voilà! The toilet flushes like magic. Of course, sometimes the power can be out for quite a while.

As in January 2026 when windstorms wreaked havoc on the mountain area electrical network. Dead and live trees fell left and right. The ones that fell across power lines were first priority. With the power on, they would’ve started a wildfire. CORE electric also had rolling outages. Also, their notification system was the only lifeline between wondering and knowing.

Crews worked around the clock to remove downed trees and restore power. Like fireman, they our local heroes.
In six days I had power for 4 hours. Not all at once, but in hour increments. Long enough to fill the six jugs of tank water, take a quick shower in tepid water, do a quick load of laundry and play Russian roulette with laundry soap and a headful of lather.

After six days and having to throw out all food in the fridge and freezer, the power came on and stayed on. I had to buy condiments, veggies, meats and refill the ice-cube trays. Big bucks. A week later, the power went out again due to high winds and I had no power for 2 days. I had to throw out food again but I had plenty of water to flush the toilet.

In September 2025 I turned on the kitchen faucet. Water came out, then water didn’t. I went outside and checked the breakers. Nothing had tripped.

I called my plumber. He said it sounded like a well problem but didn’t have a recommendation for a well guy.
I posted a question in the Conifer/Evergreen Facebook page about who to call. I got a list of the usual suspects. Most of which had stories of lore. None of them complimentary.

I did the only thing a wise person would – I put a message into my Tuesday Knitting Group. Who do you use for well service? Out of the 20 people in the group, eight responded with “Sky Country Pump Service.”

I called them. It was Friday afternoon. They arrived two hours later and checked the breakers, tank, and tested the well. The breaker on the tank had blown because the tank pump was working too hard because the well pump wasn’t doing it’s job. Basically, the pump died.

They quoted me a reasonable price and said they’ve be out first thing in the morning. Saturday is usually a pricey day when it comes to repairs. No, they said, it’s a normal rate.

Their truck was a little too tall to go down through the Slightly Unenchanted Forest. The only access was the AirBNB behind me. I know the owner so I called her and left a message. She gave us permission.

A little sidenote here: NEVER cross another person’s property without permission. Don’t walk up the right-of-way and onto a property. There are rules up here. Walk or drive on the driveway and knock at the front door. People get their knickers in a twist otherwise.

I talked with the owner and the guests at the AirBNB. The guests had a small boy who was fascinated with the big truck and men working. Turns out he had just become a big brother because the family rented the AirBNB to welcome their new daughter in a home birth. I don’t think the owner knew about their plans and I’m not sure I’d allow it if I owned an AirBNB. The logistics are … messy.

Anyway, Sky Country got to the well and began.

To replace a well pump, the well cap is taken off and all the lengths of pipe is pulled up by a machine and laid neatly in sawhorses until the pump comes up. The well pump lives at the very bottom of the well. This pump was the original 1979 installation when the well was first dug 46 years ago.

A new one was installed and all the pipes were inspected. They lowered the pump down 275 feet to the bottom. Before the well cap was replaced, they dropped a few large white disks into the well. I asked about that and they apologized and said all wells serviced in the mountain area now have to be chlorinated. It is what it is.

They tested the well system to make sure everything work. They said the water would be an “odd” color for a day or two. It was orange for five days. They changed the water filters under the house and said they’d need to be changed in a week. That filter was a color I’ve not seen before. Then it was beautiful clean, clear water.

I can’t recommend Sky Country Pump service enough. They did such a great job. I asked when we should schedule an inspection or yearly maintenance. They said to call them when the well stops working. Other than that, don’t worry about turning on the faucet, because any problems won’t be because of the well.