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Ticking time-bomb lurking in your pump room?
#1
At 1:00am (these things always happen at 1:00am don't they?) the wife noticed that the pump was running. Not cycling, but running continuously. She went out to investigate and there was an inch of water in our lanai, water flowing from the pump room.

Because we went to sleep hours earlier, no idea how long this was happening.

So for the second time in my life (but first in Hawaii) I was awoken from a deep sleep by the wife calmly explaining that there was water gushing out of something.

I couldn't immediately tell where the water was coming from, the pump room was just chaos- water blasting seemingly from everywhere. Then I noticed the hole in the drywall. At first glance it seemed to be the source of the water, that didn't make any sense, but at second glance it was obvious the hole was caused BY the water- the hose going to the pressure switch had a large hole in it and water was spraying out at a high enough pressure the spray was bouncing everywhere and it had drilled a hole into the wall, nearly all the way through.

I removed the offending hose and took it to Island Catchment in the morning. The always helpful guy who works there knew what had happened on sight. I didn't have to tell him what happened. He explained that it was a fairly common problem and speculated that our acidic water might be shortening the life of the hose, but not to worry, the one he was about to sell me was much stronger. It was a cheap fix but I can imagine if we weren't home when it happened, there was the potential to come home to a burned-out pump and/or an empty catchment tank.

Here's the same story but in rhyming form:

'Twas the nightmare before Monday, and all through the house
Not an appliance was stirring, except the Grundfos;
The water was blasting it seemed everywhere,
'Cause a cheap bursting hose needed repair;
Just moments before I was asleep in my bed,
'Till the wife woke me up, "There's flooding, and widespread."
The pump room was noisy with spraying and clatter,
So I eased from the bed to see what was the matter;
Through the lanai from where the noise had brought her,
I walked on the floor covered in water;
Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
Water and more water, it's source was unclear;
Eventually I made my diagnosis,
(My morning breath thick with halitosis);
After dawn and teeth brushing guess where I went,
The knowledgeable folks at Island Catchment;
Is your hose good? Nobody predicts,
But for ten Yankee dollars they'll sell you a fix.
As the water evaporates soon out of sight-
Let's hope there's no catchment drama tonight.








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#2
The same thing happened to me in N. California when on a below zero night (yes) the heat tape burned a hole in the plastic pressure hose, leaving my tank dry and 2" of ice covering my shop floor. Took 2 months and 50# salt to get my shop back.
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#3
terracore @ 10:50:02/ 10:51:54 02/05/2018-
Bad problem; hope no major or serious consequences as a result
of a POS hose.
Had friends northern MI that went on vacation January one year,
one or another dropped the ball about turning the water off.
They came home to a basement and adjacent lower level garage
that were like a huge ice cube- burst pipe.
Temperatures while they had been gone had been between -25F and -5F (day to night).
Some recriminations about who blew turning the water off.
I like your verse- a bit of a bard, or as the Irish call it a "shanarchie" (story teller).
Thanks for sharing and retaining some humor.
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#4
Awful!

Why would you have acidic water? I hear that a lot but I thought we would have very clean water here (if you're on catchment).
I had a water pump rust out from the inside a while back, also blamed on acidic water.

Why don't they use the good hose to start with...
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#5
Glad the wife discovered before even more damage occurred, not sure what was on the other side of the wall, but probably expensive!
As far as why not a better hose to begin with, I believe it is called "value engineering". The definition of "value engineering" is build it at the cheapest cost, sell it at the highest price, sell the consumer a new one when all fails, profit, profit, profit.
Acidic water is more than likely a result from the rain picking up the volcanoes smoke/steam flume and kindly giving it back to Mother Earth.

Community begins with Aloha
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#6
But I'm east of the volcano and the prevailing wind is East to West.
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#7
Well, I seriously doubt somebody is pouring acid in ones cachment tanks. The winds gather around the islands and move up towards Alaska, along the coastline there and down the mainland coast to about the tip of Baja, then circle back towards the islands. During its journey it picks up pollutants whether from the volcano or the LA smog filled basin and points in between, depositing the "dirt" wherever it rains.
Just too many people on this planet to make anything "pure" anymore.

Community begins with Aloha
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#8
I don’t understand the hose part. All my intakes are sch .80 pvc then copper after the UV. I do have water supply hoses to the toilets, sinks that I have to replace on occasion. The copper is holding up well as I’ve looked inside when plumbing work has happened.
Puna: Our roosters crow first
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#9
The water here is quite acidic. That is why you should test and pour in baking soda to change it. If you have copper pipes and see a green stain on your shower walls, tub, etc, it is the acidic water eating your copper pipes!
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#10
Tested our catchment water in Orchidland last year and it was 4.5-4.7
Definitely acidic. Baking soda is great.
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