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thewayneIf we're in town and don't have any specific plans, on Sunday I'll go into the village (we live in what is legally defined as a village, population a bit above 800) and hit the sandwich shop for food, which includes clam chowder. It's good chowder, and it probably comes from Sysco, but its good none the less. The chowder is really what drives us to get the sandwiches as it's only available on Sunday.
So off I go with Charlie riding shotgun. Get the food, come back, and the twist begins: there's a Village of Cloudcroft utility truck parked in front of the house. And when it comes to municipal utilities, it's pretty much always concerning water.
And boy, did it concern water!
It seems we have a leak of which we were not aware. A leak to the tune of A LITER A MINUTE!!! We have identified where the leak is, but obviously getting someone out on a Sunday is a non-starter. And it's apparent this has been going on for some time, I don't know why the utility office didn't just call me as soon as they noticed. They installed new meters that they know when leaks like this are happening, so why let it run?!
We know it's been happening for a while because Russet has been complaining of a smell in the master bath, which is right next to the water heater. The water is pooling under the bathroom and that stagnant smell is infiltrating the house: we're in a manufactured house, and it's not sealed the best against the outside. Plus the bathtub has a crack, so there's another place for the fouled air to get in.
So first thing tomorrow I'll be calling a plumber. The problem is, Russet is going in to the observatory in the morning, and I'm going down to Alamogordo for a couple of hours in the afternoon, so there's pretty much no way to schedule it. And it's probable that the plumbers that we prefer to use are completely booked for Monday. If they can't get out Tuesday early, then we'll probably shut off water to the house and go down and stay in a hotel in Alamo or perhaps Cloudcroft until they can get out and fix it. Not a desirable thing, but needs must. That's just too much water, and it's impractical to be going back and forth turning the water to the house on and off.
The leak seems to be directly under the heater, so it's probably the right-angle elbow where the pipe starts running under the house to the various places where it's needed.
So off I go with Charlie riding shotgun. Get the food, come back, and the twist begins: there's a Village of Cloudcroft utility truck parked in front of the house. And when it comes to municipal utilities, it's pretty much always concerning water.
And boy, did it concern water!
It seems we have a leak of which we were not aware. A leak to the tune of A LITER A MINUTE!!! We have identified where the leak is, but obviously getting someone out on a Sunday is a non-starter. And it's apparent this has been going on for some time, I don't know why the utility office didn't just call me as soon as they noticed. They installed new meters that they know when leaks like this are happening, so why let it run?!
We know it's been happening for a while because Russet has been complaining of a smell in the master bath, which is right next to the water heater. The water is pooling under the bathroom and that stagnant smell is infiltrating the house: we're in a manufactured house, and it's not sealed the best against the outside. Plus the bathtub has a crack, so there's another place for the fouled air to get in.
So first thing tomorrow I'll be calling a plumber. The problem is, Russet is going in to the observatory in the morning, and I'm going down to Alamogordo for a couple of hours in the afternoon, so there's pretty much no way to schedule it. And it's probable that the plumbers that we prefer to use are completely booked for Monday. If they can't get out Tuesday early, then we'll probably shut off water to the house and go down and stay in a hotel in Alamo or perhaps Cloudcroft until they can get out and fix it. Not a desirable thing, but needs must. That's just too much water, and it's impractical to be going back and forth turning the water to the house on and off.
The leak seems to be directly under the heater, so it's probably the right-angle elbow where the pipe starts running under the house to the various places where it's needed.
no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 10:31 am (UTC)I found a great recipe for canning clam chowder base:
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/sp-50-931-canning-soup
(halfway down the page)
The base can be used to make into red or white chowder, or clear, I assume. When I use the base, I prepare it with a basic roux (best with cream). Note: the extension serving suggestion incorrectly uses twice the butter and milk than the actual Ball book lists… Regardless, always use safe, tested canning recipes.
no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 02:19 pm (UTC)Just got the call off to the plumbers, I expect they'll call back shortly. Thanks for the recipe!
no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-09-21 10:50 pm (UTC)Good luck. Had huge kerfuffle with water leak when we were in France. First thing I did when home was locate the watermain cutoff valve and label it.
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Date: 2026-09-22 05:19 am (UTC)When we did our two weeks or so in Germany/Czechia a decade ago, I turned off water to the house and turned off the water heater, so I had to turn those back on when we got home. In the dark. That was fun!
no subject
Date: 2026-09-22 03:54 am (UTC)I hope they can get that fixed quickly for you. :o
Hugs, Jon