Hey folks, back from a long vacation in the Funroe with TheWife, where we watched BigSis get engaged (Congrats, BigSis!). Came back to a house full of smelly water (I'll get to that). But first, a small snippet from the time back home.
One night, Ro goes out to meet a friend for a burger and a beer. Well, the beer turned into three beers over about a two and a half hour span. Ever the ethical, responsible older brother, Ro texts me and says he may need me and Dad to come get him in case he has a couple more. Since the bar is not even 10 minutes away, it's easy for Dad and me to jump in the car and go get him. So about an hour later, we head off to get him. As he walks out of the bar, he says "Thanks for getting me guys, but really, it's unnecessary! I'm fine." And by all accounts, he looks and sounds fine. Alas, as we are there, we say "Whatever." I jump in his car and he gets in the passenger seat, while Dad heads back home in the other car.
Not 100 feet after I pull out of the bar, I see those nightmarish flashing blue and red lights in my rear view and a cop is pulling me over. "Sheeiiiit," Ro says. "The brake light is out in the back." Brake light? That doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I roll down the window and look in the side view mirror to see a cop saying, "Could you please come back here and bring your license?" So I, in my flip flops and shorts and raggedy t-shirt, jump out. The cop tells me my brake light is out and then squints at me. Clearly, he's trying to gauge whether or not I am drunk. He then asks for my license, which is a Connecticut license. On this particular day, I am clean-shaven, so clearly I look A) Nothing like my license, where I can pass for some member of a splinter cell, and B) 15. Before he even says anything, I tell him, "This is my father's vehicle. I'm just picking up my brother from Enoch's. I don't actually live here--just in town for a week." With that, he says "Ok, just get that light fixed" and sends me on my way. It occurs to me that this guy parks outside Enoch's on 2-for-1 burgers and beers night, just waiting to pounce on some unsuspecting prat driving home.
I can only imagine what might have happened if Ro hadn't texted, if we hadn't gone to get him, if we hadn't decided to drive him anyway when he said he was ok. Could have been an ooey, gooey, DUI situation. Who knows--Ro is 6'2", 230, so I doubt 3 beers in three hours had him blowing a .08, but that's the problem. We just don't know where the line is, and while he likely wasn't over the limit, he COULD have been. So there it is--lesson learned: whenever in doubt, get a DD; also, buy a keychain breathalyzer for such situations, but mostly just as a really cool party toy.
Anyway, TheWife and I get back to the Hamdens, where she promptly jumps in the shower while I do separate business in a separate bathroom, if you get my drift. When I head back upstairs to unpack my suitcase, I meet a seriously noxious smell in the hallway. Sulfury, rotten egg like smell. Right away, I know it is our water. You see, we have well water here, and for some reason, without a proper level of maintenance, it gets super stinky. It's not unhealthy per se, but aesthetically unpleasing. Who wants to smell putrid rotten eggs while showering?
Anyway, this water issue has been my HouseNemesis for the last 2.5 years. I've spent hundreds of dollars having the well water people come here to chlorinate the well, test the water for bacteria, refresh the potassium permanganate water softener that we use in our greensand filter system. All in an effort to figure out what the hell is going on with our water. And the "experts" at the water well company have increasingly had no clue what was going on--the first go around, it was, "Oh, you need more potassium permanganate for your filtration system." That sounded like something I have no idea about, and therefore, correct. So I was happy. Then the smell returned, with a system full of PotPerm. This time, they said, "Maybe there's bacteria in your well." I agreed--something foreign was making the water smell. So yes, let's spend $200 on chlorinating the well and conducting lab tests to figure it out. Lab tests came back negative. But the chlorination seemed to do the trick, so we were back in good shape. Then it happened again. This time, they said, "You're not cleaning out your filtration system properly." So the guy took an entire crock of fresh PotPerm (which costs $45) and dumped it out in the MIDDLE OF MY LAWN THAT MOTHER F#*&ER. Completely burns that part of the lawn while he rinses out the crock with a hose (for those of you unfamiliar, TheRanga loves his lawn as much as he loves TheWife; well, maybe not, but I spend equal amounts of time taking care of them and getting annoyed that they don't do what I want). Then this a-hole charged me $50 for a new batch of PotPerm and $150 for his labor, because he was at the house doing all his turning on and off of taps for an hour and a half. It's infuriating, actually--every time they come, they just run tests that cost $200 and say "I'm not really sure what the problem is."
So this time, with the water stinking to high heaven, I say, "F the water well company!" and embark on some astute Googling of my own. And you know what? I figured that shit out! Do I work at a water well company? NO! Have I worked at a water well company for 40 years, like these idiots who come to the house? NO! But Google, oh Google, how you do me so right. Apparently, my problem was with the water heater (you know this because the smell only occurs with hot water). When a water heater is left unused for an extended period of time (in this case, 10 days), certain bacteria that exist in the water are allowed to multiply, aided by the cozy 120 degree environment of the water, the lack of disturbance, and free sexifying electrons floating around in the water from the magnesium anode that serves as an anti-corrosive agent inside the heater (the magnesium protects the heater itself from corroding and rusting inside, but does release electrons that the bacteria feed off of. I know, you care, so I explain. I'm here all week). So, I shocked those bacteria mofos to hell and back. Ran hot water from the bathtub this morning until no hot water remained. Then set the water heater up to a balmy 160 (which is SUPER unsafe for consumption at home, so this was just for shocking those little bastards). Left it for four hours while I ate breakfast, did some work, CrossFitted, and ran some errands. After the four hours, ran the bathtub again, and VOILA, no smell whatsoever. So here I am, out $600 or more over the last few years wondering about the damn water situation, with all the guys at the well company pointing their palms to heaven and saying "I don't know," and all it took was maxing out the water heater to kill off the little guys.
Anyway, this is clearly not the sexiest DIY I've done, but I did learn a big lesson that, when used properly, will make living in this house much more pleasant. You see, in the South, the concept of well water is completely foreign, so I came into this situation totally unprepared and unable to handle the curves that our well water so deftly throws my way. 2.5 years in, I still had no idea. So finally conquering what had felt like my Waterloo (HA! get it?!?!) feels GREAT! And THAT friends, is why you DIY!
PEACE!
One night, Ro goes out to meet a friend for a burger and a beer. Well, the beer turned into three beers over about a two and a half hour span. Ever the ethical, responsible older brother, Ro texts me and says he may need me and Dad to come get him in case he has a couple more. Since the bar is not even 10 minutes away, it's easy for Dad and me to jump in the car and go get him. So about an hour later, we head off to get him. As he walks out of the bar, he says "Thanks for getting me guys, but really, it's unnecessary! I'm fine." And by all accounts, he looks and sounds fine. Alas, as we are there, we say "Whatever." I jump in his car and he gets in the passenger seat, while Dad heads back home in the other car.
Not 100 feet after I pull out of the bar, I see those nightmarish flashing blue and red lights in my rear view and a cop is pulling me over. "Sheeiiiit," Ro says. "The brake light is out in the back." Brake light? That doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I roll down the window and look in the side view mirror to see a cop saying, "Could you please come back here and bring your license?" So I, in my flip flops and shorts and raggedy t-shirt, jump out. The cop tells me my brake light is out and then squints at me. Clearly, he's trying to gauge whether or not I am drunk. He then asks for my license, which is a Connecticut license. On this particular day, I am clean-shaven, so clearly I look A) Nothing like my license, where I can pass for some member of a splinter cell, and B) 15. Before he even says anything, I tell him, "This is my father's vehicle. I'm just picking up my brother from Enoch's. I don't actually live here--just in town for a week." With that, he says "Ok, just get that light fixed" and sends me on my way. It occurs to me that this guy parks outside Enoch's on 2-for-1 burgers and beers night, just waiting to pounce on some unsuspecting prat driving home.
I can only imagine what might have happened if Ro hadn't texted, if we hadn't gone to get him, if we hadn't decided to drive him anyway when he said he was ok. Could have been an ooey, gooey, DUI situation. Who knows--Ro is 6'2", 230, so I doubt 3 beers in three hours had him blowing a .08, but that's the problem. We just don't know where the line is, and while he likely wasn't over the limit, he COULD have been. So there it is--lesson learned: whenever in doubt, get a DD; also, buy a keychain breathalyzer for such situations, but mostly just as a really cool party toy.
Anyway, TheWife and I get back to the Hamdens, where she promptly jumps in the shower while I do separate business in a separate bathroom, if you get my drift. When I head back upstairs to unpack my suitcase, I meet a seriously noxious smell in the hallway. Sulfury, rotten egg like smell. Right away, I know it is our water. You see, we have well water here, and for some reason, without a proper level of maintenance, it gets super stinky. It's not unhealthy per se, but aesthetically unpleasing. Who wants to smell putrid rotten eggs while showering?
Anyway, this water issue has been my HouseNemesis for the last 2.5 years. I've spent hundreds of dollars having the well water people come here to chlorinate the well, test the water for bacteria, refresh the potassium permanganate water softener that we use in our greensand filter system. All in an effort to figure out what the hell is going on with our water. And the "experts" at the water well company have increasingly had no clue what was going on--the first go around, it was, "Oh, you need more potassium permanganate for your filtration system." That sounded like something I have no idea about, and therefore, correct. So I was happy. Then the smell returned, with a system full of PotPerm. This time, they said, "Maybe there's bacteria in your well." I agreed--something foreign was making the water smell. So yes, let's spend $200 on chlorinating the well and conducting lab tests to figure it out. Lab tests came back negative. But the chlorination seemed to do the trick, so we were back in good shape. Then it happened again. This time, they said, "You're not cleaning out your filtration system properly." So the guy took an entire crock of fresh PotPerm (which costs $45) and dumped it out in the MIDDLE OF MY LAWN THAT MOTHER F#*&ER. Completely burns that part of the lawn while he rinses out the crock with a hose (for those of you unfamiliar, TheRanga loves his lawn as much as he loves TheWife; well, maybe not, but I spend equal amounts of time taking care of them and getting annoyed that they don't do what I want). Then this a-hole charged me $50 for a new batch of PotPerm and $150 for his labor, because he was at the house doing all his turning on and off of taps for an hour and a half. It's infuriating, actually--every time they come, they just run tests that cost $200 and say "I'm not really sure what the problem is."
So this time, with the water stinking to high heaven, I say, "F the water well company!" and embark on some astute Googling of my own. And you know what? I figured that shit out! Do I work at a water well company? NO! Have I worked at a water well company for 40 years, like these idiots who come to the house? NO! But Google, oh Google, how you do me so right. Apparently, my problem was with the water heater (you know this because the smell only occurs with hot water). When a water heater is left unused for an extended period of time (in this case, 10 days), certain bacteria that exist in the water are allowed to multiply, aided by the cozy 120 degree environment of the water, the lack of disturbance, and free sexifying electrons floating around in the water from the magnesium anode that serves as an anti-corrosive agent inside the heater (the magnesium protects the heater itself from corroding and rusting inside, but does release electrons that the bacteria feed off of. I know, you care, so I explain. I'm here all week). So, I shocked those bacteria mofos to hell and back. Ran hot water from the bathtub this morning until no hot water remained. Then set the water heater up to a balmy 160 (which is SUPER unsafe for consumption at home, so this was just for shocking those little bastards). Left it for four hours while I ate breakfast, did some work, CrossFitted, and ran some errands. After the four hours, ran the bathtub again, and VOILA, no smell whatsoever. So here I am, out $600 or more over the last few years wondering about the damn water situation, with all the guys at the well company pointing their palms to heaven and saying "I don't know," and all it took was maxing out the water heater to kill off the little guys.
Anyway, this is clearly not the sexiest DIY I've done, but I did learn a big lesson that, when used properly, will make living in this house much more pleasant. You see, in the South, the concept of well water is completely foreign, so I came into this situation totally unprepared and unable to handle the curves that our well water so deftly throws my way. 2.5 years in, I still had no idea. So finally conquering what had felt like my Waterloo (HA! get it?!?!) feels GREAT! And THAT friends, is why you DIY!
PEACE!
