It’s that old devil called water again. Yesterday was water intake day, and because we had run out the day before, it was vital we had a full tank, otherwise, we would be dry until Friday. So, we’re waiting and waiting, and the needle on the meter isn’t going round, and Neil had to go down town for something, and was going to call into the town hall to ask why, when, on his way, he noticed other people’s water supply was on and it was coming in, so why not us? I checked again and discovered the water was coming in, but only as far as the garden tap (not that we have a garden). From there, it runs directly to the water tank only, yesterday, it wasn’t. So, I tried the hose to see if that would run from the garden tap to the tank, which is about six feet higher, and no, it wouldn’t. So, I went and bought a better hose from Mr Chan, whose name probably isn’t Mr Chan, but that’s what the locals call him, but not even his hose made a difference. Neil was back from town by now, and we discovered that water would run through the house and dribble out (better than nothing), but only to a certain altitude; after that, nothing.
So, we had to resort to buckets, 20 of them, up and down the spiral stairs until the tank was full of soup. Pouring the buckets in, rather than having the steady flow from the main pipe, disturbed the sediment that’s built up at the bottom of the tank over the years. Sediment? From rainwater? Yes, well, no, because it’s not rainwate,r it’s some strange water-effect substitute provided by a desalination plant that doesn’t quite desalinate, so we’re constantly seeing yellow water coming out of taps, and rust-coloured water-effect substitute in the WC now and then. All very odd, and no, we don’t drink it.
Anyway, the plumber called later, took a look at the pump, which still goes off every ten minutes for no reason, checked our pipes for leaks (none), took the mains pipe off, blew down it and will come back tomorrow to check it or change it so we can fill up without having to go up and down with buckets. Then he went to knock on the door downstairs to check for leaks. However, he decided, en route, that it was siesta time and he would come back later to see the soldier who must have a leak despite what he says, and I don’t mean that kind of leak, Missus. But, apparently, he either didn’t call back, or he did, and the soldier was out because the pump’s still going off. But at least we have a tank of yellow water to see us through until next top-up day. We also now have five buckets of spare water, a new hosepipe and stronger calf muscles just in case.
