wet and dry

[stewartwillsher]

This might interest someone.
Although our area has a sub-tropical micro-climate with mountains to the immediate North of us with gorges and waterfalls, water supply can be a bit of a problem towards the end of summer here.
One year, just before we bought our land, and we were living in the village, the next village along the foothills ran dry.
I am WAFFLING now because the signs are not looking good for this year.
The water for our house is not a simple system, intentionally, partly because of the autumn situation.
Our water comes from a sondeo on our land, which is a bore hole, reaching down to a natural sump in the rock strata below.
During most of the year this sump has a constant and adequate flow through it, but about September time, the flow rate drops.
A pump down the bore hole is electronically controlled by the amount of water in the sump and by the demand to fill a tank by the house.
This tank is sufficient for about a week of normal water usage for domestic purposes.
When the flow rate drops, it can take nearly a week to fill the tank, and we start to get worried.
This situation can be predicted in advance at this time of the year by looking up at the mountains; they should be white on top, i.e. a capping of snow, which will slowly melt by May and soak into the mountain to feed the water courses and subterranean channels.
Our sump in the rock below is fed by these underground streams.
Since last autumn we have only seen snow on the tops a couple of times and then it only lasted a few days each time.
Whilst we have in place some standby arrangements, even those can be depleted and so bottled water is relied upon for some usage.
Unfortunately, some things we take for granted, need a good supply, like loos and washing machine and dishwasher.
We are fortunate, in that if it gets to a point of all drying up, then we can clear off down South to the holiday home and leave the problem behind.
But our sympathies are with those unable to escape.
Kids and oldies cannot survive on beer alone, eh?

 

[stewartwillsher]

Hoorah!
Why am I cheering when it is wet and windy?
Can't hang the washing out and only dashing to and from the car to avoid putting weather proof clobber on.
It is peeing down and the mist at times reduces visibility to a couple of hundred metres.
Through gaps in the clouds I can see white up above about a thousand metres.
The forecast predicts a week of this, so although by the end the novelty will have worn off, hopefully there will be reserves in the mountains that will see us through the autumn.
The trees have sucked up the moisture and are almost in full leaf.
If it weren't for our chap attacking the weeds with a vicious herbicide, we would be wading through greenery too.
The blossom/flowers on our productive trees has come and gone, and hopefully left a legacy of a good prospective crop of everything.
Roll on summer; be moaning then it's too bl00dy hot, eh?