When the House Pump Doesn’t
Like pioneer homesteaders
Our house sits on top of its own cistern. All of our water is supplied by the rain. We had so much rain recently that our swimming pool overflowed, so we knew the cistern was full.
So why was no water coming out of any of our faucets? Why were the toilet tanks not refilling when they were flushed? Why was our washing machine not working?
It turns out, getting the water out of the cistern and into the house’s plumbing requires a pump. If the house pump breaks, the house has no water.
Ours broke. Fortunately, the plumber diagnosed the problem, ordered a replacement, picked it up at the port, then delivered and installed the new pump within a few hours.
We never lost our indoor plumbing. We just dipped buckets in the pool for water.