It wouldn't have been fixable from the top anyway. It wasn't bolted to a post and the whole thing wiggled alarmingly. And years of calcium deposits had completely frozen all the screw together bits. It broke off in the ground :(
G and I took turns digging an enormous hole. I went to the local hardware store twice, and we spent over an hour puzzling out how to cut off the water. I even crawled around under the entire house looking for a shutoff valve. Pro tip: flip the circuit breaker labelled "pump", then drain the tank. D'oh!
Actually capping the pipe was ridiculously easy. And the best part of all - the water CAME BACK ON!
Another expensive catastrophe nimbly avoided.
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Its like watching professionals!
ReplyDeleteSorry to be so tardy.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a hole! Especially to be dug by hand! (We had to dig up fifteen foot of sewer line last weekend, but we were able to use the tractor 'til we got close to the cracked, collapsed, root taken-over pipe.)
I'm glad (in a perverted sort of way) that your hole ended up having to be dug anyway.
Aren't you going to replace the frost free? They're sure handy to have (I have two near the ends of the barn aisle and three strategically located between the six paddocks, with power outlets for tank heaters).
I hope neither of you are too sore today...
OH...some of the surprice joys that home ownership has to offer...YOU CAN DO IT!
ReplyDeleteHappy that there were some smiles and triuph!
Kac