The Fixer

The water is clear and flowing freely once again. The hornets are dead. The pump appears to be functioning without defect. I have taken a shower.

I discussed a few options with Allen and decided to abandon the spring all together. It had collapsed to the point it is only 4 or 5 feet deep now. I am using the other spring now but it is a temporary measure. A permanent solution is going to require some further planning, concrete and a trackhoe. What I should have done to begin with.
My earlier attempts to kill the hornets had apparently been effective so I did not have to deal much with them. They did give one dying gasp as I was working though, when the queen flopped out of the nest onto the ground next to me. Freaking thing must be 2" inches long.
I replaced the fittings and plumbing leading to and from the pump, extended the pipes to the other spring and hooked all that back up and reprimed everything. Then I discovered that the fitting going into the pump had busted also. About this time Allen drove up and offered to repair it. I accepted and with one final trip to the hardware store and 40 minutes later, the pump fired up and water flowed. It then proceeded to spit mud and gunk out of every faucet and opening in and around the house.
We flushed out the whole system and I ran some bleach through the lines for good measure, back washed the filter and all seems to be fine.
Thanks for all your comments and I will answer some of them further in another post. I would like to say that I do realize and accept that I have to do this work myself because I did opt to walk away from the relationship I had. That was my choice and I still stand by it, so I have to suck it up and do these things when they come up and I accept that. It's not that hard usually, once you get going. But yes, when stuff like this happens it is nice to have someone there and I hope you women out there appreciate your man, IF you have a good one, that takes care of these things. I know women have plenty to do around the house (I do both after all) but most of it still rates higher on the comfort scale than wallowing around in cold mud, in the rain, repairing 2" plumbing lines.
I also had at least 3 guys guiding me through written and spoken means, as what to do next (tho I decided ultimately what was best) so I was not totally alone and I am grateful for that.


*Pearl Jam