System Updates: September 2014

The following are a few updates to the attached instruction sheets and comments on the water system.

My wife likes the attached step by step instructions for winter shut-down and start-up. I prefer to understand the principles of how things work, so I can quickly figure out what‘s wrong ifthey don't. For draining the water lines the principle is simple; if you let air in the tops of the lines and let water out at the bottom, and there are no low spots to trap water, the system will drain itself by gravity. There are now three such low spots. The one under the utility room sink, drained by valde R. The hose sprayer on the kitchen sink, which Ijust blow out by mouth. And a new one not listed in the old instructions is the hand held shower head. ljust let it hang straight down from the hose so there is no loop to trap water.

1) The pressure tank has a pressurized rubber bladder inside it to help maximize the pressure capacity so the well pump doesn't have to run as often. it’s like a bicycle inner tube and you will find a value on top of the tank to put air in it. It appears It has developed a slow leak. It is fine in the summer when there is always water pressure in the system. However, in the winter when the system is drained, the pressure leaks out. So now, when l start up in the winter I add air to it using a small compressor that l am leaving for you under the stairs. i would add before step 8 in the start-up instructions; Leave value F closed, turn pump on at B, then turn It off when the pressure reaches about Zolbs, Use compressor to bring the pressure up to about 30 lbs, then (#8) open valves F and G. #9 turn pump back on etc. If you don’t do all this the pump will run a little more often than it needs to, that’s all.

2) Did you wonder what the hose and funnel on valve Qwas for? Smelly hot water in the summer. The well water is high in iron and when the hot water tank is left full and unused for a period of time Iron bacteria flourish in it. The bacteria are safe but make the water smell of rotten eggs. The bacteria are not a problem in the winter when the tank is left frozen and empty when not used. I have found a little bit of bleach in the hot water tank now and then

3) will kill the bacteria and solve the summer problem. To do this i;

• Shut valve G to cut of the pressure from the HW tank.
• Open valves J and S to drain the pressure from the HW tank. Once the pressure is off open valve Q and‘you will hear it start sucking airthru the hose. Pour a small bit of bleach into the funnel and It will get sucked into the tank.
• Shut values QJ S. and open valve G. I might do this and leave it overnight, or do It when we leave and let it sit until we return.

4) Under cabin sewer line access. The pipes are exposed to the winter cold going from below the cabin into the septic tank. Normally these llnes are empty or have warm enough water moving fast enough not to freeze. However. a couple of times we had to hire a steam truck to thaw them out after someone left a tap dripping overnight. We had no access to the pipes then. So 6 — 8 years ago i dug the trench to give easy access to them. The pipes are now wrapped in heat tape and small insulated walls were added to hold heat in the area. if you ever had a problem you would need to run an extension cord to plug in the heat tape or any small electric heaters. We have never had to do this. Just make sure there are no taps dripping on really cold winter nights and you should never have a problem either.

5) You can use it if you really need it, but I would leave outside water, valve E, off all winter.