Update on Water System Repairs 8/21/26
There was a major customer line break on Sunday, August 9th where all water lines and storage tanks were emptied. Whenever this happens, there is a water hammer effect from repressurizing water lines that can be intensified by air pockets. On Tuesday we put together a volunteer group to investigate a suspicious wet spot along Homestead Trail. Volunteer faces were bright and enthusiastic to begin the day of volunteer work. Huge thanks to Eva, Cyndy, Kevin, and Deanna for sticking with us all day. Honorary thanks to Deanna for providing sandwiches and snacks throughout the day to keep us going.
As we continued to dig with water seemingly coming from all directions, we ended up discovering 4 separate breaks in some of the older, thinner walled PVC piping. One of the breaks was in the mainline from well #2 which holds a LOT of water. It was a wet, muddy mess! All was going well pumping out the water so that repairs could begin, until the pump ran out of gas. Not to worry...as a gas can was being fetched (thank you Cyndy for donating gas and gas can), three lovely ladies put their heads together and their shovels to work for a solution to keep the water from spilling out everywhere until the pump could be put back into action by digging a trench to divert the water into the culvert.
It was difficult to keep the pump working because the mud was so sludgy that the dirt filled up the pump body and it had to be taken apart and cleaned out twice. This sludge also made it difficult to stand on for working--not unlike working in quicksand! Our thanks to John Pohl for bringing us some old boards to throw on top of the mud.
After 11 hours of digging and draining, the volunteers went home for some rest to return the following day to complete the job. Thank you to all Homestead residents for your patience and understanding while being without normal water pressure.
On Wednesday all repairs were made, dirt was thrown over the pipes to hold them in place while pressurized, and the hole left open to dry and insure that the repairs hold. Thank you to Josh for flushing out the water lines after the repairs. It was a big job, but with volunteer hands we got it done.
During this repair, another suspicious wet spot was noticed. And sure enough there was another broken line in the Lookout Circle loop. Paul and Jim isolated the line and did the repair Wednesday the 19th.
If you would like to be notified of volunteer opportunities in the community, please reach out to us at hladirectors@gmail.com or call (806) 884-8116
