Water Problems

Every house has problems with water from time to time. That is part of life. Mine have just come in rapid succession. I have only been in the house a month and I have called the plumber 4 times. There are only 4 water sources in the house and each one of them has developed its own problem. Fortunately the plumber is reliable and compassionate. He comes quickly.

When I first moved in, I noticed that each morning, water had pooled on the bathroom floor over night. My housekeeper, Josephina, who was here a few days before I moved in preparing the house, just dutifully mopped it up, as if this were a normal part of life. But each morning the pool seemed larger to me. By my fourth morning in the house, the pool extended to half the bathroom floor. I reported this to my friend Celestin, who is also the presbytery clerk in charge of the house and he sent the plumber. The plumber found a small hole in a pipe and dutifully repaired it. Problem solved in just 15 minutes. I rested easily when the next morning the floor was dry.

But two days later, on a Saturday, as I adjusted the water faucet in the kitchen, it came off in my hand. Water shot straight up in the air, bouncing off the ceiling, bathing me and the rest of the kitchen. I quickly turned the water off and moped up the mess. For the rest of the weekend I drew water from the laundry tubs, in a wash area just off the kitchen. That is where I washed dishes as well. On Monday, Celestin again called the plumber for me. He came and then left to buy a new faucet. The replacing of the faucet took about an hour, all tolled. Again, order was easily restored. Praise God.

But that evening, my watchman, John, who uses the laundry tubs for cleaning up after doing a bit of yard work for me, called me to see problem with the laundry tubs. The pipe that connects to the drain had come off and water was draining on the floor instead of down the drain. John’s solution was to place a bucket under the laundry tubs, let it fill up and then dump it outside. Mine was to call the plumber the next morning. He came immediately. This problem, however, took a bit more time. The plumber did not have the parts that he needed and he needed access to the drainage system. He explained that the laundry tubs could not be used for a few days until he got the parts and the access that he needed. John never said anything, but from the pools of water outside the laundry room door, I’m sure he continued with his solution until the plumber returned the end of last week and did the full repair. It took two days to do the work, but all was well.

This morning, when I returned from morning devotions to work in my study, I heard the toilet running. Josephina had just cleaned the toilet. I went in to jiggle the handle, but it did no good. I lifted the lid on the tank and gently jiggled the floater. It went shooting in the air, propelled by a fountain of water that baptized me and the small room that houses the toilet. I reached down and shut off the water as quickly as I could, but not before the impromptu fountain had left half an inch of water on the floor. While Josephina mopped it up, I dried off and then called the plumber. Six hours later, we now have a functional toilet, which has all new internal parts. Hopefully this is the end of the water saga, but just in case it is not, I have the plumber’s phone number on my speed dial.