This week has been less than fun. Aside from wondering whether my mother survived Hurricane Ian in Florida (she did) with her having limited to no cell service and no power for days, our septic system decided to malfunction, which became apparent when sewage began to backup into our showers. Yuk!
I haven’t been able to get the septic problem fixed yet because I’m waiting on my home warranty company to get off their rear ends and do something about it, but even the feelers I’ve put out on my own haven’t amounted to anyone calling me back.
Truth is, I assumed our septic system would be the least of our troubles when SHTF. My father-in-law (who lives with us), mentioned about a week ago that the septic drain pond looked a bit low, but I figured it wasn’t a problem… boy, was I wrong again!
Fortunately, my in-laws were out of town (and are remaining out of town for now) and my wife and youngest child are staying at my sister-in-laws until this gets resolved. I, however, chose to tough it out so I can watch over our chickens, ducks, and guinea hens:
Unfortunately, I haven’t taken a real shower since Saturday, only using a washcloth, and I’ve had to use a bucket to “do my business” more than once already, though I have driven to a nearby QuikTrip, too. I’ll spare you the details, but it consists of a bucket lined with multiple bags, dirt, and a bucket toilet seat:
Aside from that, I’ve also tried to limit anything going down the drain, so I began to collect all sink water in “bus boy” bins (I bought some more at Sam’s Club yesterday to have on hand, so they’re brand new):
We also use the bins to clean dishes using the garden hose outside. Thankfully, we still have water because, as annoying as not having a functioning septic system is, not having running water for an extended period of time would be a real problem.
Yes, I have hundreds of gallons of water stored, and can collect more than a thousand gallons of rainwater, but even these “solutions” are limited in capacity and are not on demand, that is, I can’t make it rain.
As such, I’ve purchased items to drill a shallow well, but I have more pressing projects to work on (such as a greenhouse) so we’ll see how hand-drilling a well in the Midwest clay works out at some point. My guess is not so well. 😉
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