Retirement

This is the second time I have had to uncover the water meter and valve in the access box where the water main comes into the house. I am unable to diagnose nor explain why dirt, gravel and sand periodically have filled the access box. I would say some critter is doing it, but I find no evidence of burrowing or nesting. Moreover, I cannot see how a small critter is able to move the relatively heavy metal lid that covers the box.

I got the garden trowel and dug a bucket of dirt and stuff out of the box, just enough to uncover the meter and valve. I replaced the cover and put a large rock on top of it.

I took a before and after picture of the water meter and valve access box which are embedded into the two-frame slideshow above. Click to advance.

As if it weren’t already a busy-ass week for us, the landscape irrigation system controller decided to go belly-up on us. I called out the landscape guys who showed up and removed the defective controller. They are supposed to bring back a replacement tomorrow.

Meanwhile, if we want our landscape to be watered, manual irrigation is in order. The guys from the landscape contractor showed me a couple of controls in the box with the electrical valves where I could manually open the water lines to the irrigation system.

I waited until the sun is low in the western sky to start the flow so the sun won’t evaporate the water before it has a chance to sink in. We had the controller set up to water twice a day, once before sunup and once after sundown. I’m just going to run the water for a couple of hours and turn it off for the rest of the evening. I hope the guys show up in the morning and restore things back to normal. Click on the image to enlarge.