The Bungalow Pit

Rachel and I try to be healthy and environmentally conscious so we decided we’d have a soft water system installed. For starters, do you have any idea what’s legally allowed in your drinking water? Put it this way, the LA-DWP site reads, “Is Los Angeles City water safe to drink right from the faucet? Probably yes.” I’m not kidding.

Second, the expense of buying all those bottles of water is nothing compared to the environmental expense. Not to mention that almost all of that bottled water is nothing more than tap water. I could go on and on.

Well, today EcoWater installed our new Water Refiner and Reverse Osmosis system, but not without a hitch (of course.) After they left, so did Rachel and I. When we returned we found water leaking out around the base of the foundation to the new chimney.

A few panicked phone calls later we got the installer to come back. Turns out that the vibration of cutting the pipes below had burst a leak in the pipe further down. The solution? Replace the entire pipe with a new copper pipe, from the front of the house all the way to the back. When all was said and done, we had a new refiner in the cellar, a reverse osmosis unit under the sink (with a line to the ice maker) and all the pure water we could drink.

I had another one of those panic feelings and thought I’d better check on the Sinai Construction guys. I discovered they cut through some major roots in two of the trees in the front yard while digging a drainage ditch for the new alley drain. They didn’t think it was worth mentioning, what’s new?

I’m pretty sure the younger tree is a goner, but I’m hoping the 20+ year old Sweetgum tree will make it. The ditch runs all the way to the street through the front yard.

What’s next? Wait, don’t answer that.

Well, today the Sinai Construction crew dug the ditch in the alley on the side of the house to lay the drain pipe that will run under the cement.

In keeping with their track record they also broke the water pipe. Nothing was said. I went to wash my hands, no water. Walked outside to a new water fountain in the alley and a confused crew. Hours later they got someone out to patch the pipe and the water was back on.