Plumbing Problems Led to No Water Service

by Suzanne
(Birmingham Area, AL)

Several years ago, we lived in a rental property a mid 80's double-wide ran by tightwad landlady. The trailer had those old gray pipes notorious for poor quality that got outlawed in early 90's. We had plumbing problems many, many times at that place.

Once we had trouble and had to keep water shut off. It was 4 days before they were fixed. Some church people let us get water from their place which was used for flushing and cooking. We used the shower at church for bathing and did laundry at laundromat. We bought some water for drinking.

Several months later, more plumbing problems occurred. Fearing a repeat of that situation, a neighbor was kind and let us use a hose and fill up a huge storage tub and we bought water. This time it was fixed quickly. We bought a trailer a year later.

Yesterday, we woke up to no water service. Bill was paid. Saw evidence of a leak in backyard. Couldn't find leaks in house or crawl space. At first it appeared to be a broken line in ground. Water company checked and said it was the trailer park's line. Called park manager only to be told he's not allowed to fix those lines. We feared being hit w/huge bill which we couldn't afford.

Then hubby found that leak I missed that was caused by a pipe elbow had given out...a minor, easy to fix problem. Unfortunately, it happened when he was getting ready to leave for a mission trip overnight.

Two neighbors have said we can get water from their faucets which we filled a huge tub and I've even made a "well" by tying a rope to mop bucket and lowering it into water from our porch then pouring it in a large container then use it for flushing. When changing dogs' water we pour it in toilet. We also have poured rain water collected in outside containers in commode.

We will again use the church shower to get clean and refill the jugs while in there. If our ancestors can survive without running water, then so can we!