Monday, May 3, 2010

Monday Memories- Water and Electricity

During the 1960's, my family lived in the country just outside Woodland, California. We had our own well that used an electrical pump. It also had a tank (similar to a water heater) above ground. Whenever the electricity went out we had no water. Some one would go out and check the tank to see how much water we had. If we had any warning that the electricity was going out, then we would fill buckets of water so we would have water. After we moved from Woodland to San Jose we received notice that the electricity was going to be off for awhile and I wanted to prepare by filling buckets with water. My father had to explain to me that we would still have water. I thought about this Saturday night when our electricity went out because of a storm. Now I know that unless the electricity goes out at the water plant we still have running water!

1 comment:

Nancy said...

Our situation was a little different than yours. We lived in a very small town had a cistern. My parents had to buy water by the truck load. They would order it when it got low and the truck would come and fill the cistern. Once in a while, the water would run out and we'd be without water - until the water man could come and deliver a load to us. I don't think there was electricity involved in moving the water from the cistern to the house. It must have been gravity and pressure that moved it. It's interesting to learn about different arrangements in small towns.