water water everywhere...

You may remember last summer and fall our basement flooded if the clouds even thought about breaking open and unleashing a few drops.  After the disaster that was "snowmageddon 2010" and the resulting roof damage, the flooding got much worse.  We had the roof repaired in early spring and since then have had weeks of torrential downpours and a completely dry basement! We have been in dry basement heaven!

Let me describe the current water-related situation as it unfolded...

6am Monday morning: no rain overnight, no water in the basement Sunday evening around 11pm (last time we were in the basement).  Monday morning we find a random puddle in the middle of the floor. Not near the door, washing machine, furnace, water heater, a/c- nothing. As if it came from nowhere.  We cleaned it up, scratched our heads, and went about our day.

Monday evening: we sit down to pay bills and note our water bill is THREE times more than it typically is.   And it indicates that we used 7 THOUSAND more gallons of water last month.   That would be like leaving all of the faucets on all day, every day, for 30 days.  Obviously, there must be some mistake.  We call the water authority and they tell us that, yep, thats how much water we used. hmmmmm. head scratching continues.

Monday evening part deux: Our neighbor, working in her backyard, alerts us to a "bubbling" sound coming from the downspout (or "dahnspaht" as she pronounces it in her fabulous Pittsburgh-ese, an accent she normally keeps in check, but unleashes with gusto on such amazing words with polysyllabic opportunities for hometown pride demonstration).  I listened, and sure enough- blurp, gulp, blurp- loud bubbling.  Which then mysteriously stops.  And starts again whenever we turn on the water.

Now, I'm no engineer or mathematician, or even one who passed high school trig.  But I think this equation is correct:

high water bill

+ bubbling-blurping sound

+water backups and leaks

-------------------------------------

water/sewer line problem

Reg called the water authority, and even though he admits to not being "Amanda forceful" on the phone, they wouldn't come out Tuesday night and gave us the very helpful time of "sometime Wednesday morning" as when they would show.  I worried I would wake to Oscar floating by in a sauce pot and our christmas decorations sailing down the street.

So here I sit waiting for them to arrive.  I took a few photos of our lovely back porch today because I fear they will have to demolish it if they need to get to the water line or the apparent source of the bubbling.

UPDATE:

a cretin from the black lagoon showed up in a Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority neon t-shirt, so naturally, terrified, I let him into the house.  He couldn't explain the high bill, but did a decent job convincing me that the laundry tub backup, puddles on the floor, and bubbling noise is from a sewer backup (and proved it with a little home experiment- flushing the floor drain with about 20gallons of water til we smelled sewage. Thanks, buddy, for making my basement smell like shit.)  He said that our meter works fine, but gave us some "off the record" tips on how to get the water authority to give you a new one free of charge.  He also told me how to have a plumber come in and snake the sewer line- showed me where the snake should go in and come out.  Said it shouldn't take more than an hour and shouldn't cost more than $100.  THANK GOD!  AND re-assured me that there would be no basement geiser, no floating furniture, no wet cat, and no backyard demolition. YAYE!  the crops live to see another day!!!!

check 'em aht! from L --> R:

2 tomato plants with about 6 growing tomatoes on them already, 

Jerome the Gnome, zucchini squash, sugar snap peas, 

green & yellow peppers, jalapeno peppers

Below: green beans along the fence, and in the raised bed: cilantro, strawberries, oregano, carrots, mint, cucumbers, basil,and 2 big sunflowers about to open!

I think we avoided another potential homeowner devastation. Yaye for being on someone's good side!