It was quite a while when we had discovered that our well pump was broken…apparently by a frog getting caught in it and sliming up the whole contraption (remember the thrilling installment of Pump Vs Frog??). Anyway, we have been thankfully saved time and time again by the Toledo rains. Lately we have been getting dry season weather…you know, that stifling heat with some young plants starting to wilt in the ground. Our water supply is fast dwindling and we are now on red alert ie. back on bucket washes and hand-washing clothes (boo-hoo). What a life…living in Paradise. Anyway, it is about time we started sorting out the water situation!
Well Water Tank.
We have decided to replace the whole mechanism of pumping with an air compressor. This utilises the “air-lift” effect which was a Gnome brain-storm; just so happens to be more elegant plus you can buy all the parts here (which is very important if you live in Belize). Basically, compressed air goes down which in turn, displaces water upwards.
Now to find an air compressor and would you believe it…none to be found in the Toledo region. Looks like we are going to have to take a trip to the big city to get all the equipment. We have to get this done quickly or we will be out of water within a week or less. It’s a race against time!
Hi Everyone!! If you are a regular reader, you may remember that our well pump broke about 6 months ago and we have been relying on rain-water since then. Thankfully we have had rain water without much of a hitch since we live in the district of Belize with the highest rainfall. Coupled with hope, prayers and chorusing with the frogs, water has not been an issue….well, until recently. It has been so dry for 14 days now (this dryness is sooooo rare for this region and we are not in dry season) we are down to about half of a 550 gallon tank only so we are on Red Alert!! Bucket Washes and no showers.
The saga continues…
Early yesterday morning, Gnome noticed water dripping out of a hole in our water tank (our rainwater tank). Remember, there is no water in the well-pump tank. He went over to have a better look and discovered that a nail from the water tower had punctured through the base of the tank and we were fast losing our precious water. With Gnome swiftness, he used a hose-pipe to transfer the water into the empty well tank. Phew!! Thank-you Gnome for noticing…because if he had not noticed the dripping water, we would have no water left by the end of the day.
Rotting Water Tower With Exposed Nails.
Rain Water Tank Dripping Water.Transferring Water To Empty Tank.
Okay, so we need rain. And we are looking at the weather report and there are no indications of rain. We are now looking further afield for hopeful signs through frog ribbitting, rain hawks, the man in the shop down the road and whatever takes our fancy.
Still no signs. Arrrrghhhh!!!
We still hope. The man in the shop said,
“It no look like it rain but sometime it come from nowhere!”
In anticipation, Gnome has patched up the water tank to receive rainwater.
Hole in Water Tank.Preparing to Patch Tank.
Anyone know a good Rain Dance? Munchkin and Gnome are prepared to Boogey On Down!!
The rains have stopped and we have had some good dry days. We eventually realised that our procrastination time was coming to an end when the water was slowly going down in the tanks and the frogs had laid enough spawn in our buckets to start a frog farm.
Tadpoles in Water Bucket.
It was time to pull up the well-pump and face reality and deal with it. So, yesterday Gnome cleared the well-pump area which was overgrown with lots of green climbing stuff.
Pump Before Cleaning.Removing Pipe.
He pulled the 50 feet of pipe to bring the submersible pump up. Hoping that the pump was just full of gunk, we ran the pump inside the water tank. It groaned and creaked with each electricity jolt but refused to start up.
Testing Pump in Tank.
On closer inspection of the one-way valve, Gnome noticed that there was a “biological black rotting that slimed out past the valve.” Those were his technical terms and he thought that it was most likely a frog, snake or bunch of slugs which had got caught and mashed up in the intake.
The next thing that we need to do is to open up the pump and clean it out and to see if there is damage to the pump mechanism. We are not sure if this can be done if the parts are all glued together. Anyway, it isn’t looking good for the pump and we are already looking for a replacement. Since we have a variable-draw pump because we have a very shallow (slow) well, the pump is extra expensive…with duty and shipping it will probably cost close to $5000 all up. Needless to say, we are now considering other less traditional types of pumps; Gnome is favouring the “air-lift” pump which will double-up as a compressed air source for the farm. Also, he is trying to save me money!!
Anyway, enough of the technical stuff. This reminds me of our good, old pioneer days when we first came to Belize….
Back in the early days, we befriended the manager at Cotton Tree Lodge who was, at that time, in the early phase of construction of the establishment. He had mentioned to us that he had bought a second-hand well-digger ( a small one which could only dig a maximum of fifty feet) but the only problem was that he could not figure out how to use it from the operating manual. Gnome was able to decipher the manual and so the manager made a proposal to us; if Gnome could dig a well for Cotton Tree Lodge then he would allow us to dig a well on our own property. We readily agreed to the exchange of services and Gnome set about digging a well at the lodge. We loved the idea of being “well-diggers”…it sounded sooo cool and appealed to our sense of adventure.
Anyway, during a short morning break, we happened to meet a visiting medical doctor from New York who was on holiday. When he found out that we were Doctors and that we were enlisted well-diggers, he was absolutely horrified. He guffawed and stammered and finally said,”Doctors, huh? Do you think this is a smart career move?” We just laughed because we were having so much fun in Belize. But all he could do was scratch his head and give us a befuddled look of dismay.
Yes, I definitely have to say that it was a smart career move. Ten years down the line, we have become independent-minded and self-sufficient. We can usually figure how to achieve a job on the farm without paying for an expert or professional. It is all about thinking out of the box and as one very well-seasoned Belizean ex-pat (a Hawaiian Gnome) once advised us,” to make it in Belize, you need to have the smarts to get ahead.”
This morning (Thursday), we woke up to the distant rumbling of thunder. I suddenly remembered that I had written in the previous evening’s blog that I wanted it to rain. Well, what I should have said was that I intended it to rain at night to fill up our water tanks and that I wanted it to be dry and breezy in the morning for Gnome to fix the water pump. Since our plans were thwarted by the elements, we both agreed whole-heartedly to try to sleep in a bit more and managed to fall asleep again. “Sleeping in” is an extremely rare event for us but we felt the duress of the water shortage and needed a bit more time to come to terms with the situation. All morning wake-up calls were ignored as mad doggie “bow-wowed” and goosie honked to try to get our attention. We finally got up as the orchestra of animals and birds elevated to a crashing crescendo.
I opened up the back door to let the breeze in the house and saw the cat frolicking about in the back-yard eating and playing with a dead frog. He was the only one that did not make any noise. Since we were late he decided to do his own cat thing. As soon as he saw me, he casually walked into the house licking his chops and paws. He brushed passed me and went into the kitchen to chew on a piece of lemongrass to, presumably, freshen his breath after eating dead frog.
Meanwhile the rumbling of thunder sounded a lot nearer and the sky lit up with a lightning strike. The clouds were a dark, slate grey looming over our house. The plans of Munchkin and Gnome aften go astray….we were most upset with the whole situation. I bleated and lamented shaking my finger like a mad Chinese woman. Gnome gesticulated wildly in a well, hot Latino way. If you were a fly on the wall, you would have thought we were doing the “Hokey Cokey” at each other.
Meanwhile…the cat sprang up on a chair and started kneading the cushion in preparation for a whole day of relaxation…ahhh time to sleep.
More madness ensued as I complained about washing clothes with buckets filled with tadpoles. The tadpoles actually stuck to the clothes. I was most vexed with this tadpole-sticking situation…
Meanwhile…the cat finally noticed the commotion and mildly looked in our direction as if to “lend a kind ear” but then shrugged his shoulders and decided he didn’t want the cushion and settled down on the floor.
Cat Settling Down.
The rain clouds gathered and we knew all the yelling in the world would not change the inevitable. After the morning cup of tea, we hauled buckets of water (tadpole free) into the house.
Meanwhile…the cat was doing this:
More Sleeping.
The rain started with a gust of wind, a mild pitter patter and then it was a deluge. Gnome looked at me with a winning smile and told me that it wasn’t all bad. The water tank would be filled up with the heavy rains and he promised me that he would fix the pump problem. It was just not going to be Today! I smiled back at him and realised that everything was alright. These are the challenges of life and we have to get through it together.
Internet has been unreliable with it coming on and off. Most times it is actually off and then there are times when it comes back on …for about 60 seconds when late emails filter through. This provides slim opportunity to post up our blog. Gnome says I should still persevere with the daily chronicles and then post them all up en masse when the Internet is back to normal.
Anyway, life goes on and we are doing our usual Munchkin and Gnome stuff. The most important piece of news that is definitely affecting us is that the well pump is down. This means that we can’t pump water for showers, washing dishes and clothes. Yes…this is a major problem!! Right now, we are using the water from our back-up rainwater tank and using every drop of water judiciously. We also have 5 gallon water buckets placed around the house to opportunistically catch rainwater; they have tadpoles in them but in this drought every bit of water is necessary. It is funny how we take water for granted and now that we have a water shortage it accentuates our appreciation.
Tomorrow Gnome is going to pull up the submersible well-pump which is a feat in itself. We are hoping that it the problem is a simple blockage due to gunk. Otherwise, we will have to order a new pump from the States because it is a special pump with variable draw, which is not available in Belize. Arrrgh!!! Even thinking about the logistics of bringing something in from the States urgently puts me into a frenzy of anxiety. Can we get the pump before we run out of water?
On our farm, we have a coconut plantation and you would think that it would be quite the thing to sell coconut water with fun and profit in mind. The reality is not the case as we have discovered because there are so many considerations that make you stop and wonder whether it is all worth it or not.
The first thing is cost; here in Belize, people expect to pay between BZD0.50 to 1.00 for a fresh water coconut which gives an average yield of 150 to 200mls (5 to 6.6fl/oz) of coconut water. Belize manufactured coconut water can be bought for 500mls for about BZD2.00 (USD1.00). So, it is rather cheap and affordable as you can see from the prices and making a grand fortune from the sale of water coconuts was never possible but we decided to sell a couple of gallons on a weekly basis just to stimulate our daily maintenance of the coconut plantation.
In doing so, we realised what it actually meant to process coconut water and all of the pit-falls involved from the cutting of fresh coconuts to preservation and selling of the water.
Coconut Palm.
Firstly, coconut trees have to be climbed by Gnome and 20 to 30 coconuts (most of ours are medium sized) give one gallon (3.785litres). The coconuts are cut open by slicing through the husk and the shell with numerous deftly cuts with the machete whilst you hand is holding onto the coconut …you need to watch your fingers… and then, the water is poured into a bucket. The water does get detritus from the coconut shell so it is then filtered through a muslin cloth. At this point, it needs to be freshly frozen as the nutrient-rich liquid is the perfect medium for bacterial multiplication. After de-frosting fresh coconut water, it should be consumed as quickly as possible (2-3 days in the refrigerator); at room temperature, in the Tropics, it will start fermenting within 2 hours.
I am sure that you all know, fresh coconut water has an unrivalled taste of sweetness. This is another one of the challenges that we face in processing our coconut water…we have to freeze it in order to preserve it but freezing it makes it less sweet. At this point, I would like to thank Adriana Guzman for independently noting this fact. We tested her observations and also found that the thawed coconut water tasted as if it had been diluted with water.
It was then that we came to the important realisation that shop-bought coconut water must be one, treated for preservation (probably a combination of pasteurisation and addition of preservatives) and two, sweetened to overcome the loss of sweetness due to the preservation process. This is why it never tastes like the real thing. The only way to get the true, natural taste is to have your own stash of fresh coconuts and be willing to cut them open yourself.
