The Well Went Dry

I think we paid $17,000 for our 16 acres.  It had a hand-dug well that all the local old-timers said had never run dry.  We had a house moved onto the land and got to work.  That was in June.  We were working on the house (a fixer upper), building fence, planting and loving it.  Our three kids were very young, and we all pitched in with everyone doing what they could.   It was great. 

August was hot.  Dry, too.  You know how Texas’ summers can get.   Anyway, the well went dry. 

I can remember the feeling of ruin when I realized that this wasn’t going to get better.  The well was dry, dry, dry.   We had a garden and some livestock.  We needed to take baths.  We needed to cook and drink.  We could do all of that, just not at home. 

Oh, and did I mention we couldn’t afford to get a new well dug? 

We had a relative that lived about a half mile away that agreed to let us use from her well.  We hauled water in opened-topped five gallon buckets, usually on the back of a Honda, Big Red three-wheeler.

One of the things we liked about this land was a wet-weather creek that ran through it.  The previous owner had pushed a tank on the creek for watering livestock.  We actually enjoyed fording the creek in wet times and the dry-times rumble tumble experience didn’t inconvenience any of us.  Until now. 

Our one toilet was one of those pre-efficient ones. It took five gallons of water to flush one time.  To put it another way, one flush demanded a one-mile round trip on a three-wheeler with a sloshing, overflowing, getting-you-wet, going-bouncy-through-the- creek bucket of water that sometimes didn’t have enough to do the deed by the time you got there.  Somehow the dictionary’s “a strong, unpleasant smell” doesn’t quite convey what is in my head when I say that often our house stunk. 

I may forget it someday, that Saturday morning, when Carmen, my wife’s college friend, just showed up at our house.   She and her family explained that they had lost our phone number, so they wrote us they were coming.  (We received her letter the following Monday.)  When you live on the back side of 16 acres that’s outside the city limits of a town with less than 400 souls, pop-ins are the exception to the norm.   It’s hard to remember, but I think we were about a month into the well-ran-dry period of our life.  We planned to work that day, which is to say none of us had made the effort to bathe, wash dishes or anything else requiring water.  We stunk, the house stunk and our “Oh, we’re so glad to see you” was, I’m sure, tainted by the mind-scream of  “Oh, I wish we had gotten your letter.”  We explained and they were very gracious, but that will forever be “my most uncomfortable moment.”  And water was the culprit. 

For all you “location, location, location” folks, I came up-close to the realization that land without water has a lower value than land with water.  How much less?  About 100%. 

I, again, don’t remember the details, but we gathered up enough coins to have Billy Harris come out and drill us a well.  It was a good well with cold, sweet water, and everyone lived happily ever after.   We have since sold that beautiful place and moved on.  We have city water now, and our house is clean and smells good.  We shower, brush our teeth, wash dishes, water the yard and flush the toilet without a thought.  

Could it happen again?  What’s your answer?   Could it? 

Here’s the take-home from this true story:  

--Yes, it could indeed.  Water could be unavailable–very easily.--

One way is quick.  If you lost electricity, you would be without water fast.  And there would be absolutely nothing you could do about it but say, “Go, man, go!” to the utility guys.   But, let’s say they went home because they couldn’t fix it.  The source, the generator, went down.  If you will let your mind consider your state, you will see you are in exactly the same position we were almost 30 years ago, with one huge exception.  You would have no place to haul water from.  (And, your car would have had its last tank of gasoline because there was no way to pump the fuel.)  Bottled water?  Sure, buy all you can, but watch out for that increasingly desperate mob that is trying to beat you to the punch.  Like everyone else, be sure and buy a lot because you have now discovered, how incredibly valuable water is. 

The other real possibility is one you won’t even consider and that is the loss of your water supply.  The fact is, this is where almost every US city is headed right now unless something happens.  What “something”?  Either new sources of water are going to have to be discovered or we are going to have to use less water.  Maybe a lot less water. 

That’s my call to you.  Start using less water.  Use just what you need, but no more. We have started a water catchment system at our house.  We are using “just enough water” to water our lawn.  We’ve installed a low-flow shower head, and our toilet uses a fraction of the old style.

It’s made a difference on our water bill even though we’re in the baby-steps stage.  But, if we all did what we could, when we could, the cumulative affect could be future-changing. 

You have choices now.  Please make wise ones.  

Comments?  Please let me hear. 

Business is Good––But It’s Not All Our Fault

We try to do the best we can.  But, as far as I know, no one else in the area does what we do. We don’t install sprinkler systems.  We don’t mow grass.  We don’t do landscaping.  We don’t spray weeds. 

All we do is repair and upgrade sprinkler systems.

And we think we know why that’s important. 

Installing a sprinkler system is pretty simple after you do it a couple hundred times.  Everything is under the installer’s control.  S/he plans the system, digs the trenches, connects the pipes, plumbs the heads, runs the wires and connects them to the controller mounted in the garage.  Before s/he covers everything up, the workers compare what they sees on the ground to the plan.  

Put another way, if you have workers that understand how to put all the pieces together and how to run a trencher, then the most important piece in the puzzle is the sprinkler Plan.  If the Plan is engineered correctly and the workers did what they were supposed to do, voilà!, it’s done.

––––

Please, now, consider repair.  Everything’s been running fine for years until . . .

Zone three quit working.  (If you are picturing what I have in my mind, the skill difference between someone who installs a sprinkler system and someone who repairs one, is evident and huge.)  There is nothing visual to indicate 1. that zone three has quit working or 2. that this yard even has a sprinkler system! 

Who are you going to call?  Here’s your choices: 1. The landscaper/irrigator/mower/jack-of-all-trades person who charges by the hour, or, 2. the one who does sprinkler repair only and guarantees his price and gets your okay before he ever starts the job?

If you chose the sprinkler repair specialist with the guaranteed up-front price, may I respectfully submit Rainstat Irrigation as your provider? 

Please call Drew at 254.829.3800 to schedule a free, no-obligation an up-front quote that we call a Promise.

Are We Running Out of Water?

You can hardly move around in this world without hearing about the water crisis.  "In the 20th century, we went to war over oil.  In the 21st century, we will go to war over water."  Really?  Before we go further, know that I'm biased.  I believe that governments and news media have a propensity to attempt to keep everyone scared.   It's like everyone graduated from the Chicken Little School of Outlook.  I am reading this book, Unquenchable - America's Water Crisis and What To Do About It, with my own set of filters that are ready to reject Robert Glennon's premise out of hand.

So why are we "running out" of water, and why should we care?   We have exactly the same amount of water today that we did at creation.  Remember Einstein's "matter is neither created nor destroyed"?  What then, is the problem?

First, we have more people.  

Second, we are fouling our own nests by our cavalier handling of fresh water.   Most of our water is saline and, therefore, undrinkable.  A look at our surface fresh water is telling.  The Great Lakes own 95% of fresh water in the US.  It would be an understatement to say these lakes are big.  But, if you want to see what can happen when you mix big bodies of water with bad decisions, all you have to do is look at the former USSR and the Aral Sea.  This was the world's fourth-largest inland body of water.  Today, it has lost 90% of it's water.  It all started by diverting fresh water that flowed into it for "good" but short-sighted purposes.  

If we continue to write checks without deposits to at least equal the withdrawals, we end up with no money.   All of life needs water to continue living.  We will run out, however, if we use too much.  We can't supply more water, so the role of the steward is becoming more important.  

We see a small role here.  

We believe we can help ensure that the the water you use is not wasted. 

Thanks for your interest.  More and more, I believe this is going to be of interest to us all.

Doug Saylor

P.S. I've changed my title here to CWS, Chief Water Steward.  I'm taking this seriously. 

Frozen Backflow Devices

Your backflow device may be frozen and you not know it.

And you may not know it until you start running your sprinkler system in the Spring. Other places discover it immediately because water started going everywhere!

Here are a couple of pictures of backflow devices we have been repairing for Texas WalMarts. If you weren't caught off guard with the very cold weather we had recently, you're in the minority.

If you're a Waco resident (under Waco water jurisdiction) you may be in for a surprise. Waco's code has changed. If your sprinkler's or commercial building's backflow device is the old kind--and it froze so it no longer functions, you'll have to bring it "up to code."

What does "up to code" mean? It just means your existing system will have to meet the same requirements that a new system would have to meet. Here's the short story:

Your yard is now classified as a "high hazard" from a risk to the potable water standpoint. That means you need a special kind of backflow device called a Reduced Pressure Zone (RPZ or RP). Two important aspects are that it is another expense and it can't be buried.

And THAT brings me back to why we've been so busy lately. We have been repairing and replacing unprotected, uninsulated backflow devices that froze. Part of the new code for Waco is that your fancy new backflow device has to be protected from the cold--so you won't have to do this again.

If we can help, please call us at 254.829.3800. We're licensed to repair and replace backflow devices.

Waco Changes Code–Lemons or Lemonade?

Most people don't know about it yet, but the City of Waco made a change that affects just about everyone who owns a sprinkler system. Any way you look at it, it's going to add additional cost to the citizens. Bummer. This cloud, however, may have a silver lining. (The good news is at the bottom of this post.)

First, what changed?

Your yard is now classified as a "high hazard" from the folks that sell you your water. You have always had to have a backflow device as a part of your sprinkler system (to protect other folks that use water from the city), but now you must have a Reduced Pressure Zone (RPZ) backflow device. Because it is engineered so that it cannot fail without obvious signs, it is considered the most full-proof device--except for air-gap, and we won't get into that here.

But, I'm "grandfathered in," aren't I?

Well, sort of. You don't have to go out right now and update your system to code, but you will eventually have to. By "eventually," I mean, we cannot bring your system back into service without bringing it up to code if we do a "major repair." A "major repair" is defined by the state as any repair that opens your system's main line to the atmosphere. Obviously, that means we can't repair your existing backflow device without bringing it up to code. But, it also means we can't even repair a valve without this update.

How much, you might ask, does this cost?

I'm not quoting prices here because we need information specific to your system. We need to know what you have now and what size RPZ you need. Brace yourself, though, 'cause it's not cheap. The RPZ itself is a fairly large bronze apparatus. And, the upgrade of the backflow device isn't the only thing that is required. Your system now requires a valve that isolates the sprinkler system from the rest of your domestic water supply. You may already have this, and, if you don't, you should. A filter must be installed, too.

So, this new rule means you will eventually upgrade your sprinkler system to include a Reduced Pressure Zone (RPZ) backflow device, a filter and an isolation valve.

Does this sound like it's all Lemons and no Lemonade?

Now for the good part:

By upgrading to an RPZ, you can do some fun stuff with your sprinkler system you have probably wondered why it's not done all the time. Like fertilizing or getting rid of mosquitos. Injecting stuff into your sprinkler system is the perfect way to distribute anything that goes on your lawn. It couldn't be done before because your old backflow device would not adequately protect the water supply. Well, now it does!

Fertilize

Now, fertilizing is as easy as adding a water soluble fertilizer (a lot of choices--including organic) to a tank. It dispenses a very small amount of fertilizer to your system every time you water. Is that too much fertilizer? No. Our most popular system, when set at its highest output is 400 parts water to 1 part fertilizer. At it lowest setting, it is 37 times less fertilizer than that. And, because of the way it is applied, it is much, much more beneficial to the plants than throwing fertilizer granules on the ground and watering them in.

Mosquitos

Once you have a system for distributing a solution through your sprinkler system, a lot of possibilities open up. Want to cook out, but he mosquitos are carrying you away? Add some organic insect repellant, run through a short cycle and viola! you have re-occupied your back yard.

So, the painful part is updating your sprinkler system to meet the city's new code. That's the lemon. The lemonade is what you can do now that you have complied with the new code. Hello to no-work-fertilization and hello to no-mosquitoes.

We would love to give you a no-obligation Promise. (A Promise is our guaranteed, up-front price. It's not an estimate.)

You can call Drew at 254.829.3800 or email us at info@rainstat.com.

The Art of Hootness

I want to tell you about a Waco shopkeeper that is an inspiration to me and should be to all shopkeepers everywhere. Her name is Karyn and she owns a remarkable cooking shop called the Gourmet Gallery.

Now, I'm only slightly acquainted with my friend's office manager, but she and her husband have just had their first child. I asked Karyn to make up a gift basket for her. "What do you want?" A very logical question, I'll admit, but one I was completely unequipped to answer. As I said, we were only slightly acquainted. "I'll work something up."

I traveled to Gourmet Gallery to pick up the basket and deliver it to Hewitt Chiropractic, the lair for Drs. Michael and David Moore, and Rene, their now-on-maternity-leave office manager.

To me, it was a nice basket.

"Rene's been in here before," Karyn said. "I think she'll really like this. I called her office and found she's a hot chocolate connoisseur. And, I know she likes nice things."

Is this obvious to you? This Waco shopkeeper gave enough of a hoot to call my recipient's office. I think that's laudable, but, let's face it--that kind of effort could be a written requirement in some This-Is-The-Way-We-Do-It-Here manual. But she *remembered* her coming in and *remembered* the kind of stuff she likes. That's not in any manual. That's hootness.

Hootness is rare, but it's not totally absent in this town. We want and hope Rainstat's customers see hootness in us, too.

Okay, I realize blogs are largely soliloquies but, if no one but me reads this, I want to encourage myself to start looking for hootness and shouting it from the mountain tops when I find it.

And, I'd bet that basket knocks her socks off. Thanks Karyn.

What a hoot!

Home Owners' Associations Wasting Water?

Home Owners' Associations may be wasting a lot of money on their water bill. Why? Because they are set up to be the perfect water wasting machine. Everyone in the Association pays into the the fund that pays the water bill.

The one that pays the water bill has nothing to compare to, so the bill gets paid as a "normal" expense. So the sprinkler system runs during the rain, (very bad for PR, but not that big an impact on the bill), waters the same amount whether it needs it or not, and has been shown to be watering up to 100% too much.

The HOA scenario is exactly the same as just about every sprinkler system around with one huge difference. Some Home Owners' Associations are paying tens of thousands of dollars in water bills.

A Rainstat Controller could be saving that Association from 20% to 50% of that expense. We're talking about some real money here that could be spent on other areas or used to reduce fees or offset future increases . . .

We are in the process of preparing proposals for some Waco HOAs with very aggressive pricing. We want to make a point that the old, dumb controllers need to go away. They require you to make decisions you aren't equipped to make.

Dumb controllers require you to convert your "inches of rain" thoughts into "days and minutes" actions. You have all the weather information you need--probably on your cell phone. But how on earth do you translate that into the language your dumb controller speaks?

If you do get it figured out, it goes out of date the next time the weather changes.

A Rainstat Smart Controller replaces just the water your plants use and reprograms itself every day! So it becomes impossible to waste water through over-watering or runoff.

Are you a member of a Home Owners' Association? Do you know of a Home Owners' Association that waters large areas of common area grass? Tell them to call us for a Value Proposal that reflects an actual Return on Investment. It's free.

Call Drew at 254.829.3800 or Doug at 254.744.1724 to schedule a site visit.

Is It Time to Update Your Technology?

Picture a chisel and a rock vs. a pencil.

Or, how about a more up-to-date comparison of a ledger book and a computer with accounting software. The old way still works but the new way is better (faster, cheaper . . . ).

That's the way the Rainstat controller is. Your old sprinkler controller still works, but it is obsolete. Throw it away. Quickly.

The new controller is the same forward step you took when you got a controller in the first place (instead of turning on manual valves).

Maybe I'm wrong. Let Rainstat Irrigation look at your sprinkler system. We will both know within 10 minutes if it is a good move for you.

Call now to talk to a real person (most of the time). 254.829.3800

Self-Serving Change In Tag Line

"The best way to repair or upgrade your sprinkler system without getting soaked." It's self-serving chest-thumping, I know. But in thinking about how we go about the relatively simple task of replacing a sprinkler head, we do it so you should NEVER have to address that head again!

Does it cost more? That depends on whether your looking at cost from the initial expense to get the job done or the cost over the life of your system. The answer is probably "yes" and "no." Yes, it probably will cost you more to have it done right as apposed to just unscrewing one head and screwing another in its place. No, when you consider that you should never ever have to address that head again.

It's the old "pay me now or pay me later" reply, but if that head has to be repaired again (because your riding lawn mower broke the riser again), you shot yourself in the foot by paying too little.

Here's the new tag line, "The best way to permanently repair or upgrade your sprinkler system without getting soaked."

Okay. I feel better now. What do you think?

Doug Saylor
Rainstat Irrigation
254.829.3800

The New Cost of a Sprinkler System-Count Your Zones

Perhaps you have just moved into a home that does not have a sprinkler system, or you're building a new home. Maybe you've read that the addition of a sprinkler system is smart, both from a resale standpoint and as a necessary convenience. So you call around to get some prices from a few companies. (In case you didn't know, Rainstat rarely installs a sprinkler system. We just repair and upgrade them.) Do you go with the lowest? How about the highest? How do you know?

The cost of a sprinkler system is normally thought of as the initial cost--the cost to get it installed. But, how much does it cost to operate? We believe you need to consider operating costs because it is inevitable that costs are going to go up. Maybe a lot.

What factors do you consider when you are trying to determine how much it costs to operate your new or existing system? The process of calculating your system's precipitation rate, a water audit, (some cities that are running out of water are requiring it. Not here, thankfully.) is more complicated than we want to go into here. It can be calculated if you know each head's flow and distance or by literally placing tuna cans all over your yard and measuring the water in the cans over a set amount of time. Call this the Left Brain approach.

Your sprinkler controller, aka "clock" or "the box on the wall," turns your sprinkler system on and turns it off. That's it. Simple. But the decision of how long it stays on for each zone is the critical factor in your operating costs. How is your system broken up into separate, distinct zones? Do you water the shady part of your yard on the same zone you water the sunny part? The shady part needs less water. Is there any way for you to let that part run less than the sunny part? If not, you have a decision to make, "Do I water log the shady part or starve the sunny part?"

These areas are called "hydrozones." And the more accurately you group similar plant materials, shade and slopes, the more efficient you can be--which normally means more is better. But here's the rub.

Your irrigation contractor wants you to have the absolute best system money can buy, but he knows you don't know how to judge that. He also wants you to choose him and knows that his competitor is also bidding this system. So he compromises. He designs your system by covering the area with as few zones as your water supply will allow. Lower price now, higher price every month after that, forever.

What's the difference in price? Easily double--or more! Will you recoup that? Yes, but it can take some time--or maybe not. That's your call.

The bottom line is this: Every new sprinkler system MUST have a scale drawing that shows each head and each zone's area. Under the new rules that went into effect in 2009 it MUST also show every major tree (shade) and hardscape (sun exposure). Look at the plans. Did the irrigator divide your zones by hydrozones? If s/he did, it is probably more expensive initially and cheaper to run.

Now you can get that calculator out and engage your left brain again. Happy calculating!

P.S. If you want to really save water, let us install our smart controller and weather station. It programs itself every day so no water is wasted. Ever.

Thanks for reading!

A Practical Epiphany

The word "epiphany" might be a bit strong.

I've always looked for that special something that would incite our customers to love us. But I realize that our job is "get your head in the game, get this sprinkler system fixed as quickly and as inexpensively as possible, and get out of these people's lives."

As it is, we repair whatever the problem is, we do it for the price that was quoted in our Promise before the work started and we place our little sticker on the controller in the hope that you will call us again. Magic huh?


My realization, my epiphany, is that we are not in the Magic Business, Disney is. Anything we "do" is ultimately just what is expected.

And that creates a subtle but profound change here at Rainstat Irrigation. We will continue to give Promises before we obligate you to pay for any work we do. We will still fix the problem if you honor us with permission to do so. We will even continue to keep our trucks clean and our employees well identified.

But I see a need to tweak something–maybe just an attitude. In an attempt to look at ourselves from your perspective, I see that we are nothing more or less than a supplier that can potentially ease your pain. If we can do that in the most pain-free way possible, we've done our job.

As I said at the beginning, our attitude needs to be "get your head in the game, get this thing fixed as quickly and as inexpensively as possible, and get out of these people's lives." We'll keep leaving our little stickers on your controller in the hope that you will call us again but the magic will be that you are able to get on with your life without worrying about dead plants, shocking water bills or whether or not we will do what we Promised.

No magic. Just an attitude. And a commitment.

Realtor Meeting at Keller Williams Waco

I was invited to the Keller Williams Real Estate's office to bring them up to date on the new irrigation rules that go into effect January 1st, 2009. Michael Fanning, a customer and friend, arranged the invite. Kim Galvan, Keller Williams' team leader, presided over the weekly meeting and introduced me. But before she introduced me, she had a few "housekeeping" comments to make. "If any of you need help with your micro-sites or blogs, talk to me . . . ," she said.


Do you realize how much things have changed in just the last decade? Micro-sites? How many years ago was it that the state-of-the-art in MLS listings was a well organized notebook? It struck me that their tool belt had a laptop in it and mine still just had a shovel. They knew they had done a good job when the customer liked what they saw. I knew I had done a good job when the customer liked what they didn't see.

Irrigators and Realtors are polls apart in some aspects.

And not in others.

For instance, you may or may not be a prospect for a Realtor. You may or may not need to purchase or sell real estate. If you have that need, you are a prospect and there was a room full of professionals there that could assist you. But it wasn't because of who you are. It was because of your particular situation at that point in time.

Ditto for me. You don't want to talk to me unless something goes wrong with your sprinkler system or you want to make your system run more efficiently. But at the point of a recognized problem, both industries had better be johnny-on-the-spot with the tools and expertise that you need to solve your problem.

We can all thump our chests and say, "We're better at this than the next person," but it impressed me that Realtors and sprinklers repair folks are in the same business--at its essence. We want to be absolutely trained and have all the necessary tools to serve our friends when they need us. Serve? Friends? Yes. I find that a big part of my job is to build relationships that are based on a mutual like and trust. And I know that's what all of us are looking for. The trouble is, none of us know who our future friends will be. So let's be nice. Let's be friends to everyone.

That's what this room-full of professional Realtors did with me this morning. They were incredibly nice to me and made me feel like they genuinely appreciated my little diatribe about the new rules and how they can affect a home buyer.

Thank you Keller Williams folks. Can I be your friend?