Water, Water Everywhere

We made it to Maine! Woo hoo! All of our belongings (or what made it onto the moving truck) now reside in our 1900’s farmhouse, and we are finally staying in the house for the first time! (If you’re wondering – yes, it still smells like cat urine.)

I love our new house and how we have rooms that just seem to go on forever! Our dog, Tux

is also enjoying running through the endless rooms that seem to lead one into another. I’m pretty sure one of us is going to get lost in here!

Of course, as much as we love our house, it does come with some, ahem, interesting challenges. While having the plumbing dewinterized, we learned that we have an artesian well. Though we think this is pretty cool, it does come with a few downsides.

First, I’m pretty sure that it was an artesian well that the scary little girl from The Ring crawled out of.

So much less scary when there isn’t a scary ghost-girl crawling out of it. (Note: this pic is not our well.)

But second (and more seriously), an artesian well poses a few possible water issues like bacteria in the water and/or runoff from the road. (Our well is located pretty close to a highway.)

So, while it’s okay to bathe in, it was recommended that we either drill a new well (which could set us back upwards of 3-4 grand), we could treat the water in the well itself (which would be a continual process as it’s an open system, constantly being refilled by ground water), or we could install osmosis filters under the sinks. We’re leaning toward the filters for now, but does anyone else have issues or have information on artesian wells and how you’ve dealt with them?

Jennifer Jelliff-Russell

About Jennifer Jelliff-Russell

Jennifer is an employment specialist and writer with novels in women’s fiction and science fiction. She and her husband, Jason, decided to move from Tennessee to Maine and homestead using the most environmentally sound farming practices possible such as organic farming and permaculture. At the same time, they will also be slowly renovating their 1900s Maine farmhouse in order to make it more self-sufficient with the eventual goal of going off grid. Let the homesteading (mis)adventures begin!