No Water Nightmare

Well… we ran out of water for three weeks 😬 Here's our story and what we learned the hard way.

On Sunday night—the week of Thanksgiving—our water just stopped. We could hear the pump running, so we knew something was wrong. We crawled under the house, turned off the pump, and decided to sit tight until morning.

This was three days before we were supposed to leave for Thanksgiving at the in-laws. Nightmare timing.

The Leak

Monday morning we woke up early to figure out our next move, but ultimately had to wait for a well guy to come out and diagnose the problem. He couldn’t get there until Tuesday.

When he finally arrived, he told us we had a leak about six feet down where some connections were. Our options: hire someone to dig it up and fix it, or figure it out ourselves. So obviously… we rented an excavator.

Cody digging out trench

Wednesday morning, my husband and stepson got to digging. We were hopeful we could fix it before dark and maybe still make the drive to Eastern Montana for Thanksgiving the next day. They found the leak clear as day, swapped out some parts, attached a new hydrant, and—boom—we had water!

For about one minute.

Then it tapered off completely.

At this point it was Wednesday night, and the well guy couldn’t come back until Friday.

Thanksgiving… With No Water

Alright. No Thanksgiving travel. Let’s figure out how to celebrate at home.

I sent Ryle to the local grocery store to grab what we could. I’ll be damned if I wasn’t going to try to perk these boys up and have a nice holiday. (Side note: if you have no water, do not make a full Thanksgiving dinner at home.)

Despite everything, we actually had a lovely Thursday—watching the parades, making food, and doing what we could without running water.

Also, just so you know: you can cook a turkey when it’s still frozen. Brine it overnight if you can, pop it in the oven at 300° for about three hours, take it out and remove everything inside, season it, and put it back in like a regular turkey. The trick, I think, was the brine—and once it was back in the oven, keeping the door closed so all the moisture stayed in.

The Real Problem

Friday rolled around, the well guy came back out, and that’s when we found out the bigger issue: our well was dry. We needed a new one. Lovely.

After a few phone calls, we found someone who gave us a quote, so we headed to the bank to get a loan. Being self-employed, everything takes a little longer, and that process alone took about four days. At this point, we were 11 days without water.

Then the well driller came out… and doubled his quote. Oh—and he needed an answer immediately because he could only do the job the next day.

That felt off. Like he was taking advantage of a really crappy situation.

So I made more phone calls. A lot more.

Eventually, I found a man who was incredibly kind. He came out last minute, took a look, gave me a solid game plan, and even gave me the number for a pump guy (because one person drills, another digs, and then the pump guy installs the pump that actually gets water into your house).

By this point, we were about 14 days without water.

My mom came to the rescue and took all of our festering dishes back to her condo—about 40 minutes away—to wash them. Getting my kitchen back was a game changer. A messy kitchen leads to a messy house, which leads to messy thoughts.

Finally… Water

A little over two weeks after the leak was first diagnosed, our new well driller came out. It took about a day to drill. Then the next day Cody dug another six-foot trench. The pump guy came out that afternoon, Cody filled the hole back in, and Thursday morning the pump guy returned to drop the pump down.

And just like that… voilà. We had water again 😅

Just in time to make it up to Whitefish for my dad’s 70th birthday bash.

Getting ready to drill our well!

If Your Well Runs Dry, Here’s What to Do

If we ever go through this again (please no), here’s the step-by-step we learned the hard way:

1. Call a pump guy first to confirm the well is actually dry. It seems obvious, but you want to be sure.

2. Ask if the pump can be dropped lower to buy you some time. Sometimes that will hold you over temporarily.

3. Call 2–3 well drilling companies. Ask for quotes and how deep they’ve been drilling in your area recently.

4. Ask whether they need to come assess the property or if a water locator is required (usually not, but it’s an option).

5. Figure out financing early. We used a credit union—they had the best interest rates and the fastest approval.

6. Confirm whether the well driller also installs the pump. Ours does not—he only drills.

7. Once scheduled, the drilling company will call 811 to locate utilities. If you have no water, this is typically considered an emergency and can be done quickly.

8. Choose the well location. Closer to the old well is easiest and cheapest to reattach water to your home, but keep in mind the rigs are massive and need flat ground with room to work.

9. After drilling, you’ll need someone to dig a trench and a pump guy to hook everything up.

10. Drill → dig → pump hookup → fill trench → drop pump → water!

We’ve had water back for about a week now, but we couldn’t really use it for the first five days due to sediment settling. We also had to shock the well to make sure it was drinkable.

All said and done, here in the Bitterroot of Montana, this cost us about $12,000, and our new well is 120 feet deep. Holiday shopping will be a bit lighter this year—but I am beyond thankful for water.