Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Windsor Water Mystery

Where is this water coming from? My thoughts were racing at the time as my basement was filling with water. In March of 2007, my family and I moved to 8079 Lighthouse Lane in Windsor from Fort Collins. One of the drawing points to the property was that it was adjacent to a large retention area/green belt area behind the ice rink just off Hwy 392 and County Road 5.

Life was good at our new home until one day in July of 2007 we discovered water in our basement. The basement was filled with boxes that soaked up the water and crumbled like rotten pumpkins. My wife and I were horrified to discover many keepsake photographs etc. had been ruined. We soon discovered that a sump pump in the basement had burned out. After replacing the pump, within six weeks, the new pump also burned out. Again, there was water in the basement. Not good.

Being in the construction field, I researched the history of the property and found no underground wells on old farmland, etc. What was causing this water to well up into our basement? After talking to many engineers and the city, it was concluded that the water was just ground water that had risen during the summer due to local farming.

Our sump pump continued to expel water every 5 minutes or so and still does to this day. What is the deal? Besides our troubles, our neighbors began to have similar problems. Across the street and down the street, scenes of water hoses draining basements could be seen. I had contacted the city inquiring if it could be the watering of the drainage area adjacent to our property. They assured me no. My water bills were not going up, so it was not a leak under our house from us. When the water was tested, it was clear as a bell, so not sewage water.

In my research, I found that the homes in the area were built in 2001, when the area was in the middle of a severe drought. Could ground water really be this prevalent? How prevalent you might ask; well we have created a swamp like ecosystem in the green belt where our water is discharged to. This has got to be bad during mosquito season; ever heard of the West Nile virus?

Today, as I was getting my mail, I observed a metal water pipe cap in the middle of Lighthouse Lane. It was approximately in the middle of all the homes that have been affected. Could there be a leak in a water pipe that has gone undetected?

When I was a child back in Illinois, our crawl space filled up with 3 feet of water. After draining it with a fire hose and installing a permanent sump pump, the problem never reared its ugly head again. Years later, they discovered a water main break in the middle of the major highway we lived on that had gone undetected for years. Coincidence?

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