Houseworks: Retrieving a broken water

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Q How can I get a broken submersible pump out of my water well? It broke off the pipe when it was being lifted for replacement and is now 34 feet down at the bottom.

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A Your best hope is to fish down and try and catch hold of the old wires or some other part of the pump, then pull it up. Find a stout metal hook, tie it securely to a 1/4-inch cord, then try your luck. You might just connect with a loop or hole on the pump and pull it up that way.

How far from the surface of the ground does the water get at its lowest? It's not be the end of the world if you had to leave the old pump there. If you install the new pump just over the old one it will work fine as long as the water level in your well doesn't drop below the level of the new pump.

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Distilled drinking water

Q What's your opinion on a distilled water system for purifying household drinking water? Some people say distilled is excellent for health, while others say it removes important minerals from your body.

A We have an automatic distiller at our house and after five years of drinking distilled exclusively I’ve found noticeable health benefits. More energy and the disappearance of joint pain are two of the most welcome. Finger pain that my wife had was diagnosed as arthritis but it has completely disappeared after switching to distilled.

It's easy to dismiss concerns about harm that distilled water might cause because every ocean-going mariner drinks distilled all the time. Charles Mayo, co-founder of the famous Mayo Clinic, was a big fan of drinking distilled, too: "Water hardness (inorganic minerals in solution) is the underlying cause of many, if not all, of the diseases resulting from poisons in the intestinal tract. These (hard minerals) pass from the intestinal walls and get into the lymphatic system, which delivers all of its products to the blood, which, in turn, distributes to all parts of the body. This is the cause of much human disease."

Alexander Graham Bell had similar things to say: "I knew that distilled water was pure. I thought that if I drank plenty of it, I could get rid of some of the salts that were covering my sciatic nerves. I tried drinking it and it worked like a charm. I have kept up my drinking of distilled water and I attribute my almost perfect health largely to it."

Then there's the issue of chemical contaminants in municipal drinking water, and the way distillation removes it so well, especially when combined with carbon filtration. You can learn more about the benefits of drinking distilled at baileylineroad.com/distilled-water.

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Skylight ice dams

Q How can I stop ice dams from forming below a skylight in my house? When enough ice builds up it causes water to back up on the roof and leaks inside. I’m thinking of cutting a piece of rigid foam to block off the skylight from the inside during winter to stop the snow from melting and icing.

A This issue you’re having is fairly common. The foam idea could work, but if any air is allowed to leak past the foam, it’ll cause condensation and damage inside the skylight.

Alternatively, you could install some electric heating cables to get rid of the ice when it does form. Heat-Line is a Canadian company that makes some great rooftop deicing hardware. I know from personal experience that it hardly uses any electricity, and you don't need to have it plugged in all the time – only when needed.

Steve Maxwell has been helping Canadians make the most of their homes since 1988. Visit Steve online at BaileyLineRoad.com and join 31,000 people who get his Saturday morning newsletter each week.

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