Our water is shut off AGAIN

 I can understand when Aqua wants to replace old water mains with new ones.  And, I can understand that our water has to be shut off while the work is being done.  And, furthermore, I can understand that 9 to 3 is just a guestimate as to how long the water will be shut off.  So - both yesterday and today, we were without water, from 9 to 3, theoretically.  We managed.  We imposed on our daughter.  Not a problem for her or for us.  She lives only 3-1/2 miles away.

     We came home yesterday, water was turned back on around 4:00 with no problems.

     We came home today, water was turned back on, at 3:00, today and then - oh boy were there problems.  At 7:00, in the middle of brushing his teeth, Edgar said that there was no water.  And, in the middle of running the dishwasher, there was no water.  Edgar went outside to check with the workers who told him that they had run into a problem and would try to have it fixed within a couple of hours.  Now, that's a problem.

     It's late, at least for us.  We are members of the senior citizen society.  In other words, we are on the old side of 70.  (Good thing I took my shower at 5:00).

     We called the Aqua emergency number and after listening to the programmed announcement of all the communities that could be troubled by a lack of water, our call was answered by a person who acknowledged that there was indeed an emergency.  And, I don't want to misquote her, so I will not use quotation marks, but she scared me.  She said that the foreman told her that he ran into a major problem and had to shut down the main immediately or else it would blow and the whole street would collapse.  Panic!!!  Remember the photos of the houses that collapsed in the sink holes in Florida?

     I called the police.  Now, since the new system, there is no way to get directly in touch with the Lower Merion police, but with a communications dispatcher.  I relayed my panic and asked that the police please be notified if our house collapses into a sinkhole so that both Edgar and I can be rescued.  Overreaction?  Maybe!  But I don't think so.  Especially since the Aqua operator said that when PECO has an emergency, and the electricity goes out, they dispatch crews.  I agreed.  I also told her that when the electricity goes out, I have a flashlight.  She backed away from that comparison.  I asked her if another crew was being sent out to help these workers fix the problems so that the main doesn't blow and the street collapse along with my house and us.  She said that another crew would not make the job go any faster.  And, as much as she tried to explain why, her logic or rather, lack of it, made no sense to me.

     Meanwhile, here I sit, waiting for the water main to be fixed.  Please, understand, the new main on Aberdale was supposed to be attached to the new main on Bryn Mawr and the new main on Bala.  With all the new water mains, what kinds of problems could exist?