Providing a Helping Hand to High Altitude Property Owners

Dear Editor:

I live in the hinterlands of Teller County at an elevation of about 9,000 feet.

Recently our 1999 washing machine, which I purchased that year, gave up…not bad…It served us well for more than two decades! Well, the new one purchased down in Colorado Springs last week came equipped with some added electronic features, and was installed.

I tried to run a few small test loads over the weekend. The thing would not “sense” load size, was soooo slow, would not drain properly… a very frustrating experience.

I’ve done a little research and it seems washing machines with lots of electronic “features” don’t seem to do well at high altitude. Hmmmm.

Add to this the fact that the frost level in the ground this year has gone quite deep due to a few serious cold snaps over the winter.

Our well (350-feet deep) is precipitation dependent and is fed by fractures in the granite that we all live on around here. So, the dang new washer, with its dazzling array of  electronic features… failed…sigh…the upshot being our well was drained. No water.

At 7 a.m., I placed a call to Black Mountain Pump located nearby in Divide. They responded promptly, and provided courteous, knowledgeable advice and counsel. A special thank you to the two young gentlemen who, for a nominal fee, gave me some excellent advice. The two fellows examined our well and told me that all looked good. I would just have to let the well “rest” for a few days.

I have done so, and now our well is producing again.

Having lived in Teller County since 1989, in two locations, I was especially pleased to find out that the pump for this property, unlike the previous property, is equipped with a “sensor” that automatically shuts down the pump in the event of a lack of water coming into the small pressure tank and hot water heater. The water quality  IS excellent here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. So, sometimes just little electronics is a good thing up here!

THANK YOU! to Black Mountain Pump…

Catherine Mahrholz

Florissant