The Water System

Our mountain water is the best!  We are part of Sapphire Deep Water Association, which is supported by five homeowners.  Four of us are currently drawing water.   We share a 500' deep well drilled through solid granite near the gated entrance of Hidden Falls.  A five HP submersible pump moves the water through a 2.5 inch line to a 1,000 gallon reservoir above Laurel Hill.  Our home is gravity-fed, and the other three have submersible pumps in the reservoir to pump uphill to their homes.  The well provides 20 gallons per minute, which is plenty of water for any need.

The filtration system in the well house is a sight to behold.  It is a commercial design which removes almost all of the iron and dissolved solids from the well water.  On top of that, we have our own filter system in the utility room.  The last step in our filtration system is UV radiation of the water, so it is very clean and safe.

The Achilles' Heel of the water system is lightening and Duke Energy power outages.  If the faucets start sputtering, one of several things has happened.  These are (a) lightening strike (b) Duke Energy outage or (c) malfunction in the control system.  When the Association water system goes down, our home only gets 200 gallons of water  before the faucets start sputtering.

Our auxiliary water system which provides 750 gallons of water if the Association system goes down.  This is sufficient to keep a family going for two days without skimping.   The auxiliary system is powered by an above-ground pump connected to the 750 gallon tank, and it will run off the generator if Duke Energy power is out.

If the main water system goes out in a power outage or after a lightening storm, do the following:

• Turn some lights on and get a flashlight so you can see what you are doing.
• Near the front left corner of the garage is a small electrical box labeled auxiliary water system.  Open this up, and you will see a black plastic thing with a handle up high in the box.  Take this out, turn it right-side up so it says "on" and snap it into place so the circuit is completed.  
• You now have 750 gallons of good water.  This water is filtered just like the main water system and should not look or taste any different.  Also, the above-ground pump runs on generator in case Duke Power is out for awhile.
• The next step is to notify someone that the Association water system is down, and that you are running on auxiliary (see below).
•  Once the main system is fixed, please make sure the little black plastic thing is put back where you originally found it so the auxiliary system will be shut off.  If the breaker is left on, it will burn up the $300 jet pump (not thoretical).

Notification When Association Water Goes Out

1. Tony Brooks at (828) 553-1549
2. Jo Brooks at (828) 553-1548
3. Steve Newman at (941) 951-8929

You can text or call any of the three of us.  Tony is the water guru; if the control system goes, he can walk you through the process of manually pumping to the house and topping off the auxiliary system.