In April of 2022, I received a call from a neighbor letting me know that the Santa Fe Trail Ranch (SFTR) Ditch Rats needed to check my cistern, as there was a major leak on the South Side of the ranch, and it looked like it was coming from my house. I was working at the time, so thought they would be there and be gone, as there was no visible sign of water in my yard. To me, the whole “cistern” checking and meter reading was an unknown concept as my late husband had previously taken care of all of that.

I looked out of my office window at home, and part of the Ditch Rat crew were indeed checking out my cistern and also the water connection and meter at the street. The knock on my door by Jerry Kirkwood and Pat Youngquist confirmed that I was the culprit of the water leak. Unbeknownst to me, I won the water lottery! Approximately 32,000 gallons of water were “somewhere” on my land!

Jerry and Pat had opened my cistern cap and pointed at my float. I saw it was floating, so I didn’t see the issue. It was kindly pointed out that the fact that it was floating above my water line actually WAS the issue; it was supposed to be attached to an arm that stopped the water when it reached the intended level and ideally look like this for my particular set up:

Cistern Configuration

Jerry was holding a tool of some sort, which I later found out was called the “key”. We walked to the street where my water tap was installed when we were building the house, and he proceeded to show me where my meter was, how to verify that it wasn’t running abnormally, and how to use the “key” to turn on and off the water that runs from the tap to my cistern.

Key / Using Key at Meter Pit

Water Meter by Street / Insulation / Meter

Because my float arm broke, that had to be replaced by turning off the water at the meter and using all the water in my cistern so someone could go in and replace it with a new arm and float mechanism. Once that was done, I could refill my cistern.

I recommend checking your meter monthly, as well as turning your water off prior to any time you are leaving your home for more than a day. I also am sure to turn off my pump at my electrical panel, as I have heard of people’s home flooding when their pump malfunctioned when they were on vacation.

Had I known the steps above, I would have saved approximately $650.00 in water that I have never seen. For more detailed technical information, please access the SFTR Metro website and navigate to the "About Us" page (http://sftrmetro.com/about.html). There are multiple documents regarding water meter applications and cistern information for your review.