The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on July 1, 1965.
TALK ABOUT A WET SPRING-
She Pumps Water Every Morning At 3 A. M. To Keep Well From Getting Too Full
“It’s the absolute truth,” says Mrs. Elsie Herschberger, Kenneth.
“It’s been so wet this spring that I have to get up every morning at 3 o’clock to pump out my well, or it gets too full.”
It’s no joke for Mrs. Herschberger. She’s hoping for some dry weather, and so are a lot of other people in Kenneth and Hardwick who have water in their basements.
Mrs. Herschberger said she first experienced trouble when she tried to run water one morning and the electric motor on her pump wouldn’t start.
She checked and found the water in the well had risen to the point where it covered the electric motor, which is about 10 feet in the well. A fire department pump was put into service to lower the water level so she could get the motor out and dry it.
To prevent recurrence of the situation, she now pumps the water level down just before she goes to bed at night. Then she gets up about 3 a.m. and starts the pump again. She estimated that the water level rises six to seven feet during the five-hour period. She lets it pump for about an hour, and that lowers the water level sufficiently so that it doesn’t reach the motor. Again during the day, she has to run water so that the level does not come up to the danger point.
It’s kind of hard to convince people that it’s been so wet in Kenneth that the wells are almost at the point of running over, says Mrs. Herschberger, but it’s the truth. “And my house is on some of the highest ground in town,” she added.
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