By Slanted Light

Hard water? What, the showerhead scaled up? That can't have helped. And yet... with all the rest, it's so, so... minor! In the dramatic progression stakes, you are well ahead.

Did the plumber have - or the water board send out a guy with - the high tech leak detection equipment of a long hollow pole and a plate on the end of it? They're amazing - all that technology, and it turns out that to detect a leak you listen for turbulence. By sticking this long pole upright so that it touches the ground at points above the pipe and touching your ear to the plate thing.