Aqueduct Cleaning

The network has survived everything from caevas claws to invasion. After Deres completed his final design after reconstruction efforts following the City-Strife, the doughty farmers wondered why he included hatches on the top of each segment. He did not explain, having departed his family's farm for his new facilities in Bainshaebo, but the farmers quickly found out the hard way that even though the segments were designed to be airtight save for water, quite alot would get sucked up from the Great River, and to their horror they found all manner of creepy crawlies trying to establish homes in the pipes.   Because so much of the solar cycle are reserved for planting and harvesting, the Lonesteaders convened a rare council of their own and designated the downtime between seasons where any and all who made use of the pipes would come open the top hatches and scoop out any intrusive matter. The benefits of regular maintenance became immediately visible, while the consequences of skipping even a single cycle proved quite detrimental. During the Genesis Plague with so many farms close to the gates on edge and unable to convene, the cyclical maintenance was not sufficiently completed, and it set subsequent harvest seasons back significantly.  

A series of locks and valves are activated to cut off the flow of water drawn up from the Winding White to enable thorough examination, but because this impacts the water supply to the city as well, city-dwellers are expected to have ample supplies prepared in advance. In addition to the interior of the barrel-like segments, the valves themselves must be oiled and greased. Diluted chemicals normally used to clean tools or destroy pests are deployed in the initial pass to disinfect the segments before additional rinses are completed and the segments are pronounced cleansed and the valves re-opened.

Simple ladders are sufficient enough to reach the top of the segments and buckets are used to store removed debris, but great care must be taken to avoid abrading the interior lest invasive growths take root in scratches or scores. To that end, polished wooden scrapers, and more recently plastic, are used to dislodge anything attached to the interior. Gloves are typically worn by the menfolk to protect their hands from any stray rock shards or stinging insects or nettles. Only chemicals approved by Peirolyth, Mazzan, and the Traedeskaton are allowed to be used for disinfection in order to prevent corrosion of the interior lining or risking poisoning from toxic residue.

Literally every man, woman, and child of the Lonesteads participates with the menfolk doing the bulk of the cleaning, women providing refreshments and food, and children carrying away pailfuls of waste and piling them high to be burned later.  

When the Storm Season subsides, the farmers convene to complete work before the rising of the Great River heralds the start of the Flood Season. In the morning hours tools and equipment are assembled and prepared. In the midday laborers take breaks in the shadow of the segments cast by the Twin Suns. At sunset, extracted waste is gathered into stone-lined pits, and at night the pits are set ablaze and families feast, sing, and dance to shrug off the tedium of work in preparation for the next day. The event continues for several days, weeks even, however long it takes for each segment to be declared spic'n span, but despite all the gaiety, the Lonesteaders must not tarry as once the Northern Ring relinquishes its seasonal melt, the pipes must be ready to capitalize on the increased glacial flow.