 What do the workers of WIlliamson Town do that causes them to lose water?
The light from the star that died when the meteor was created fell on Earth before the first lungfish ventured from the sea. Portions of the turbine also volitized; idling at eight thousand RPM, it became unstable. The shaft tried to tie itself into a knot, and the blades, damaged and undamaged were spit through the casing. When he was broke, which was usually, he used his tractor to haul uranium ore and metallic sodium from the mines at Potter's dike to Williamson Town, where the rockets landed. His drinking water—kept separate from the water in the reactor—might conceivably last just as long. Four days reserve—plus one is five—plus sixteen days normal supply equals twenty-one days to live. By the light of this, he reinspected the steam system, and found about three gallons of water frozen in the condenser. The condenser, like all condensers, was a device to convert steam into water, so that it could be reused in the boiler. When the meteor pierced the turbine, the water in the condenser began to boil. This boiling lowered the temperature, and the condenser demonstrated its efficiency by quickly freezing the water in the tank. If there was any water in the boiler, it would operate the engine that drove the generator. Then, if the pump wasn't blocked by ice, it would return the water to the boiler. Carefully he poured a cup of his drinking water into a pipe that led to the boiler, and resealed the pipe. The water that he had poured into the boiler quickly turned into steam, and the steam turned the generator briefly. They flickered as the boiler pressure began to fail, but the steam had melted some of the ice in the condenser, and the water pump began to function. This was to allow the air-conditioning system to function properly, and to prevent air loss in case of the highly improbable meteor damage. For example, because of an order of his stating that there would be no alcoholic beverages within the survey building, the entire survey was assured of a constant supply of home-made, but passably good liquor. Morning to him had no meaning at all, but he thought in the strictest sense that it would be morning on the Moon for another week. It was used mostly, from sun-up to sun-down, to supplement the nuclear power plant. Three of the nine banks of mirrors would not respond to the electric controls, and one bank moved so jerkily that it could not be focused, and it threatened to tear several of the mirrors loose.
 Something malfunctioned when they tried to clean old build-up
 Something got stuck when they tried to balance the weight on the valve mechanism  Something malfunctioned when they tried to clean old build-up  A water container exploded while they were trying to fill it  One of the men was siphoning water supply for profit