Water problem

Ukjay

Member
Location
Wales!
The house does sit low compared to the sheds so water has to rise after the house to trough a bit . The pipe coming in house is 25mm so there must be a reducer outside under concrete

OK, I am suspecting that maybe you have had a reduction in water level, thus you see the water flow when you lower the pipe 2 feet below trough level, then stops when you raise it. This could also be your issue with the boiler pressure, as 0.5 bar is not enough pressure for some boiler to operate effectively.

The way around this is to fit a booster pump to the main incoming feed (before the T off for the barns) - so do you have an area that one could be fitted and powered up?
 

valtraman

Member
OK, I am suspecting that maybe you have had a reduction in water level, thus you see the water flow when you lower the pipe 2 feet below trough level, then stops when you raise it. This could also be your issue with the boiler pressure, as 0.5 bar is not enough pressure for some boiler to operate effectively.

The way around this is to fit a booster pump to the main incoming feed (before the T off for the barns) - so do you have an area that one could be fitted and powered up?
How could there be a reduction in water level though when tank sits full?
 

Ukjay

Member
Location
Wales!
How could there be a reduction in water level though when tank sits full?
Hang on, sorry - I may have misread something during the explination then as I am trying to picture this out in my head unfortunately.

Your Tank - is that fed direct from the spring, which then feeds the house and the one barn in question / troughs?
This Tank is full and water flowing through it. Is that via an overlow (as you say water is flowing through it)?

Can you get to that rose filter thing and take it off?
 

Goweresque

Member
Location
North Wilts
Hire a petrol engined water pump, get an IBC full of water at the trough thats not filling up properly, connect the pump up to the poly pipe feeding the trough, pump water into the system as fast as you can, it'll have to go back up to the reservoir to get out. Whatever is causing the problem will be flushed out. It'll either be air, sediment or a frog in my experience of gravity systems (I've had them all).
 

Mur Huwcun

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North West Wales
The house does sit low compared to the sheds so water has to rise after the house to trough a bit . The pipe coming in house is 25mm so there must be a reducer outside under concrete

Been there, done that have way to many wet t shirts on the private supply job!! Our spring is only roughly max 5 foot higher than where the pipe enters the house. I got some air into the pipe once when cleaning the suction filter. Was a nightmare to get it flowing afterwards. In the end just used a pump to draw water through the pipe to get it flowing again. Since then I’ve never moved the end of the pipe in the spring and just unscrew the filter when still submerged.

As been said you will have to pump water one way or another through the pipe. Have you tried leaving the tap running for a few hours just in case?
 

valtraman

Member
Hang on, sorry - I may have misread something during the explination then as I am trying to picture this out in my head unfortunately.

Your Tank - is that fed direct from the spring, which then feeds the house and the one barn in question / troughs?
This Tank is full and water flowing through it. Is that via an overlow (as you say water is flowing through it)?

Can you get to that rose filter thing and take it off?
The tank and spring sit right next to each other with just a short pipe feeding into the tank . I have blocked the supply and emptied the tank completely to check inside. I have pointed up coupe small bits where plaster coming off hardly anything though and will now let tank fill up . Have had the rose off and fine even had Rods down the pipe a bit and feels clear at that end anyway. As said tank is very clean with hardly any sediment in bottom. I think will let it fill completely and leave the outside tap running and see if can clear itself if air
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Hire a petrol engined water pump, get an IBC full of water at the trough thats not filling up properly, connect the pump up to the poly pipe feeding the trough, pump water into the system as fast as you can, it'll have to go back up to the reservoir to get out. Whatever is causing the problem will be flushed out. It'll either be air, sediment or a frog in my experience of gravity systems (I've had them all).
The woman who put our bore hole in said if the system ever fills up with that red ocre, we should put hypoclorite in the system and re circulate it, to get all the sediment floating in the water then flush it out, contractor who does the silage said he has seen a bore hole, where when trying to pull the pump out of the bore hole to clean it, the rope snapped due to the ocre locking the pump in the pipe, if that happened I guess a new bore hole would have to be drilled! If I remember my pump is 200' down in the bore hole.
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
The woman who put our bore hole in said if the system ever fills up with that red ocre, we should put hypoclorite in the system and re circulate it, to get all the sediment floating in the water then flush it out, contractor who does the silage said he has seen a bore hole, where when trying to pull the pump out of the bore hole to clean it, the rope snapped due to the ocre locking the pump in the pipe, if that happened I guess a new bore hole would have to be drilled! If I remember my pump is 200' down in the bore hole.
with our gravity fed system, I was often having to rod out the pipes (with a smaller alkathene pipe) and then trying to pump it out with a petrol pump, all I can say was nightmare!
 

renewablejohn

Member
Location
lancs
Hire a petrol engined water pump, get an IBC full of water at the trough thats not filling up properly, connect the pump up to the poly pipe feeding the trough, pump water into the system as fast as you can, it'll have to go back up to the reservoir to get out. Whatever is causing the problem will be flushed out. It'll either be air, sediment or a frog in my experience of gravity systems (I've had them all).

Totally agree with this. Our supply is gravity feed over 500 mtrs but in one section climbs 10 mtrs. At the base of that climb the fine sediment accumulates every two years I flush out with an IBC full of water and a sprayer pump. Obviously disconnect the other end as the aim is to flush as quickly as possible so in your case at the end of the 50mm pipe. May take several IBC's of water before all sediment is removed. If the trough is a spur then I would flush that section seperate and replace the 50mm T to the spur on a temporary basis with a straight through so that the 50mm can be flushed through.
I presume you have disconnected the pipe prior to the trough and let it flow for half an hour to see whether the flow increases.
 

valtraman

Member
Okay so today let tank fill back up and have very little flow down at farm on a fairly low point as well. Have dug the pipe where it enters the house . So basically it’s a 50mm pipe with a t piece with a 25mm spur coming off to supply house . I screwed off the 25mm spur and have basically a slow tap running out of pipe . Should be masses of water there
 

Ukjay

Member
Location
Wales!
Okay so today let tank fill back up and have very little flow down at farm on a fairly low point as well. Have dug the pipe where it enters the house . So basically it’s a 50mm pipe with a t piece with a 25mm spur coming off to supply house . I screwed off the 25mm spur and have basically a slow tap running out of pipe . Should be masses of water there

Does the 50mm pipe come direct from the tank (spring fed) to the house, then T off to teh barn / trough?
 

valtraman

Member
Does the 50mm pipe come direct from the tank (spring fed) to the house, then T off to teh barn / trough?
The 50mm appears to go past the house with the 25mm coming of the t piece to feed the house. The 50mm will get reduced not long after that as the pipe that comes out ground is 25mm that eventually runs over ground to trough. I’ve opened pipe up at the 50/50/25 t piece so before it gets reduced and don’t have pressure so tells me it’s not where the pipe size reduces that’s the problem ?
 

Ukjay

Member
Location
Wales!
The 50mm appears to go past the house with the 25mm coming of the t piece to feed the house. The 50mm will get reduced not long after that as the pipe that comes out ground is 25mm that eventually runs over ground to trough. I’ve opened pipe up at the 50/50/25 t piece so before it gets reduced and don’t have pressure so tells me it’s not where the pipe size reduces that’s the problem ?

Well, do you own any kind of water pump that can connect to the end of the pipe?
 

Ukjay

Member
Location
Wales!
I don’t no I was thinking about getting a drain unblocker person in with a jetter to put up it?

You could do that, or hire the kit yourself.
You've done most of the hard work anyway..

Or, do you have a pressure washer that you could shove down the end of the pipe and then wad around it to seal the end near the tank, then disassemble the T again and turn the pressure washer on..
 

Mur Huwcun

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North West Wales
How would I get a good connection from compressor to the water pipe though?

1/2 bsp or ball valve fitting to go on the mdpe pipe (may need some reducers) and compressor fitting on a 1/2bsp fitting.

Thinking about it, your ball valve coupling on trough will be ideal just you need to blank any other outlet
 

Ukjay

Member
Location
Wales!
How would I get a good connection from compressor to the water pipe though?

You would have to couple up a fitting.

The only stumbling block here, is that you do not know if there are any other fittings in line - so you could not use the required piece that you need to force up the pipe to scrape the inside of the pipe.
You have water flowing albeit slow, so air would not work alone, as it needs to work against something or you do not clear everything out.

I would risk it, but I would not advocate you doing it as it could go wrong.
 

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