When Water Disappears Between The Cistern And The House

[viking]

That's just what is presently happening, due to all the rain we have recently received, the overflow out of our cistern has been very good, that is until two days ago when the water pressure at the house dropped to near zero. My friend and I walked up to the cistern and pulled the 500 pound lid off ( That's why I had my "Young Friend" along, because at 82 years old, its just too much for me unless I make use of 2" X 4's for leverage and that's still a bit scary. Anyway, it seems that I have a line leak somewhere between the tank and the house as the water isn't rising above the outlet hole in the slip fit stand pipe I installed in the outlet elbow that was cast in the concrete tank bottom, the stand pipe is 1" PVC with a 2"long X 1" wide cut out 6" above the tank bottom, it's to help keep sediment from getting into the house feed line, the water level isn't rising above the cutout, so I have a major digging job as that line is 100 feet or so from the tank to the emergency shutoff valve that's in the low bank just behind our home. The thing that has me troubled is, I'm not seeing any wet surface spots in the area where the pipe come down to our home, that would certainly help and then I wouldn't have to dig up the whole pipe line. Thanks for listening to an old man's whoa's.

 

[elkhound]

hope you find it easier and faster than you are thinking...its always something anymore it seems.

 

[old tex]

My one thought is if you know exactly where the line runs, use a trencher or even a rototiller beside the line. Then look for where the water fills in where you dug. The hole in the line should be where the water collects.

 

[Caribou]

What material is the line made of and how deep is it buried?

EDIT: I’d first look at the tank and where the line leaves the tank. Then any weak points, like connection, valves.

 

[viking]

What material is the line made of and how deep is it buried?

EDIT: I’d first look at the tank and where the line leaves the tank. Then any weak points, like connection, valves.

I'm starting at the tank as I'm replacing a cistern gate valve and a drain gate valve and adding an additional 1,100 gallon black poly tank with a new shut off valve for it, all new valves will be heavy duty PVC ball valves and they will all be in a well made irrigation box that I can insulate. I'm thinking that the line break may be near the cistern or even on of the gate valves, I've really come to dislike gate valves over the years, I've seen them with the gate that had fallen off the valve stem as well as many that have totally lock up in the open or closed position. When I get this fixed I have to replace a water heater as well.

 

[viking]

I have to add that in looking for a new matching water heater, prices have almost tripled, thankfully when I bought the now leaky water heater, I bought another one just like it and it's been sealed and put in a storage shed since 2007, thank God I did that because the store I bought them in no longer makes the under counter 240 VAC type. Anyway, the water line needs to be fixed first and thankfully I have a young friend to help me as I'm getting to the point where my old body just can't do the job, I can still supervise.

 

[LadyLocust]

That's just what is presently happening, due to all the rain we have recently received, the overflow out of our cistern has been very good, that is until two days ago when the water pressure at the house dropped to near zero. My friend and I walked up to the cistern and pulled the 500 pound lid off ( That's why I had my "Young Friend" along, because at 82 years old, its just too much for me unless I make use of 2" X 4's for leverage and that's still a bit scary. Anyway, it seems that I have a line leak somewhere between the tank and the house as the water isn't rising above the outlet hole in the slip fit stand pipe I installed in the outlet elbow that was cast in the concrete tank bottom, the stand pipe is 1" PVC with a 2"long X 1" wide cut out 6" above the tank bottom, it's to help keep sediment from getting into the house feed line, the water level isn't rising above the cutout, so I have a major digging job as that line is 100 feet or so from the tank to the emergency shutoff valve that's in the low bank just behind our home. The thing that has me troubled is, I'm not seeing any wet surface spots in the area where the pipe come down to our home, that would certainly help and then I wouldn't have to dig up the whole pipe line. Thanks for listening to an old man's whoa's.

Can you rent a scope? It might cost a few $$$ but might also save a ton of work.

 

[viking]

Can you rent a scope? It might cost a few $$$ but might also save a ton of work.

The neighbor on our east side has a small John Deere tractor that has a back hoe, he offered to help, the only thing is the water line is on a fairly steep slop which could make things a bit risky, thankfully the water line is only about 8" deep and the soil is pretty damp, so digging shouldn't be too hard, yeah, I know, my younger friend will be the judge of that as he will be doing most of the digging, but he will be paid well.