tanks problem

[bulldogs195461]

ok once again im turning to the collective minds of indy,for answers.ok i work for some people who have 2 tanks of 10,000 litres each side by side.the old fella has alziemers and emptied one by leaving on a hose,the other one is full,ok heres the problem,ive cleaned off the roof and tested it by putting a hose on it,the water went off the roof and eventually started flowing into the tank,you beauty i thought,but after about 20ml of rain on the weekend theres nothing in it,i for the life of me cant work it out.anyone willing to throw some scenarios at me please to help,also it flows down a pipe under the footpath and flows up the pipe to get into the tank,when i put the hose in the roof ,im trying to work out how the trickle i put on the roof manages to travel up then in
cheers john

[darrens]

Hey Bulldogs,
If the water is flowing down then up to get to the tank, then it is a charged water system. This means there should be PVC coming up to the to a higher than the water tank on the downpipe section, the PVC fills with water becoming charged and as the water becomes higher than the inlet on the tank it flows in. Are the tanks linked? cause the other set up maybe that it flows into the first tank and then across into the second, that would mean that the pipe coming down is the overflow which is running down to join the stormy lines. Do you have a photo of the setup? that would help to sort it out.
Darren

[bulldogs195461]

Thanks for that, I'll take some pics and post tomorrow morning, when I'm back there, cheers john

[seliment]

Is this the only drain point on the roof?
It is possible (happens on our house), that due to gutter bad levelling / sagging over time that rain falling on the roof does not flow in the gutters to all of the drain points.
Although ours are spread fairly uniformly around the perimeter one of them does not flow much in rain.


Joe

[edbeek]

Maybe there is a partial blockage which is only allowing a small amount of water past, and the gutters are overflowing as the water cant get away quick enough.

Try filling the 'loop' until water starts running into the tank, then pour a bucket(or 2) of water down the downpipe quickly and see how freely it runs into the tank.
Look for an access point along the lower section of pipe and you may be able to fish/flush out the obstruction.
Then get them to fit leaf catchers in the downpipes.

[bulldogs195461]

Hope this picture helps, the pipe in picture is the one that leads from the ground and allows water into the tank.

[edbeek]

Hope this picture helps, the pipe in picture is the one that leads from the ground and allows water into the tank.

And is that tank (closest to camera)the empty one?

[bulldogs195461]

Yes that's the culprit

[darrens]

Bulldogs,
It is a charged water system. You should have water in the down pipe at the same lvl as the water in the pipe coming up to the tank, try using something flexable like a piece of yellow tongue off some flooring as a dipstick down each pipe to see where the water lvl is at on each side. If nothing on both sides then there may be either at diverter that is set to flow down the stormwater at the moment the easiest way to check this is at the stormwater inspection point in the ground, just torch down the inspection point as water is running down the downpipe. There may also a break in pipe under the ground, if there is no water flowing through the inspection point and the water lvl does not rise in either pipe that will mean a break.If the water just comes up in the downpipe then you have a blockage. The downpipe should be in PVC same as the pipe coming up at the tank, if there are multiple PVC downpipes on the house the they will prob all be charge the storage system if so then a break in any of them or in their underground run will cause the water to leak from the system, if this is the case then they will have to be checked with a camera cause it will undermine the foundations of the house.

[seliment]

. .... but after about 20ml of rain on the weekend theres nothing in it,i for the life of me cant work it out.......
cheers john

Easy answer .... Not enough rain! -- only 20 millilitres! :)

Maybe I am a pedant (stickler for correctness) but the correct measure for rainfall in Australia is mm ( millimetres), which by the way is numerically the same as the measure which is used in Europe for rainfall - litres per square metre.
Unfortunately, I hear too many ppl on radio & tv, many who should know better describing rainfall in 'mils', which I take to be 'mls - millilitres'
when in fact it should me mm's, which they probably cannot be bothered to pronounce correctly.

Me being pedantic / correct ... Yes, but let us describe things correctly.

Joe.

[darrens]

For 20 mm you should be getting 20 litres per square metre :big grin , so with as little as 10 m2 of roof loading into the downpipe thats 200litres should fill a charged system, if its charged with all down pipes that woul mean 5880litres to an average 30 square house.

[Fred's mowing]

The only scenario that I can imagine is, when you poured water into the tank from the hose,the valve was closed, when the 20mm of rain fell, the valve was open.

Re: your question about water flowing up the pipe, it works on the water level principal. The water MUST enter at a higher point and leave at a lower point (even marginally).

Simple calculation for water catchment is surface area 1m2 x amount 1mm = volume 1 litre.

Cheers Fred.

[Fred's mowing]

So, did you work it out :i dunno:
Cheers Fred.

[edbeek]

Bump. Did you work it out?


So, did you work it out :i dunno:
Cheers Fred.

I hate these underground systems for rainwater.
I spent last weekend tidying up my bro's place as they have been working away this year. Cleaned the gutters, but no water was getting to the tank. Took the inspection cap off one side and got drenched by stinking black putrid water. At least that cleared one side of the house.
No such luck with the other side. I fished around for a bit but had nothing long enough to clear the blockage.

I have aerial pipes here. East to keep clear and clean all of the time.

[Fred's mowing]

Yes Ed, its disappointing when u try to help but don't even get the outcome when u ask.:i dunno:
Still waiting to hear from SM mowing & his cypress canker problem. :i dunno:
Cheers Fred.