Always knew I have well drained, sandy soil, but I was amazed by the extent of it.
Early June I was walking past the pumphouse, which contains our above ground pump for the sand point well and our holding tank, when I heard the well pump kick on for no reason. I was the only one home and wasn't using any water. Checked back about 15 minutes later and the tank had lost a couple pounds of pressure. Kept an eye on things and discovered the tank was draining, and the pump would kick on about every 3 hours, without any water being used.
So I climbed into the crawlspace and checked all the pipes under the house. No leaks to be found. Closed the valve in the pumphouse, and the pressure in my holding tank remained steady. So the leak was somewhere along the 40 yard stretch between the pumphouse and the house. Added this fix to my list of things to take care of 'eventually'.
Walking past the pumphouse last Thursday and hear the pump kick on, so open the door to take a look. As soon as I open the door I can feel it's warmer in the pumphouse than the 70 degree outside temp. Put my hand on the pump and it's very warm. Watch the pressure gauge when the pump shuts off and I can see it visibly dropping. Takes about 3 mintues before the pump has to kick back on.
So early Monday morning I began digging. I read that the leak would most likely be at a joint in the pipe. So the plan was to check the elbow joint under the pumphouse where the pipe turns toward the house, and then every 10 feet after that.
So after digging 5 and a half feet down to find the elbow, I open the valve up.
It was a gusher. But at least it was in the first hole I dug. Shut the valve off again and the water drains right back out of the bottom of the hole. And you can see that the 3 sides of the hole that aren't being directly sprayed by the leak aren't even wet. I was expecting a pool from the constant leak.
Now after seeing how dry the 5 feet of sand was, I understand why my white clover gets crispy after a week without rain. Kind of amazed my fruit and nut trees are doing as well as they are.
Popped a replacement elbow in there and it's good as new.
Early June I was walking past the pumphouse, which contains our above ground pump for the sand point well and our holding tank, when I heard the well pump kick on for no reason. I was the only one home and wasn't using any water. Checked back about 15 minutes later and the tank had lost a couple pounds of pressure. Kept an eye on things and discovered the tank was draining, and the pump would kick on about every 3 hours, without any water being used.
So I climbed into the crawlspace and checked all the pipes under the house. No leaks to be found. Closed the valve in the pumphouse, and the pressure in my holding tank remained steady. So the leak was somewhere along the 40 yard stretch between the pumphouse and the house. Added this fix to my list of things to take care of 'eventually'.
Walking past the pumphouse last Thursday and hear the pump kick on, so open the door to take a look. As soon as I open the door I can feel it's warmer in the pumphouse than the 70 degree outside temp. Put my hand on the pump and it's very warm. Watch the pressure gauge when the pump shuts off and I can see it visibly dropping. Takes about 3 mintues before the pump has to kick back on.
So early Monday morning I began digging. I read that the leak would most likely be at a joint in the pipe. So the plan was to check the elbow joint under the pumphouse where the pipe turns toward the house, and then every 10 feet after that.
So after digging 5 and a half feet down to find the elbow, I open the valve up.
It was a gusher. But at least it was in the first hole I dug. Shut the valve off again and the water drains right back out of the bottom of the hole. And you can see that the 3 sides of the hole that aren't being directly sprayed by the leak aren't even wet. I was expecting a pool from the constant leak.
Now after seeing how dry the 5 feet of sand was, I understand why my white clover gets crispy after a week without rain. Kind of amazed my fruit and nut trees are doing as well as they are.
Popped a replacement elbow in there and it's good as new.
