When a willow tree suddenly pops up in mid-summer in the dry foothills of central California, you know you’re in trouble, plumbing-wise. They love water, and in this case the tree was the first clue that one of the reasons we ran out of water so early, so often, was that another leak had been born. We drove by this place many times. It is uphill from the road, and the terrain lays at an angle that you don’t notice the soil darkening from moisture. But you certainly notice young willow trees!It turns out the old ball valve made of plastic (big mistake) had finally swollen under pressure enough to weep, then finally gush. I had a nice new bronze and stainless steel valve lying around, part of the defensive posture one develops when living miles and hours away from the real world. The leaking water had made the otherwise adobe-like soil very easy to dig, the bad valve was quite close to the surface due to the terrain, and the fix only took a little leakage of blood.
Now I have to devise a “vault” to enclose the new valve and allow access to it. The old vault is now too small, due to the different construction of the plastic valve. I don’t want to buy one of the commercial ones, since the last one finally broke under the weight of grazing horses kicking and stomping its lid. A large pile of big rocks usually deters horses, but doesn’t make it too easy to get to a valve in a hurry. Maybe I’ll just park the road grader on top of the valve and hope I can start it when I need to. Or just hope I never have to close the valve.
4 comments:
Colin was working on the unfinished plumbing beside the new shed yesterday. No willow trees but adobe hard ground was am issue. It hasn't rained here in awhile again and the soil seems to be pretty much made of clay in these parts so he water sits on top of the ground when it DOES rain, which makes drainage pretty important...
I like ball valves but not gate valves. Gate valves only work when they are brand new. Later, when you need them to shut off the water, they never work. I don't know why they even sell the things.
The ball valve I last used had a shiny chrome-looking ball. But it turns in a nylon bushing. I hope the nylon lasts.
Susan: Pete S. is right about gate valves. Tell Colin for sure. As Pete says, gate valves close only when they're new and then they never close again, no matter how much money you pay for them. In my experience, the bigger ones are a teensy bit better, but they cost an arm and a leg. I'm talking 4" and 6". You don't even want to try to lift a 6-incher.
Wow. You're the only guy I know that uses Texas-sized plumbing (4- and 6-inch). Are you sure you live in California?
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