Filed under: Emergency Repairs
So, over the course of the last year (since June of ’07, to be exact), there has been a tall stand of grass in the front yard. Because it was the only green thing in the yard at that point, I didn’t question it much, until April of ’08.
I figured up to that point that it was simply the trees creating a de facto septic system out of my sewer line. This was a reasonable assumption at the time – the trees have been assaulting the sewer line for some time (as evidenced by my predilection for calling the plumber to clear the tree branches out of those lines). As my water bill kept going higher and higher, though, it became obvious what was really happening.
So, I dug down, and found a 1″ galvanized pipe leaking like a sieve when the water was turned on. Initially, I tried cutting out the leaky section and putting a PVC compression fitting on, but this proved ultimately futile. Cutting the section simply shook more rust out of holes farther up the pipe.
So, I rented a trencher.
Making the assumption that the 1″ pipe was the main house feed turned out to be something of a poor one. It actually turns out that the 1″ pipe fed my sprinklers, branching down near the water meter (with no anti-siphon or drainback valve of any sort, of course) from the 1/2″ line that fed the rest of the house.
That’s right, the entire house was fed by a 1/2″ galvanized line.
It’s bypassed now, in favor of a 1″ PVC line running next to where the galvanized line used to be (barely within code of entering the house 1 foot away from the sewer line’s egress. Of course, this had the unexpected side effect of hosing my sprinklers. As a result my economic stimulus package went to stimulating Ewing Irrigation.
My son enjoyed “helping” me over the course of the whole 3 day ordeal.
