Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 22, 2013 11:03 am Ever since a cash in hand sub-contractor took his dingo up the side of my house to cut out some clay out of the landscape before pouring a cement slab, my rain water tanks don't fill up. Although I cannot see any signs of water damage, the slab next to my water tank appears to have dropped by 10mm, ( possibly under slab water damage ) As I have no record or proof that the sub-contractor ever worked at my premises, I have no legal course. I am predicting that part of the slab on the side of the house will need to be cut out and some digging will need to commence at my cost, but what I was hoping was that someone could recommend an excellent plumber who has tools for this type of problem and who has fixed something like this in the past. Excellent advice would be appreciated. Murray. Re: No Water in Rain Tank 2Jan 22, 2013 11:51 am Can you please take a photo of what we are dealing with. Is it a wet system or dry. Have you had enough rain. I had the same issue with mine untill I realised I needed a fair bit of water to charge up the wet system before water will go into the tanks. Re: No Water in Rain Tank 3Jan 22, 2013 3:31 pm Nowhere near enough information plus you should have posted in Eco Living. If you live in an area where rain has been scarce over the last few months and given that the slab has dropped 10 mm, you could have sub soil subsidence. If you also have a wet system (it sounds like you have) and if the installer used unsuitable 90 mm stormwater pipe as most cowboys do, ground movement might have ruptured the wet pipe. This pipe can have walls as thin as 1.35 mm and even the most common is only 1.9 mm thick. Then again, maybe it just hasn't rained enough to replenish what water you have been using. You haven't even posted the tank's capacity! 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: No Water in Rain Tank 4Jan 23, 2013 7:21 am I am unsure of whether it is a wet or dry system, but like all new homes the roof gutters are connected to the rain water tank. Even if it rains a little bit the water has nowhere else to go, but in the tank, so if the outlet pipe is dry, where is the water going? My original question was, does anyone know an excellent plumber? Re: No Water in Rain Tank 5Jan 23, 2013 9:37 am Sorry I wasnt able to answer your orginal question. Only trying to help as you are probably opening yourself up for a plumber to take advantage of you. Any good plumber is only going to ask the same questions and raise the same concerns we have brought up here. To be honest with you its not a good plumber you need here but rather a good investgiator. As there may be a chance there is no problem at all. Most plumbers may not have the patients to try and work this out. They will simply just put a camera down the pipe and maybe thats all you need and still charge you for that work. Re: No Water in Rain Tank 6Jan 23, 2013 12:20 pm Murray Douch My original question was, does anyone know an excellent plumber? Hi Murray, People post replies to try and help people like yourself who are seeking guidance but you need to provide the information that is needed in order to give an appropiate answer. For anyone to recommend a plumber, they need to know the area where you live! I endorse the comments made by B STAR above. Most of the rainwater tank installations I see are sub standard and getting a plumber to have a 'look' will cost you an arm and a leg and most of them lack knowledge in this field anyway. You are much better off doing your own 'investigating' with the proper guidance. If I was legally able to do so, I would love to post photos taken from plumber's websites that show examples of their work and add comments detailing why the installations shown are sub standard. WET SYSTEM: Your concern regarding the soil being disturbed indicates that you have an underground infeed pipe. This is called a wet or charged system as the pipe and downpipes remain full of water to the level of the water in the vertical riser. The vast majority of wet systems feed to a tank's top meshed inlet via a vertical riser that transfers the water from an underground pipe to the inlet. Provided the low water level is not caused by a lack of rain, you could have a cracked underground pipe or the pipe could even be blocked. If no water at all is getting to the tank and IF you have a wet system, the latter is the most likely scenario. Wet systems should have leaf diverters fitted to the harvested downpipes to prevent larger debris from entering the underground pipe(s) and to also prevent mosquitoes breeding but this is not compulsory in many areas. Even when fitted with leaf diverters, wet systems fitted with vertical risers can still block. You should also carefully dig down and determine what type of pipe is buried. It would also be handy if you posted as to whether you are on reactive soil. The use of 90 mm stormwater pipe is always a worry. I read a document a couple of years ago that stated that 90 mm stormwater pipe should never be buried or subjected to pressure. This conflicts with the standards but I have tried to find the reference since than and have been unsuccessful. The pipe is made in different wall thicknesses and you can buy 90 mm stormwater pipe in wall thicknesses that range from 2.5 mm to 1.35 mm. Most pipe used is 1.9 mm. It is possible that what I read referred to a very thinned walled pipe but if you do have a 90 mm wet system and if you are on reactive soil and if you have had a dry period, then you might have a leaking pipe or join/fitting caused by soil movement as indicated in your first post. Many standards are poorly written and the subject of 90 mm stormwater pipe use, particularly in reactive soils, needs an urgent overhaul. DRY SYSTEM: This is when the pipe from the gutter is diverted directly to the tank's top meshed inlet. When it stops raining, the pipe drains and will DRY. If you have a dry system, then leakage could be caused by several things but again I have to guess given the lack of information. Does the pump supply a toilet? If so, check the cistern valve float level to make sure that the cistern is not overflowing. The connections between the tanks and all outlets will also need to be checked and also make sure that the pump has not been hard fitted. Flexible couplings must always be used and are required by the standards. How many downpipes are harvested and do you know the roof areas(s) harvested (plan area)? My guess is that the low water level is probably caused by low rainfall but again, not enough information. It would be a costly exercise to get a plumber if the lack of water is caused by an insufficient roof harvest area during a dry period. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Can a plumber put a tap on a rain water tank which is full? Tank is similar to one in photo. Cheers. 0 1668 18 90495 From what I know about water tanks (I've been working with a client on them for a few years now) is this - The concrete can last a lifetime if they don't crack for some… 2 10636 |