Just before I put the new cistern in service last fall the old cistern went dry. Up the hill there was a shutoff sticking out of the ground about 15 feet from the spring box, I dug the shutoff up, and removed it from the pipe coming from the spring box. Still no water, so I rodded out the last 15 feet of pipe and once water was running I hooked new 1.25" poly pipe to it.
Thursday there was no water in the new cistern, so that evening I potholed a damp spot at the base of the spring box. It was pretty muddy, but I could feel a break in the pipe. Today was my first free day since Thursday evening so I rounded up the pick and shovel and trenched a runoff channel to get rid of the water in the pothole and dug up the last 15 feet of old pipe.
While digging, almost every swing of the pick stuck in a beer can. I uncovered a plastic tube that had contained putty, and when I had enough of a hole to see the damaged area, I found two pieces of 1" galvanized pipe lined up and wrapped in putty. There was no union, coupler or even a hose clamp used to join the pipes. The guy who did this must have been one heck of a plumber to have drank that much beer and made a putty repair that lasted at least 13 years.
Thursday there was no water in the new cistern, so that evening I potholed a damp spot at the base of the spring box. It was pretty muddy, but I could feel a break in the pipe. Today was my first free day since Thursday evening so I rounded up the pick and shovel and trenched a runoff channel to get rid of the water in the pothole and dug up the last 15 feet of old pipe.
While digging, almost every swing of the pick stuck in a beer can. I uncovered a plastic tube that had contained putty, and when I had enough of a hole to see the damaged area, I found two pieces of 1" galvanized pipe lined up and wrapped in putty. There was no union, coupler or even a hose clamp used to join the pipes. The guy who did this must have been one heck of a plumber to have drank that much beer and made a putty repair that lasted at least 13 years.
