My flat has a patio that is associated with it, that has a surface area of a trucks container (seriously). This is very nice in the summer, but not really in the winter. The problem is that is below street level. And it doesn't have a pump.
After four months of seeing the water slowly creep up the walls I decided that it was finally time to do something about it. Doing something about it involved a bucket and a rope, and a lot of heavy lifting.
Now I realize that I could have gained mechanical advantage with a complex pulley system, but really I just wanted to get the water out.
Water is surprisingly heavy. I mean, when its in a glass in a more beer-y form I have no problem lifting 8-10 pints, but when those 8-10 pints are in one bucket and you have to lift 400,000 it gets pretty depressing pretty quickly.
Oh, that was the other problem. It was cold outside. Really, really cold. We got the water level down to about half an inch and then the bucket broke. It basically got too cold and became brittle and cracked. This means I have more to do tonight.
On second thoughts, maybe I should have used a complex pulley system.
On the good side we put up our Christmas tree and it looks lovely.
Re:Buckets
james on 2001-12-10T15:40:59
It was a plastic bucket. Maybe a metal bucket, but they tend to feel colder when wet.
A siphon only requires a long enough tube and bit of, erm, sucking to get the vacuum going. Fast, easy and nothing to break. Ask at the hardware store for a length of PVC tubing [ should be reasonably cheap ] and they may even carry a little sucker thing that is specifically made for creating a vacuum.
Re:What about a siphon?
james on 2001-12-10T15:41:34
I thought about this, but doesn't a siphon require that you are below the level of fluid?Re:What about a siphon?
hfb on 2001-12-10T15:48:35
It doesn't matter where you are but if the other end of the tube is as low as the room or lower, even with the uphill part, it'll work. Look around for a drain pipe or something that you might even this out with. I did this with a house I had in the midwest and had to go an extra 20 feet to do it but damn it sure beat using a bucket
:) Think "What would McGuyver do at a time like this?" .... Re:What about a siphon?
james on 2001-12-10T17:26:14
I knew my swiss army bucket would come in handy:-)
I'll have a look for low ground, but I think this may require a 20 mile tube leading to the Thames. The problem is:
___ streetlevel
| |o| <- approximate level of street drains
|
___| <- waterlevel
|_| <- place for sump pump (which is probably a good idea at this point)
(render the above in Times for looking roughly correct)
But thanks for the info. I'll have a look to see if there is a convenient drainage location...
Water is roughly 62 pounds per cubic foot.
