A Tank Story

Kiwi Phil

Commander
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,182
I have been having a major problem with one of my crops for the past 10 weeks - disease. We couldn't work out what was wrong.<br />My wife came in and said there was water running in to the big tank (25,000Litre).<br />After investigation I found it was getting dam water in it. It should only have town water in it. The dam water is rotten. <br />Won't go in to the details except to say one of my gate valves malfunctioned. <br />The tank is full of rotten smelly water. So I drain it. Then I find there is about 1" of black sludge on the bottom. The outlet hole is 4" up the wall. Make a narrow ladder 8' long. Drop it in the tank and climb down. Made a funnel contraption so I can bucket the water out. It is 80 degrees outside and at least 110 inside. The wife kept an eye on me by climbing up the outside ladder and peeking in.<br />I showed her the joke last week about the chap tying his misses up then going out to watch footy on TV. The wife says " arn't you lucky you never tied me up and went and watched the footy on TV" :D swinging the hatch gently back and forth.<br /><br />After 3 plus hours I was finished and absolutely knackered. I actually had difficulty climbing the ladder and when I got my head out, I stayed like that for a while just to cool down, then when I could get out, I just sat on the top of the tank for a good 10 minutes just to get the body temp down. It was a tough job.<br />I knew my body temp was rising, I could feel it.<br /><br />At 4 am this morning at the market, I told my mad mate Chris. <br />He replied, 'That's nothing. I bought a 223 rifle off the neighbour. My wife wouldn't let me use it. She went away to her mothers for 3 days, so out came the rifle. I looked around the yard to see what I could shoot at, and there was the rooster. I'd been trying to catch him for years, and wring his neck. Anyway i shot him, and went down to pick up the bits when I heard water running. Went around the shed and there was water pouring out of the house tank. Bullet had gone through the shed and in to the tank. Raced up to the house and got a patch. Stripped down and jumped in the tank. Ducked dived down and after a while got the patch to fit. Then when I came to get out, I could just get my fingers over the lip of the hole, and couldn't get up enough strength to pull my self up. Dog paddled around for a long time and tried again and again. The neighbours are miles away, and had visions of drowning. After a long time and many atempts finally mananged to pull myself up through the hole, but so exhausted, spent a long time with arms and chest out and hips and legs dangling inside. <br />He reckons he is never doing that again.<br />So there you go. Nothing more stupid than 2 mad okkers. :eek: <br />Cheers<br />Phillip
 

Boomyal

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
Messages
12,072
Re: A Tank Story

Glad you had the Mrs. watching over you Phillip. Do you think the 'dam' water was responsible for your crop problems?? and what was the black sludge?<br /><br />I think your mate ought to grab hold of a good redneck Yankee wife. Someone with evil guns in her blood. :p
 

Kiwi Phil

Commander
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
2,182
Re: A Tank Story

I am hoping the problem was the water. <br />We have a real serious drought here and the dam has not been over 25% full for probably last 5 yrs. <br />I have had to let the duck weed grow over it to stop evaporation. Holds 3 million litres max. <br />I use the water for the potted colour plants. They are grown on waterproof benches. I flood the water in one end and collect it at the other and pipe it back to the dam (called recirculating flood and drain). <br />This way they get irrigated by water passing around the bottom of the pots - called transpiration. The only water I loose is what the plant takes up. So water goes around and around.<br />These plants survive OK, just: in the winter when temp is below 21 C everything is fine, but just get by in summer. Ph runs up to around 8 or 9 which is not good but not controlable.<br />The dam is 25 metres square, a Turkey Nest shape.<br />When the rains come, water enters from the Nth side. The overflow/spillway is on the Sth. I block the overflow with sheets of iron and let dam fill to the brink, then remove the iron. That lets over 600cu meters out, and takes rubbish with it. Like to do that at least twice a yr. I call it flushing. Been sucessful in the past.<br />Havn't been able to do it for 5 yrs now, so the water is very black with sediment which rots and stinks. As the dam is low and the pump I use pulls 750 litres a minute, the intake is not far from the bottom so sucks up sludge, which goes through the flood and drain beds and back to the dam - so always stirred up.<br />The other product I grow is Herbs in hydroponic channel with clean town water, which goes through proportional dosing pumps to get fertilised.<br />In summer I can grow Basil so big I can't fit it between the shelves in the truck to deliver. Big, bright green and bushy. This year it gets to 2" tall and starts dying.<br />Up until noticing the mess in the tank, we had tried every thing, in fact I have just about complete a seperate system of channels (150 lengths of 12m channel)to run seperately just for the basil.<br />So I am hoping that I may have solved the current problem.<br />As for the mate. Will see him next sunday and suggest he trade her in for a good redneck woman.<br />He'll just love that suggestion :D <br /><br />Catch you later.<br />cheers<br />Phillip
 
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