Can we restore an old water basin?
RenovationLandscape
More Information
%20--%3e%3csvg%20version='1.1'%20id='Layer_1'%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20x='0px'%20y='0px'%20viewBox='0%200%2064%2063'%20style='enable-background:new%200%200%2064%2063;'%20xml:space='preserve'%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e%20.st0{fill:%23231F20;}%20%3c/style%3e%3cdesc%3eCreated%20with%20Sketch.%3c/desc%3e%3cg%20id='Page-1'%3e%3cg%20id='OA-Logo-Black-Background'%3e%3cpath%20id='Shape'%20class='st0'%20d='M14.1,30.1c-1.5-0.8-8.6-3.8-14.1-7.8c1.8-3.4,3.1-5.6,5-9.1c2.7,1.1,1.9,0.5,4.6,1.7%20c0.8,0.4,10.1,4.5,13.8,6.2c2.4,1.1,4.7,2.2,7,3.3L43,30.5l8.1,3.9c4,2,7.2,3.5,11.3,5.5c0.5,0.3-3.7,9.4-3.7,9.4%20c-1.7-0.6-3.9-1.8-5.5-2.5c-4.7-2.1-9-3.9-13.7-6c-4-1.8-6.7-2.9-10.8-4.5C25,34.9,17.1,31.6,14.1,30.1z'/%3e%3cpath%20id='Shape_1_'%20class='st0'%20d='M12.1,54.9c-0.8,0.6-1.6,1.2-2.5,1.6c-0.4-0.5-0.9-1-1.3-1.5c-0.3-1.2-2.3-4.9-2.7-6.2%20c-0.1-0.4-0.7-2.2-0.8-2.6c0,0,5-3.4,8.2-5.9c3.2-2.6,6.2-5,9.3-7.5c1.4-1.1,3.9-2.5,5.3-3.5c2.5-1.7,13-9.1,15.6-10.5%20c5.4-3.3,11.1-6.3,16.8-9c1.7,3.5,1.8,3,3.8,6.9c0,0-17.8,13.5-22.7,17.1c-3.8,2.8-7.5,5.7-11.3,8.5c-1.7,1.3-3.5,2.4-5.2,3.7'/%3e%3cpath%20id='Shape_2_'%20class='st0'%20d='M20.8,2.9l-0.2-0.8C25,0,31.2-0.3,31.4,0.2c0.4,1.1,0.9,2.2,1.2,3.4c1.4,4.4,2.7,8.7,4,13.1%20c0.4,1.4,2.8,10,2.9,10.5c0.5,2.8,1.2,5.6,1.6,8.4c0.8,4.7,1.4,8.6,2.3,13.3c0.6,3.1,1.3,6.3,2.3,11.3c0,0-5.8,1.4-7.5,1.8%20c-0.8,0.2-1.5,0.4-2.4,0.6c-0.3-1.1-0.2-1.2-0.5-2.1c-0.9-3.7-1.8-7.3-2.6-11c-1.5-6.4-3-12.9-4.4-19.3%20c-1.2-5.4-2.6-10.7-4.4-15.9c-1-3.1-1.8-6.3-2.7-9.5C21.1,3.8,21,3.8,20.8,2.9z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)
1
What it looks like
As you can see very overgrown around the basin and inside a lot of most, mud and plants growing. The basin itself is in a worn out condition, but it also seems to be build somewhat rough. There are also some random pieces of textile around the basin, perhaps used for washing?
2
The location of the basin on the land
On the image you can see the map with a few key elements there.
1. Basekamp
2. The Road.
3. The well we use
4. The Water Basin
5. Middle land
As you can see the basin is very close to our well, which makes is think that either it serves as an overflow from our well, or it’s a spring right next to it from the same aquifer. Hopefully we find out later.
It's also in a pretty nice location close to middle land, so if we can manage to make it work it will be a great addition.
Let's see
3
Clearing it
Time to clean the area around to so we can see a bit more. Chop all the bushes and cut the Mimosa trees that are growing next to it and cracking the wall. Always fun to discover and explore whats underneath all those spikey bushes.
Now we can give it a better inspection
4
Finding (random) pipes
It seems the basin had some pipes and utilities to it as we found traces of old burned plastic pipes. It has three.
One on the top, probably the overflow
Second is on the bottom, probably to empty it
Third is a plastic tube, also on the bottom going...
The first two are logical, number 3 no idea. I guess to transport water to another point in the land?
All pipes are rusty, melted or worn out and need replacement.
I started to hammer them out so the water flows out and we can clean the basin
5
Take the dirt out
Next taking out all the mud to see how deep it is and see what is on the bottom + have a good look at the condition of the wall. Cleaning was quiet a process with a lot of mud coming out. Also found a few old tools on the way.
We also put all updates until now in a video, watch here:
https://youtu.be/nkVxieZHluo
6
Cleaning the walls for repair
The wall contains a lot of moss. It looks pretty nice. But if we want to make proper repairs we need to remove this. Plus hopefully the water level goes up which would mean its all underwater. So we got a pressure washer to clean the walls, quite a satisfying process to do! We cleaned it until the height of the overflow, the potential max water level.
Now we can repair whats needed and the moss above the water can stay
7
Repairing the holes before winter 🌧️
After cleaning it we can have a good look at the walls. There are quite a few big holes in there that needs fixing and some big cracks. The goal would be to fix them very basic up and see if the basin even functions. If it holds water and whether the spring gives enough to get a decent water level.
Once we can confirm this (probably after winter) we will do a proper renovation.
For now we need to fix the holes before winter rain comes!
Does anyone has suggestions on how to give this a quick fix to see if the basin is working and worth fixing properly?
What material and technique would be suited?
Just patch them up with cement?
8
Patched the holes
Thanks for the comments on the previous update. The basin is now patched up with cement, if everything holds well we might add a coating. Also installed a 2 inch stainless steel pipe as the overflow on top and on the bottom to empty the basic. The pipe has a thread at the end to attach either a valve or a cap to close it. On the pipe we welded a piece of steel to prevent it move around once its cemented in the wall. Plus fixed the edges on the bottom that where all cracked by repairing the little edge that was originally there on the bottom.
Now ready to wait for winter rain! 🤞
9
Update after winter rain
We got a good amount of rain this winter and the spring that fills up the basin is flowing much more than before. We have enough water flowing to fill it up, which is great news. However unfortunately the basin didn’t fill up until the top. The overflow is about 80CM high and the current water level is around 40M. Meaning it filled up about half. There is a leak on the bottom with a significant flow of water coming out. It’s hard to tell where it exactly leaks from, it doesn’t seems a clear hole or crack, in fact it seems to leak through the bottom surface that isn’t covered or coated with anything.
Not sure what to do next, I see two options.
1. Put a coating on all surfaces to make it really watertight
2. Rebuild the entire thing properly.
Let me know if you have other ideas or suggestions
10
Better test for water level
With the test above I was hoping to find how high the water level reaches in winter. However the water leaked out which means we never saw how high the water reached. Currently its summer and the water level is at its lowest. I've added a little improvised wall to stop the water from flowing into the basin. The metal sheets is from the original pig trailer :)
When winter rain comes the springs start flowing again, the wall stops it and the water level rises until its max.
Hopefully this gives us a better understanding of the water levels in the basin to better estimate if its worth to renovate it.
11
Enough Waterflow!
After a good amount of winter rain the spring got very active. The wall I made is leaking on all sides but the water still managed to rise up a lot! The water height will make it flow all the way to the top in the front part of the basin. Great news. As its means we can have a functioning water basin. Next step. (wait for summer) Renovate the basin!
%20--%3e%3csvg%20version='1.1'%20id='Layer_1'%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20x='0px'%20y='0px'%20viewBox='0%200%2064%2063'%20style='enable-background:new%200%200%2064%2063;'%20xml:space='preserve'%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e%20.st0{fill:%2320B7EB;}%20.st1{fill:%23E9475A;}%20.st2{fill:%23FECE4E;}%20%3c/style%3e%3cdesc%3eCreated%20with%20Sketch.%3c/desc%3e%3cg%20id='Page-1'%3e%3cg%20id='OA-Logo-Black-Background'%3e%3cpath%20id='Shape'%20class='st0'%20d='M14.1,30.1c-1.5-0.8-8.6-3.8-14.1-7.8c1.8-3.4,3.1-5.6,5-9.1c2.7,1.1,1.9,0.5,4.6,1.7%20c0.8,0.4,10.1,4.5,13.8,6.2c2.4,1.1,4.7,2.2,7,3.3L43,30.5l8.1,3.9c4,2,7.2,3.5,11.3,5.5c0.5,0.3-3.7,9.4-3.7,9.4%20c-1.7-0.6-3.9-1.8-5.5-2.5c-4.7-2.1-9-3.9-13.7-6c-4-1.8-6.7-2.9-10.8-4.5C25,34.9,17.1,31.6,14.1,30.1z'/%3e%3cpath%20id='Shape_1_'%20class='st1'%20d='M12.1,54.9c-0.8,0.6-1.6,1.2-2.5,1.6c-0.4-0.5-0.9-1-1.3-1.5c-0.3-1.2-2.3-4.9-2.7-6.2%20c-0.1-0.4-0.7-2.2-0.8-2.6c0,0,5-3.4,8.2-5.9c3.2-2.6,6.2-5,9.3-7.5c1.4-1.1,3.9-2.5,5.3-3.5c2.5-1.7,13-9.1,15.6-10.5%20c5.4-3.3,11.1-6.3,16.8-9c1.7,3.5,1.8,3,3.8,6.9c0,0-17.8,13.5-22.7,17.1c-3.8,2.8-7.5,5.7-11.3,8.5c-1.7,1.3-3.5,2.4-5.2,3.7'/%3e%3cpath%20id='Shape_2_'%20class='st2'%20d='M20.8,2.9l-0.2-0.8C25,0,31.2-0.3,31.4,0.2c0.4,1.1,0.9,2.2,1.2,3.4c1.4,4.4,2.7,8.7,4,13.1%20c0.4,1.4,2.8,10,2.9,10.5c0.5,2.8,1.2,5.6,1.6,8.4c0.8,4.7,1.4,8.6,2.3,13.3c0.6,3.1,1.3,6.3,2.3,11.3c0,0-5.8,1.4-7.5,1.8%20c-0.8,0.2-1.5,0.4-2.4,0.6c-0.3-1.1-0.2-1.2-0.5-2.1c-0.9-3.7-1.8-7.3-2.6-11c-1.5-6.4-3-12.9-4.4-19.3%20c-1.2-5.4-2.6-10.7-4.4-15.9c-1-3.1-1.8-6.3-2.7-9.5C21.1,3.8,21,3.8,20.8,2.9z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)