Pond Syphoned In To Mains.

stuart45

Came home from work today and my wife told me the fishpond is leaking. She was topping it up with the hose and after about 30 mins she thought it looked like there was less water in it. Then she noticed that the tap wasn't working. The cold tap in the kitchen wasn't either although the hot one was, and all the taps in the bathroom were working. All were working again when I got home.
I started to think that the Water Company might have done some work on the mains down in the village and as our tap is an old one without a non return valve it might have syphoned the pond water back into the system.
Does this sound like a possibility? I let the kitchen tap run for a while and it looked OK. No fish came out.

mikeswoods

Actually ,I think you hit the nail on the head,

Just to be safe it would be wise to flush all your pipes for a while-Especially the outside hose bib,just run the water until you don't see any more fish.
-----------------MIKE----------------------------------------------

Frank P

Look up Chicago Worlds Fair 1933. 2000 cases of dysentery and about 100 dead. Water back siphoned into to potable drinking water system from the animal cages. A hose was left on in a pen and a drop in pressure caused the contamination. Sound familiar? Dont drink the water for awhile. I suggest Tequila.

stuart45

Thanks for the replies Frank P and mikeswoods. I looked up 1933 Chicago and it does look a bit worrying. 100 would just about wipe out our village.
Time to stock up on the limes and salt I reckon, and let Her Indoors test the water out first

Aframe

Joking aside, tell the water Company about it. they may want to test or flush the system.

stuart45

Rang the water company this morning and they are going to sort it. Going to put a new tap with non return valve on tonight as well to be safe. Cheers.

thom

A fire truck can cause the same negative pressure.

Fire trucks have large pumps that actually suck the water out of the fire hydrants. Any open valve in the neighborhood will allow air, or water in the case of a hose left in the pond, to be sucked back into the system.