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I would appreciate opinions about a strange / weird problem I am having.
I have a pressure regulator in my city water supply line that was installed 9 years ago. The regulator is located in an in-ground pit about 100 feet from the house and is about 10 feet from a separate pit that contains the city water meter. My problem is not with the regulator which has worked fine for the past 9 years, but with the pit containing the regulator.
The pit consists of a thick wall plastic cylinder 30 inches in diameter and 3 feet long, open at both ends, buried in the ground with 4 inches of the cylinder above ground. There is a plastic cover. The regulator is approximately 3 feet below ground level and about 4 inches below the bottom of the cylinder.
A few weeks ago, I removed the cover from the pit in order to inspect the regulator just to make sure there were no leaks. To my surprise, the regulator was totally covered by soil. I removed the soil until the regulator and piping was visible. A few weeks later, inspection revealed the regulator was again being covered with soil. I do not know why this is happening.
I am now using 8 inch wide aluminum flashing in an attempt to stop the soil migration. Remains to be seen if this will work.
(1) I placed the flashing at the bottom of the cylinder to essentially extend the depth of the cylinder. This creates a "dam" at the bottom of the cylinder to an attempt to stop soil migration from the sides of the pit.
(2) I placed overlapping pieces of aluminum flashing under the regulator and piping, then placed 8 pounds of rocks on the flashing to hold down the flashing in an attempt to stop soil migration from the bottom of the pit.
So -- why after 9 years is soil suddenly migrating into the pit? Is there another solution to this problem?
I have a pressure regulator in my city water supply line that was installed 9 years ago. The regulator is located in an in-ground pit about 100 feet from the house and is about 10 feet from a separate pit that contains the city water meter. My problem is not with the regulator which has worked fine for the past 9 years, but with the pit containing the regulator.
The pit consists of a thick wall plastic cylinder 30 inches in diameter and 3 feet long, open at both ends, buried in the ground with 4 inches of the cylinder above ground. There is a plastic cover. The regulator is approximately 3 feet below ground level and about 4 inches below the bottom of the cylinder.
A few weeks ago, I removed the cover from the pit in order to inspect the regulator just to make sure there were no leaks. To my surprise, the regulator was totally covered by soil. I removed the soil until the regulator and piping was visible. A few weeks later, inspection revealed the regulator was again being covered with soil. I do not know why this is happening.
I am now using 8 inch wide aluminum flashing in an attempt to stop the soil migration. Remains to be seen if this will work.
(1) I placed the flashing at the bottom of the cylinder to essentially extend the depth of the cylinder. This creates a "dam" at the bottom of the cylinder to an attempt to stop soil migration from the sides of the pit.
(2) I placed overlapping pieces of aluminum flashing under the regulator and piping, then placed 8 pounds of rocks on the flashing to hold down the flashing in an attempt to stop soil migration from the bottom of the pit.
So -- why after 9 years is soil suddenly migrating into the pit? Is there another solution to this problem?