Roselea

Author: Shaun

  • Rain Stops Work on Repair of Module Number 3

    It has been raining quite heavily all day so far and it is not nice out there. Our half completed repair work on Module Number 3 is sitting there gaining water in the bottom of the open tank! We have about an inch of water so far and we will have to put on our wellie boots to continue with the work!!

    Module-3-Repairs-Rain-Stops-Work

    Module-3-Repairs-Rain-Stops-Work

    But we can report that the major problem of flooding from the workshop and also off the Loke has seems to be markedly reduced due to our attempts in building barriers etc. Thank Goodness!! Also because we have dug away large trenches of sand and soil from behind the insulation panels, there is plenty of room for the rain water to absorb into the ground before reaching our module – Phew!

  • Module Number 3 Repair – Day 2

     We continued with our repair of the Energy Module Number 3. We have managed to rescue the remaining crates, the rubber membrane and the geotextile fabric

    Module-3-Repairs-Crates-and-Rubber-removed

    Module-3-Repairs-Crates-and-Rubber-removed

    The we lifted the insulation panels to reveal the extent of the silt build up underneath the whole module

    Module-3-Repairs-Inflows-of-Silt-and-Sand-1

    Module-3-Repairs-Inflows-of-Silt-and-Sand-1

    Module-3-Repairs-Inflows-of-Silt-and-Sand-3

    Module-3-Repairs-Inflows-of-Silt-and-Sand-3


    We put down our guide rails and put in some fresh sand to mix with the dark silt material and scrape it flat and level again.

    Then we put back that half end of the bottom insulation layer, and uncovered the other end

    Again, we put our guide rails in and scraped that end flat and level

    Module-3-Repairs-Bottom-of-hole-releveled

    Module-3-Repairs-Bottom-of-hole-releveled

    Then put back all the insulation boards, plus also put back the side insulation panels too.

    Then we put back the geotextile fabric and carefully got the rubber membrane back down too. Working at one end first, we put back some of the Aquacell crates, joined them back together again, making sure we got the right ones positioned so that our conduits for the temperature and water filling pipes can be fitted back in again. Then, we did the same at the other end and finally started putting the final 3 plastic crates along one edge to see if it all fitted again.

    But Oh No! It doesn’t! There is a shortfall of about 10mm, yes just 1cm or a finger width, where we cannot fit the final crate into place! Upon examining the two ends, it looks like that the end nearest the swimming lane has ever so slightly moved inwards a fraction which we guess must have occurred during the flood and when the whole module rose up!!

    Module-3-Repairs-End-of-Day-2-1

    Module-3-Repairs-End-of-Day-2-1

    Module-3-Repairs-End-of-Day-2-3

    Module-3-Repairs-End-of-Day-2-3


    Tomorrow, we will make adjustments down at that end and make the end insulation wall move outwards by that 10mm amount and then all will be well! We Hope!!

     

  • Module Number 3 Repair – Day 1

    Today, we started the chore of digging  out the Energy Module Number 3 to reset it back down into the ground at the correct flat level again (after the flood we had 10 days ago, that lifted it up 6inches!!).

    We scraped the dirt off the lid.

    Module-3-Repairs-Exposing-the-Tank-1

    Module-3-Repairs-Exposing-the-Tank-1

    Module-3-Repairs-Exposing-the-Tank-3

    Module-3-Repairs-Exposing-the-Tank-3


    The removed the insulation from the lid.

    Module-3-Repairs-The-top-of-the-Crates

    Module-3-Repairs-The-top-of-the-Crates

    Then Started dismantling the first layer of the Aquacell crates and then the second layer.

    Module-3-Repairs-Half-of-the-bottom-layer-removed

    Module-3-Repairs-Half-of-the-bottom-layer-removed

    Then the side walls slipped in!

    Module-3-Repairs-After-the-wall-collapsed

    Module-3-Repairs-After-the-wall-collapsed

    So we dug out the soil from around the outside perimeter of the remaining insulation panels using the mini-digger etc.

    Module-3-Repairs-End-of-Day-1-2

    Module-3-Repairs-End-of-Day-1-2

    Module-3-Repairs-End-of-Day-1-3

    Module-3-Repairs-End-of-Day-1-3


    Tomorrow, we will finish removing the last few plastic crates and rescue the rubber membrane. We can hope to keep the end walls standing up so we have the original distance already set but we will have to wait and see how they hold up.

  • Prevention Flood off Loke

     In damp weather, we tackled the next source of flooding, this time coming off the Loke as the rain water collects together off the surface of the loke and some of the neighbors driveways and runs down the Loke towards us. We are unfortunately at the lowest point down the slight hill so most of the rain water will head in our direction.

    Old-Edge-of-the-loke

    Old-Edge-of-the-loke

    The old fence at the moment is constructed using one of those builder’s plastic orange mesh on wooden posts, but we had two old railway sleepers lying around so we pulled them into service and used their long length and thickness as a good strong barrier against the gushing water!!

    These sleepers are about 9 inches wide by 5 inches thick and about 8½ feet long.

    We dug a slot along the edge of the grass verge, following a string taut and rolled the sleepers in, and packed in dirt around them so they are half buried.

    New-Edging-to-the-loke

    New-Edging-to-the-loke

    We might buy some more sleepers and carry along the Loke to make a neat edging, even though the railway sleepers are somewhat mangled and have holes in them, they do make a good straight edge and look a little “rustic”!

  • Flood Prevention Attempt Number 2!

     Today, we attempted to block off the rain water spillage coming from the workshop. See the little movie of the “river” gushing out of their workshop area (river starts at 12:24 and lasts for over half an hour!).

    Washed-out-section-1

    Washed-out-section-1

    Washed-out-section-2

    Washed-out-section-2


    As you can see what damage their water has caused!

    So we decided to mount a barrier of two 8 foot by 4 foot OSB boards, covered on one side with DPM plastic to waterproof it, and bury them both down 5 feet below the fence footings.

    We had to dig out a long narrow trench for the boards to sit in, it took a lot of digging by hand.

    Trench-dug-for-boards-e1466194453203

    Trench-dug-for-boards-e1466194453203

    We then inserted the boards and attached them to each other and the end of the swimming lane.

    Boards-in-place-1

    Boards-in-place-1

    Boards-in-place-2-e1466194032680

    Boards-in-place-2-e1466194032680


    Then we filled up all around both sides of the new barrier to make sure that there is a strong berm of soil to stop the water from flowing up hill and around the side of the new boards. The other end overlaps the end of the swimming lane’s back wall by a foot.

    All-filled-in-and-compacted

    All-filled-in-and-compacted

    We had to dig out quite a lot of soil from the mound nearby the area to fill in around the boards (replacing the soil washed away)

    Area-dug-out-to-fill-trench

    Area-dug-out-to-fill-trench

    Hopefully, that will prevent  the river from forming and etching away our soil again. it might pool up there in and under the workshop’s fence but it will be contained and not flow anywhere.

    One of the problems, is the fact that the workshop building doesn’t do anything with the rain water collected off their roof. It just goes down two gutter pipes and splashes straight out onto the ground!! These downpipes are right next to our fence!!

    Gutters-droping-water-on-the-boundary

    Gutters-droping-water-on-the-boundary

  • Cloud Burst Upon Us!

     We were driven in by a sudden rain shower! it was very heavy and we have already 8mm of rain in just the 20 minutes we had so far as I write this! Phew!

    Let’s hope that we don’t get another flood like Monday!

     

  • Number 4 All Done!

     This morning, we connected the conduit pipes and inspection tube down into the Number 4 Energy Module. Then we pushed in the remaining sand / soil from around the hole and covered it all up.

    Module-4-Finished

    Module-4-Finished

    Finally, we pegged out the red and white warning tape to enclose the area, to prevent accidental “driving” over the module!

  • Filled with Water and Holding So Far!

    We carried on with the task of filling our Energy Modules with water. Today, we finished filling Number 2 and started on filling Number 4 modules.
    The water in Number 1 module seems to be holding in, no leaks, thanks goodness!

    The facts so far:

    1. Bedroom 3: 2 m x 2.5 m (3700 liters) – 3500 liters filled – 700 mm deep and holding
    2. Bedroom 2: 3 m x 2.5 m (5550 liters)  – 4900 litres filled – 705 mm deep and awaiting results
    3. Kitchen / Bedroom 1: 6 m x 2 m (8900 l) – empty – repair is needed.
    4. Entertainment: 2 m x 1.5 m (2220 liters) – 1100 liters filled – 340 mm deep and awaiting results.
    5. Great Room: 9 m x 2,5 m (16,670 liters) – not yet constructed.

    The Module number 3 will have to be repaired as it was raised up by the flood we had from the rain water that got underneath the tank, and disturbed something somewhere so we will have to take it all apart again and reset things. We should have put in the water as soon as we finished constructing it last Saturday before the rain came on the Monday!! Oh well!!!

  • Number 4 Module Almost Finished!

     Today, we put on the insulation panels around the number 4 Energy Module. We inserted at least 300 mm thick of insulating boards, more like 350mm to 380mm thick!

    Module-4-and-lots-around-the-outside

    Module-4-and-lots-around-the-outside

    We did forget to drill down underneath the tank and insert our conduit pipe for the temperature probe so instead, we pushed it (the conduit) directly underneath the insulation layer so it will at least give us some idea of what the temperature is doing in the sandy soil underneath the module. Oh Well!

    We then put on 300 mm to 350 mm thick layer on top to form the lid.

    Module-4-and-heaps-on-top

    Module-4-and-heaps-on-top

    Tomorrow, we will put in the two usual conduits for the water “high” and “low” fill points and the two temperature probes for those same points. Then we will push the final sandy soil around and on top of the module.

  • Started Loading Water into Modules

    Also today, we started filling up the existing and completed Energy Modules (number 1 and Number 2) to make sure we don’t suffer from another incident of rainwater getting underneath our water tank and rising them up!

    We poured about 3.5 tons of water into our 1st Energy Module (under Bedroom 3) which holds a maximum of 3.7 cubic metres (or 3700 litres) in capacity. Our meter went from a start reading of 200 liters (it is a brand new digital water meter!) and we stopped filling at 3727 liters!

    The second tank, under bedroom 2, will need more like 4500 liters to fill it up mostly full. We started and got about 1900 liters in before we stopped work for the day. the rate of filling is only about 12 liters per minute so it will take a while to do the job. Phew!