Water, water (hopefully not everywhere)

Anything goes, but keep it seemly...

Postby underquark » Mon Jun 26, 2006 2:01 pm

lunababy_moonchild wrote:The only other way of measuring the volume of an egg is to measure the water it displaces, which clearly in this case, is not appropriate.
How very recursive - stick the swimming pool into a swimming pool. Come to think of it, if it were a collapsable pool you could just use the cylinder formula as an approximate and measure it before filling up the pool. Assuming minimal elasticity then the pool will deform but still retain near to the original volume.

Must reserve brain cells, now, for What am I? (17).
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Postby TKiel » Mon Jun 26, 2006 11:26 pm

lunababy_moonchild wrote:A hosepipe ban is where the council... ban householders (and taxpayers) from using hoses to water the garden/wash the car and, I assume, from filling a pool, paddling or otherwise.


That's kind of what I thought, but the possibility (however unlikely) entered my mind that you'd actually been banned from having a hosepipe not just using one.

We don't have that issue around here what with being surrounded by water, water everywhere. (Well, at least on three sides.) But they're talking about maybe piping water from the Great Lakes out west somewhere, Arizona I think...

lunababy_moonchild wrote:...standpipes in the street...


Another term with which I am not familiar.

Are you familiar with the phrase "two countries, seperated by a common language"?

Tracy
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Postby Cec » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:06 am

TKiel wrote:
lunababy_moonchild wrote:...standpipes in the street...

"... Another term with which I am not familiar. ..."

My understanding of "standpipes" is they are more commonly known as fire-hydrants. In my former employment, Legislation required (and most likely still does) that water authorities must provide "standpipes" (as part of the water supply system) from which municipal councils could draw water, free of cost, for road construction purposes and flushing street kerbing, also for filling water carrying vehicles in drought periods, and of course for fire fighting purposes.

edited by Cec 2.18pm "water carring vehicles" substituted for "tanks"

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Postby lunababy_moonchild » Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:57 am

TKiel wrote:
lunababy_moonchild wrote:...standpipes in the street...


Another term with which I am not familiar.

Are you familiar with the phrase "two countries, seperated by a common language"?

Tracy

Ha, yes. Sorry about that. Standpipes are pipes that have taps at the top of them and stand in the street (they don't remotely look anything like fire hydrants - sorry Cec - and I'm fairly certain that they are not connected to same for safety reasons), connected to the water supply below. Taxpayers/householders then have to queue to get water - so tough luck if you want a bath, frankly, because it's only the water that you can carry at any given time.

We, here in Scotland, have never (as far as I know) had to resort to this, it's an English phenomenon and one that I abhor. As far as I understand it parts of the SouthEast of England already have hosepipe bans and are on track for the aforementioned standpipes, simply because not enough rain has fallen in their area. It is an area that is rountinely short of water, which begs the question as to why nothing has been done about it.

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Postby MCC » Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:38 am

Do you know that there are 108,000 fire hydrants in London:)

I believe most, if not all of them, are below ground level in manholes.

This is where standpipes will be connected.

Article on the drought here.


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Postby Cec » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:24 am

lunababy_moonchild wrote:"Ha, yes. Sorry about that. Standpipes are pipes that have taps at the top of them and stand in the street (they don't remotely look anything like fire hydrants - sorry Cec - and I'm fairly certain that they are not connected to same for safety reasons), connected to the water supply below...."

OK..not knowing what standpipes and fire hydrants look like in your country my above post was intended to explain their function rather than their appearance. I incorrectly assumed the reference to "standpipes" in a built up area meant "fire hydrants".

Where I live (Melbourne suburb), fire hydrants are standard in built-up areas and used for the purposes I described above. "Standpipes" are now rare and confined to country towns where an individual water connection to each property is financially impracticable. They are usually about 8 -10 feet high and would have a tap or control valve at the top but are normally locked to prevent unauthorized use.

MCC's above post suggests standpipes in London could be connected to fire hydrants which are in underground manholes. In Melbourne and suburbs, fire hydrants are in nature strips about two feet high (600mm) and protected with a locked metal lid.

edited by Cec 5.05pm. 28 June.. (600cm altered to 600mm)

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Last edited by Cec on Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby lunababy_moonchild » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:52 am

I've only ever seen pictures of standpipes myself so obviously not an expert on the subject. British fire hydrants are, as stated, underground and covered by a manhole - not like the American ones that stand on the street - so, since the standpipe itself is above ground it's not clear as to that which it is connected, especially since I've never actually seen one where I live.

Connecting a standpipe to a fire hydrant would seem to be the easiest way of doing this but comes across as profoundly unsafe (what if there's a fire?) but since I can't find any information on the subject and have never had the experience I stand corrected.

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Postby MCC » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:04 am

Luna, I would assume a fire takes precedence over a drinking supply.

I'm not sure who puts up these standpipes - fire services or councils - but it would only take seconds to disconnect one and connect the other.


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Postby Cec » Tue Jun 27, 2006 12:35 pm

lunababy_moonchild wrote:"..Connecting a standpipe to a fire hydrant would seem to be the easiest way of doing this but comes across as profoundly unsafe (what if there's a fire?) but since I can't find any information on the subject and have never had the experience I stand corrected.

I'm still confused Luna with the fire hydrant/standpipe "set up" in your country and I'm not sure that you need to be corrected.
MCC wrote:"..I believe most, if not all of them, are below ground level in manholes.
This is where standpipes will be connected.

In case of a fire I assume fire hoses are connected directly to the underground fire-hydrant. The only explanation I see for connecting a "standpipe" to the fire-hydrant is to flush and cleanse street kerbs, etc. but this would only be a temporary connection. Whether this is the type of "standpipe" Luna's referring to I don't know.
self wrote:My understanding of "standpipes" is they are more commonly known as fire-hydrants.

This doesn't now sound right so me now thinks this was the cause of confusion:(

Still on the issue of fire-hydrants, I like your country's idea of these being underground as compared to Victorian and New South Wales practice (I don't know about the rest of Australia).

Above ground hydrants are dangerous (road fatalities and serious accidents have occured) ..vandals and graffiti love them... my lawn mower hates them. I don't know the cost comparisons which might be an issue?.

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Postby MCC » Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:36 pm

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Postby Hud » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:01 am

It's so dry here, I saw a fire hydrant chasing a dog today. Sorry about that one. One thing that caught my attention though is at construction sites here there is always too much dust due to earth movers. We even have a fungal disease called "Valley Fever" which is spread by breathing the dust thus inhaling the VF Spores. I sometimes see watering trucks being loaded with water from hydrants, but they are metered, and the construction guys have to pay the municipality for it.
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Postby Cec » Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:28 am

MCC wrote:"Fire hydrants......."

Thanks MCC.. the links and photos were interesting.

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Postby TKiel » Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:57 pm

We timed the rate of flow of the hoses and it's about 14 GPM (US), which figures out to 22 hours to fill the pool, which is pretty close to the actual time it took. (Actually, since the water doesn't go all the way to the top it was a bit less.)

We were also able to figure out the answer to another mathematical question yesterday as we were attempting to hook up the pump and filter.

The answer = about 15 seconds.

What is the question?

Tracy

(Bet you didn't think this was going to turn into one of those riddle reads, did you?)
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Postby Cec » Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:08 pm

TKiel wrote:"..The answer = about 15 seconds. What is the question

How long to prime the water pump?

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Postby TKiel » Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:48 pm

Cec,

How long to prime the water pump?


Think larger amount of water.

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