I found the leak in the plumbing for the hydrant. It was a spot where too much glue acumulated and basically weakened the schedule 20 piping. So I have spent several hours and a few dollars trying to fix it, again, and again. The old wise-man at HD suggested putting on a drain collar with spiral clamps. that held for about 30 seconds. Next, I cut out all the prior piping going into the irrigation line valve. Glue up a new fitting and got all of that nice and tight. Then I had to reconnect it to the old pipe. The angle was a bit off since the connetors and elbows are bigger than the old ones. I turned on the water at the street and the dial spins a few seconds then stops. HALLELUJAH! then it starts spinning again – DANG IT. The one weak joint in the system blew apart. So it looks like I will try again tomorrow night after work. Plumbing parts $15, time 5 hours wasted.
I drained the pond for a good spring cleaning (anticipating I would have the irrigation line running again to refill it) and found all sorts of leaves, worms, fruit from the pear tree, some mortar, and a good layer of muck on the bottom. So it sits empty for now. There is a fish auction next weekend that I would like to attend. So all has to be back to normal by then.
