How do I get water from mains to reach my attic tank, after its been emptied

CollyCan

Hi everyone, hope someone can point me in the right direction
After having no electric and water yesterday we somehow managed to empty the tank in the attic,
Thankfully the water is turned back on but its not reaching the tank.

I observed that the water in bottom of tank may be bit scummy or has bits in it.
Not sure if its some kinda grim block or air block

Wonder if theirs some quick fix to get water reaching thank

Thanks for looking

I tried moving the ballcock up and down a bit.

emeldc

Public mains or your own well with a pump ?

CollyCan

Hi emeldc, I am on the public mains

emeldc

Have you water in the cold tap downstairs. It should be the same feed to the attic. I'm assuming it's a two storey house.

CollyCan

Yep the Cold (mans) tap downstairs is working grand, yeah its a two story house

Hitman3000

CollyCan wrote:

Yep the Cold (mans) tap downstairs is working grand, yeah its a two story house

Sounds like the pressure is low.

emeldc

That's strange alright unless there's an issue with the valve in the ball cock. Is there any water even dripping in. Does the pressure feel normal in the downstairs tap.

CollyCan

Pressure has never been great, but good enough for showers and everything,
But until I get this sorted theirs no toilets or showers

CollyCan

No I dont see anything dripping in

Hitman3000

CollyCan wrote:

Pressure has never been great, but good enough for showers and everything, But until I get this sorted theirs no toilets or showers

There may be debris caught in the pipe to the tank to attic or pipe is airlocked. Check that the ball cock is not broke.

quietsailor

Dirt could have been loosened off the pipes and driven up into the ball cock jamming the valve and not letting water through. Can you isolate the water to the ball cock and take it apart to see?

If you want to test to see if it is low water pressure check a garden hose to see it is working and then pull it up to the attic, point it into the tank and turn it on - if you don't get water flowing the pressure isn't enough to push the water to the ball cock

emeldc

^^^^ This, got there before me

elperello

quietsailor wrote: »

Dirt could have been loosened off the pipes and driven up into the ball cock jamming the valve and not letting water through. Can you isolate the water to the ball cock and take it apart to see?

If you want to test to see if it is low water pressure check a garden hose to see it is working and then pull it up to the attic, point it into the tank and turn it on - if you don't get water flowing the pressure isn't enough to push the water to the ball cock

If you are doing this get someone to hold the hose or if you are alone tie it in place.

CollyCan

ok Guys im gonna have a look at this ballcock and try out your suggestions thanks guys, will post back what h happens

masseyno9

elperello wrote: »

If you are doing this get someone to hold the hose or if you are alone tie it in place.

Or use a garden hose with an on/off spray type handle. The idea being not to allow the hose squirt itself out of the tank when water flows through it like some sort of comedy fire-hose situation, drenching your attic.
Also, the hose could be used to fill the tank, at least allowing you some use while you repair the ball cock/figure out the rest of the issue.
My POA would be this: Turn off water to attic (should be a valve somewhere along the line), take the ball cock off and ensure pipe is pointing into tank, turn water back on and you'll know where the problem is. If water flows, the ball-cock is the issue. If no water, then pressure is the issue (or a blockage in the pipe, but I think this would be quite unlikely).

CollyCan

emeldc wrote: »

Public mains or your own well with a pump ?

masseyno9 wrote: »

Or use a garden hose with an on/off spray type handle. The idea being not to allow the hose squirt itself out of the tank when water flows through it like some sort of comedy fire-hose situation, drenching your attic.
Also, the hose could be used to fill the tank, at least allowing you some use while you repair the ball cock/figure out the rest of the issue.
My POA would be this: Turn off water to attic (should be a valve somewhere along the line), take the ball cock off and ensure pipe is pointing into tank, turn water back on and you'll know where the problem is. If water flows, the ball-cock is the issue. If no water, then pressure is the issue (or a blockage in the pipe, but I think this would be quite unlikely).

k i turned of the valve at point it goes into attic then I took the ballcock off and turned the valve back on again but nothing is coming out
Go I guess this means its a pressure problem?

Will I need to get a hose to reach the attic?

emeldc

A garden hose on a reel should be long enough. TBH it might not work. If it's not strong enough to come from the mains it's unlikely to have enough pressure from the tap either. A few 20ltr drums might get you out of trouble overnight. Maybe the pressure will be back up in the morning. By the way don't turn on the immersion.

I assume you mean you took the ballcock off completely. ie. from the inlet pipe.

masseyno9

Your problem is either pressure or an air-lock (not likely in a main where pressure should clear them) or some other blockage (again not very likely). At least you can put the ball-cock back on with the knowledge that it's not the problem. 

I'd be leaning toward pressure at this point. If everyone in your locale was in the same situation, the main could be refilling everyone's tank at the same time. Is your house up higher or at the end of a line, to your knowledge? It seems it is most likely out of your control, I'd call the council to see if they know about any pressure issues.

And as noted above, if the pressure isn't getting water to the attic through a pipe, it won't get it there through a hose. Although if you have a hose that you know isn't blocked, getting that in the attic would be the definitive test of whether it's pressure-related.

CollyCan

Ok after blowing air in taps and taking off Ball cock and running around like a blue arsed fly and spending far too long trying to get this sorted
I talked to the neighbors that says they all had same problem

Ahh it was a neighborhood thing, they must be able to control the pressure or something like that

Anyway lesson learned, really to neighbors next time before taking stuff apart ha

Thanks everyone for helping me out and taking time to post

Hitman3000

CollyCan wrote:

Ok after blowing air in taps and taking off Ball cock and running around like a blue arsed fly and spending far too long trying to get this sorted I talked to the neighbors that says they all had same problem

At least now you know what to do if next time your neighbours have pressure/water in the attic tank and you don't. Btw you're welcome.

quietsailor

Glad to hear you got it sorted, or at least that you know what the problem is :-)