Water Level

[Champy]

I have to lay about 300' of drain lines on my property to address some surface water pooling problems. My problem was how to accurately measure the slope of the drain lines to ensure the water would go where I wanted. Too cheap to buy a laser or transit; too lazy to use a string level; I instead built a water level to make sure my drain lines were right.

The concept is to use the water in a hose to show the proper common points for leveling most anything. Gravity basically forces the water in the tube to always be at a constant level (relative to the tank), so every measurement taken against that reference point is really VERY accurate.

Setup requires a tank/jug with some clear tubing. I added a yardstick and some angle iron to mount everything. Then I added a magnet to use as a sliding pointer to show the water level. I also added some food coloring to the water so its shows up better. Each measurement moving down the trench allows me to see if the pipe is sloped correctly to my 1/8" per foot target. One of the pictures shows the magnet pointer and the blue water with a 1" difference in readings which correllates to the change in depth of the pipe over an eight foot long section (1/8" per foot x 8' = 1" drop).

Hopefully this makes sense. BTW - I also used this to measure my gutters to set the slope for proper flow where I was having problems.

Here are some pics of the setup.

[yankeerider]

Nice job! I think water levels are highly under rated for their cost/performance value.

[Tig]

Nice job Champy.
I like water levels when I build. It's easier for the layman to get a good reading. I mark stakes with a water level (translucent hose) and then shoot a laser between stake marks. After that I interrupt the beam with a 1x6 to check if the beam hits the expected mark.

[Bird]

Yep, a water level is very effective. It seems to me that all the mobile home installation and set-up guys use them to level manufactured housing.

[CurlyDave]

I have hired a few guys with some construction experience who have always been amazed that I would trust a water level.

Not one of them was willing to believe that the water lever was more accurate than the most expensive rotary laser on the market.

Oh well, I suppose that is why they were unemployed and willing to do casual labor.

[AndyMA]

Yup, "water always seeks it's own level" is one of the fundamental principles we learned in engineering school.

Andy

[Bird]

Not one of them was willing to believe that the water lever was more accurate than the most expensive rotary laser on the market.

Since I'm not familiar with the expensive rotary lasers, I can't say the water level is more accurate, but I don't see any way it could possibly be less accurate.

[MikeD74T]

Originally Posted by Bird

Since I'm not familiar with the expensive rotary lasers, I can't say the water level is more accurate, but I don't see any way it could possibly be less accurate.

Because a water level relies on gravity it follows the curvature of the earth. A lazer shoots a straight line which at some distance becomes uphill as you go away from the source. If you lay waterline with a lazer the curvature of the earth must be compensated for, causing some to say a water level is more accurate.
Glad to see the large reservoir. Small reservoirs are less accurate when used with a long tube. MikeD74T

[Bird]

Originally Posted by MikeD74T

Because a water level relies on gravity it follows the curvature of the earth. A lazer shoots a straight line which at some distance becomes uphill as you go away from the source. If you lay waterline with a lazer the curvature of the earth must be compensated for, causing some to say a water level is more accurate.
Glad to see the large reservoir. Small reservoirs are less accurate when used with a long tube. MikeD74T

OK, I'll buy that; just never thought about using a water level for that kind of distance.

[bx24]

Originally Posted by MikeD74T

Because a water level relies on gravity it follows the curvature of the earth. A lazer shoots a straight line which at some distance becomes uphill as you go away from the source. If you lay waterline with a lazer the curvature of the earth must be compensated for, causing some to say a water level is more accurate. MikeD74T

Come on, Einstein (if I remember right) said that even light gets bent by gravity!

Water levels are awesome, but where a laser really shines is in its portability and more importantly - its speed. You can set up a "self leveling" laser almost instantly and when it comes to laborers on work sites, time is money. The down side is that self leveling lasers and their remote laser light pickups are probably 50x more expensive than a big container, some clear line and some food coloring.

Great post