New farm... Finding livestock water lines across 126ac?

[Dadnatron]

I'm purchasing a 126ac farm and there is the benefit that livestock waterers are scattered across it. However, there is no active water running at them, and I can find no valves. I plan to remove the old waterers and replace them with Hydrants and/or Mirafont waterers, but... I don't even know where the main valve/line is located coming to the 'house/barn'. The lines are across both pastures as well as current bean fields. I'll have access to the pastures, but until the current farmer harvests beans, I won't be able to do anything with them. However, that bothers me less than the fact that I can't even tell if the waterers WORK.

There is no water to them at the moment, which makes me believe there is a master valve somewhere near the barns/house. But I cannot find it. The closest waterer is probably 500yds away and they are scattered from there in all directions. I don't believe there is a sensor wire anywhere, although until I pull a waterer, I won't know for certain. I suspect its black pipe/PVC, but I won't know for certain. But in the high likelihood that there is none, anyone have any ideas about how to figure out this dilemma? The current owner inherited the property, but knows absolutely nothing about it. (Absent family member) I don't believe this would be something on a plat, as it was likely a simple farm addition.

At least if I could find a Master valve, I could open it and then check the waterers.

Any thoughts would be helpful.

 

[kirkawilson]

Possibly they are fed from a well?

 

[Dadnatron]

Possibly they are fed from a well?

I cannot say. But I don't see a well anywhere on property. But I haven't had a chance to really go over everything yet.

 

[ponytug]

Good luck, especially if it is an older farm. I had to deal with one once that had been owned by a jack of all trades who recycled and used bent galvanized piping. You could never tell where it was going to go and we had to dig lots of trenches along the piping by hand to find where it went. After awhile, we did the sensible thing and laid new pipe.

I think job one is find the water source and go from there. Once you have that, I would consider renting a ground radar.

https://www.unitedrentals.com/project-uptime/data/locating-pipes-acoustics-and-mapping-software

I would point out that I wouldn't take any bets that the piping is intact.

Congratulations on the new to you property!

All the best,

Peter

 

[CH4Ohio]

I cannot say. But I don't see a well anywhere on property. But I haven't had a chance to really go over everything yet.

Where does the current water supply for the house and barn come from? Is it all on city water or on well water or both??

If you don't know, I'd suggest hiring a handy-person to come out there and look around and see if he can tell you what's currently supplying water and where the old waterers might be valved off. Well-pits would be a likely suspect.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Good luck, especially if it is an older farm. I had to deal with one once that had been owned by a jack of all trades who recycled and used bent galvanized piping. You could never tell where it was going to go and we had to dig lots of trenches along the piping by hand to find where it went. After awhile, we did the sensible thing and laid new pipe.

I think job one is find the water source and go from there. Once you have that, I would consider renting a ground radar.

https://www.unitedrentals.com/project-uptime/data/locating-pipes-acoustics-and-mapping-software

I would point out that I wouldn't take any bets that the piping is intact.

Congratulations on the new to you property!

All the best,

Peter

You can run new pipe cheaper than finding old pipe with ground penetrating radar.

It shouldn't come to this -- this would be way down the "troubleshooting chart" -- but if you do need to actually LOCATE sections of this pipe you need to just use a pipeline locator. If it's metal pipe, that's simple. If it's plastic pipe you might have to dig it up and push some solid wire through it and use that to transmit a signal. It's also possible that it already has "locate wire" buried with it -- doubtful but common best-practice today.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Good luck, especially if it is an older farm. I had to deal with one once that had been owned by a jack of all trades who recycled and used bent galvanized piping. You could never tell where it was going to go and we had to dig lots of trenches along the piping by hand to find where it went. After awhile, we did the sensible thing and laid new pipe.

I think job one is find the water source and go from there. Once you have that, I would consider renting a ground radar.

https://www.unitedrentals.com/project-uptime/data/locating-pipes-acoustics-and-mapping-software

I would point out that I wouldn't take any bets that the piping is intact.

Congratulations on the new to you property!

All the best,

Peter

You are SO right about the piping maybe NOT being intact. I've seen chisel plows pull up steel water lines when farms convert from livestock to row-crops.

 

[CliffordK]

Is the pipe that you can find plastic or metal?

With electrical wires, one can put a tone on them which can be helpful for tracing the wires. And I think there is a larger version for underground wires. I would assume a metal pipe would ground out quickly, but a water filled plastic pipe might be able to be traced.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Is the pipe that you can find plastic or metal?

With electrical wires, one can put a tone on them which can be helpful for tracing the wires. And I think there is a larger version for underground wires. I would assume a metal pipe would ground out quickly, but a water filled plastic pipe might be able to be traced.

Actually, NO -- you can't trace a water-filled plastic pipe.

We're getting ahead of this problem and the information provided. The OP doesn't seem to even know what the water supply is.

Once you know the water supply, you trace for outlets and valves. If that doesn't offer obvious next-steps, you go to nearest waterer and dig up the inlet piping to see what direction it's coming from. Based on that, you try find the source or run new pipe to intersect and tie-in. If that suddenly supplies the whole system you celebrate. If it gets water to this point, but is leaking / broken downstream, you lather, rinse, and repeat.

 

[Fixastuff]

Is the pipe that you can find plastic or metal?

With electrical wires, one can put a tone on them which can be helpful for tracing the wires. And I think there is a larger version for underground wires. I would assume a metal pipe would ground out quickly, but a water filled plastic pipe might be able to be traced.

Opposite.

 

[bcp]

If you are lucky, you might search through older aerial photos on Google Earth Pro and see some lines across fields.

Your county might have aerial photos taken in different years, too.

Bruce

 

[Complete Turf Care]

If you are lucky, you might search through older aerial photos on Google Earth Pro and see some lines across fields.

Your county might have aerial photos taken in different years, too.

Bruce

I have used Google Earth Pro and have been successful finding water lines. But, it would have to have been installed fairly recently. By recently, I mean within the past 20 years or so. It's worth a try and is easy and free.

 

[bcp]

Maybe something here.

Versailles - Regrid: Nationwide property data and mapping tools for everyone

Nationwide property data and mapping tools for everyone. Surf 158 million land parcels on our map or license them for yours.

app.regrid.com

Bruce

 

[newbury]

OP -
Have you contacted the "local" govt. agencies that deal with property taxes, soil, survey, wetlands, etc. and also whoever "local" might have flown it for aerial imagery?
Like BCP wrote, it might be there.
There's a chance that the it had been covered "shortly" (a year or two") after the pipe was installed and it will show up on imagery.

 

[WinterDeere]

Call me simple, but I'd just dig next to the first waterer, and find out what direction the supply line is pointing. It's not like the prior owner would be pulling pipe in S-curves.

As to using a tone/tracer, yes it can be done with plastic pipe. You just need to back fill with something conductive (eg. salt water), and connect your tone source to something metal in contact with the water (eg. valve). Attenuation will likely be too high to trace it very far, but again... they're probably run in nearly-straight lines.

So, I'm supposing you can't talk to the prior owner? What about a neighbor, who might have been friendly enough to know the property, or a prior employee of the farm?

 

[plowhog]

I have faced the same issue for years.

A neighbor advised me to "witch" the water in the pipes and said it would work. I have not tried that.

I've considered cutting a pipe, then feeding a transmitter in while sensing it from above. Of course you would have to find a pipe first, which you could do with equipment pulled behind a tractor.

My neighbor has a giant hook he can put on the back of his tractor, then force it down. He calls it the "non-discriminating utility line locator."

Not any good answers as far as I know.

 

[JPRambo]

You can trace pvc pipe with water in it. Using two pieces of wire about 12 inches long. Bend them about three inches from one end at 90°. Hold the short ends in loose fists, long ends parallel to the ground. Walk around they will cross each other as you walk above any pipe, wire etc..

 

[WinterDeere]

You can trace pvc pipe with water in it. Using two pieces of wire about 12 inches long. Bend them about three inches from one end at 90°. Hold the short ends in loose fists, long ends parallel to the ground. Walk around they will cross each other as you walk above any pipe, wire etc..

Only if you're a witch.

Dowsing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Fixastuff]

I locate stuff every day for work. I give the witch sticks 50/50. I see people who claim to be experts at it sometimes and you can clearly see their wrists tilting when the wires cross.

This is the locator I own and use.

Utiliguard 2 - Subsite Electronics

www.subsite.com

 

[Too many Kubotas]

A simple Pipe Finder (about $15 several years ago) will find pipes, wires, just about anything buried within five or six feet, in my experience.

It'll find it, but it's up to you to figure out what you found.