Easy-To-Make Floating Intake Pipe

Easy-To-Make Floating Intake Pipe MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 27-6-27 A unique water float made from plastic pipe saves a lot of frustration when trying to suck water out of a farm pond, says Nick Calibaba of Stoughton, Sask., who came up with the idea after struggling with various ways of keeping his suction hose free from debris. "I tried all kinds of things to hold the hose up, but nothing worked very well until I got the pipe idea," he says. "It took a lot of experimenting, but the float I finally settled on works just great. I've used it now for four years." Calibaba's own experience using the float was so positive that six months ago, he started selling the devices. He calls them "Bar C Water Floats" and says he's had only positive feedback about them. The oval-shaped float is made up of four elbows and a couple pieces of 2-ft. long PVC pipe. The pieces are cemented together so they're airtight and then pressurized. The 3-in. dia. suction hose clamps to the float. The suction pipe has multiple rows of holes drilled into it, creating a built-in screen. The float holds the sucking hose about four inches from the top of the water, so that the operator never has to worry about the screen plugging. "I'm also going to make a 2-in. float with a check valve on the end. These will work well for pumps that don't hold their prime," Calibaba says. "There's a lot of work that goes into making these pipe floats. It takes about three days to make one." He says the floats are also useful in another application - for households that use dugouts for their water supply. By anchoring the float to cables with weights, and tying the pressure system's suction hose to the float, it's possible to maintain a suction hose level two feet from the bottom of the dugout. This way, in the wintertime, the hose level would never fluctuate with the water level, and it would never come up and freeze in the ice. Calibaba is selling his Bar C Water Floats for $450 (Canadian) plus shipping and handling. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Nick Calibaba, Box 345, Stoughton, Sask., Canada S0G 4T0 (ph 306 457-7070).

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