Clogged Connector

In between periods of rain, which have gratefully been pretty regular this year, I have started watering the one surviving Hungarian Heart tomato as well as the onions and garlic. The water barrels sat all winter. I watched the hoses that feed into my connector system to make sure they didn't rupture. I guess my primary indicator would have been if all the water disappeared out of the barrels, then I would have looked at each to see where the water was coming from. But that didn't happen.

However, I did notice that there was something amiss because the lead barrel, the one that gathers the rain from the drain off the roof, had a higher water level than all the other barrels. Water in all the barrels levels because it normally flows freely between them. All the other barrels were level. There could only be one cause: there must be a clog somewhere between the lead barrel and the connectors.

To test, I turned the faucet off on the lead barrel and disconnected the hose there and turned the faucet on just enough to make sure water would come out. There was no problem there. I reconnected the hose and, keeping the faucet shut and shutting off the Y connector to shut off flow from the remaining barrels, I disconnected the hose from the Y connector. There was scum that had accumulated at the junction that was impeding the flow of water. I cleaned it out and opened everything up. There was gurgling that told me water was flowing again.

There was also some scum on the top of the water in that barrel. I don't necessarily think that the two are related, but you never know. I guess a little maintenance is necessary every now and then.