covered valve

[redriverhunter]

I have a water shut off valve for the house in the back yard. I have one of those things with a lid over/around it. why does the dirt keep covering the valve. one would think that it should stay uncovered. I dont think dirt grows.
thanks rrh

[shell70634]

It's the earth's revenge for putting a hole in it.

[Bmi48219]

Our water meter / shut off is in the front yard in a heavy plastic bottomless box with an inset lid same as the lawn irrigation valves. Neither box fills with dirt to the point the valves are buried but the irrigation control valve gets close.
I think in our case it’s because the soil is always moist. As the lawn maintenance guys cut the grass the weight of their mower may be packing the soil around the box down. Gradually some of it gets smushed up into the box.
The weekly soil compaction is really noticeable next to a tree in our backyard since the mower always rolls over exactly the same spot.

[Electrod47]

I open that lid maybe once every 5 years for some odd reason. Last time, There was a 3ft rattlesnake that greeted me!! When I lived in Arizona those things were full of black widow's also.

[Texas by God]

The earth tide is a real thing.
Especially in North Texas.
But could be gophers, moles or voles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Winger Ed.]

Be glad it doesn't fill up with fire ants.

[gwpercle]

Be glad it doesn't fill up with fire ants.

Heck Yeah ... I would rather have a snake , black widow spiders , moles , voles or gophers than those cursed Fire Ants ...
LIKE LIKE LIKE
Gary

[SciFiJim]

Here in the Florida panhandle, I have sand for soil. I have the same issue as you with my lawn irrigation valve box. The sand subsides on the outside box and rises inside the box. I clean it out each spring before the outdoor temps make the work unbearable. It doesn't seem to bother the automatic valves, but I like to maintain access to them.

[Winger Ed.]

Heck Yeah ... I would rather have a snake , black widow spiders , moles , voles or gophers than those cursed Fire Ants ...
LIKE LIKE LIKE Gary

Everybody hates fire ants.
There are no fire ant plushy toys. There are no fire ant cartoon characters. Nobody wants to dress up like a fire ant for Halloween.
They do have a real attitude problem, and all fire ants must die!

[alfadan]

Mine is in a tube made of some tar-soaked cardboard crap they called Orangeberg or something. After a heavy rain, there is standing water in it, and the valve is covered in dirt so I imagine the water has silted it over.

[.429&H110]

A wet-vac will quickly clean out a valve box from a very safe distance.

Also a vac is a great way to clean out irrigation valves' snarls of wire splices.

[Land Owner]

Dig up the box.
Put flat bricks all way around under the bottom rim.
Reinstall the box flush with adjacent grade.
Tamp dirt around the box.
Box won't sink or slice through pipes.

Water rise/fall in the box is moving soil in, but not out...

[redriverhunter]

Dig up the box.
Put flat bricks all way around under the bottom rim.
Reinstall the box flush with adjacent grade.
Tamp dirt around the box.
Box won't sink or slice through pipes.

Water rise/fall in the box is moving soil in, but not out...

thanks that make alot of sense.

[bedbugbilly]

It's because the Chinese are mining precious minerals on the other side of the earth to use in batteries to sell to Biden and as a result, your yard is starting to cave in.

Sort of like a septic tank without a riser that you need to dig down to find the lid so it can be pumped - for some reason they seem to move over time.