Originally Posted by
Bruce Breedlove
The water level I used was nothing more than clear tubes that screwed on each end of a garden hose. That meant that I could measure elevation between two points that were quite a ways apart by using two or three garden hoses.
I made a water level out of 100 feet of of 1/4" vinyl tubing like you can get at the big box stores. I put a water/anti freeze mix in it and kept it coiled up in a 5 gallon bucket. Easy to store and carry, never needed water (was already in there), easy to use, take each end out (I had it coiled up with 10 feet loose for the 'fixed reference point' Bruce was talking about) and the other end just pulled out as much as I needed.
I kept the ends crimped closed with those spring Pony clamps, the small ones.
The anti freeze not only kept the water from turning yucky (technical term), it also made the level easier to read.
If I needed to go more than 100 feet, I would set the bucket in the center and measure both ways, I could reach 200 feet that way.