Titan to Peak Connection/Cow Arse Worms Levels

[ben_m]

Hi everyone,
What are people's thoughts on the level of the 'cow arse worms' duck just before you pop out into leviathan?
There's been a lot of rain the past few weeks, but I'm not sure just how much is needed in order for this to sump fully...
I'm planning a trip through on Sunday
All the best,
Ben

 

[Cantclimbtom]

The only time I've been through trip was this same time of year but 30/10/2021 (when 2 members here very kindly gave their spare time to herd me through - thank you again!). It was a very rainy period that had followed a long dry summer period. But NOT as rainy as the last 2 weeks that Castleton has just had!!
For me, cows' arse worms was dry (sticky mud floor, not full of water) however Whirlpool/Speedwell junction was just "a bit moist" (water absolutely blasting through!) so all I can share is that Cows' wetness can run a different schedule to the other water levels. I think it depends on whether Leviathan plumbing is overwhelmed?

Don't leave your jumars at home!! Good luck

 

[pwhole]

No problem

Funnily enough, there's a group of TSG going down JH tomorrow, with me at the front, so I'm happy to have a look. Although I won't be home until very late I can check back on my phone and post how it looks? Trouble is it's going to rain a lot tomorrow, so Sunday may be considerably worse down there. I'm not getting in that shitty water, but there's usually a good ripple on it if the passage is open - I remember being there when someone opened the lid on Titan during the shaft repairs, and there was an audible rumble, with small wavelets appearing on the surface

 

[ben_m]

Thanks Tom and Phil!!!

Phil, that'd be ideal - I'll be at TSG tomorrow too hopefully so we should meet.
Ben

 

[Cantclimbtom]

Ben,

Just out of complete nosiness... did you get manage it as a through trip the other weekend - and if so how full was cows' (and the rest of the system).

 

[pwhole]

We didn't get to the bottom of Leviathan the day before due to the excess water, and as far as I know they didn't attempt the connection the next day, as it would have been sumped for sure.

 

[LarryFatcat]

It didn't used to be there so what's the source of that mess and can it be remedied?

 

[wellyjen]

Leviathan has always been wet. The collection dam and diversion pipes that send the water to the boulder piles can be overwhelmed in wet weather, or the system can silt up. If the later, then it needs fixing, but its been very wet recently, so could well be the former.

 

[pwhole]

The old collection dam has been full of rocks and gravel for a long time now, and excess water simply overflows down to the floor of Leviathan - I'm not even sure if the R2D2 bypass system we installed is still really functioning properly any longer - it's rare I get to visit these days. Part of the reason for the trip was to check all this, but it was just too wet to be fun with seven cavers. But all of this kind of preventative plumbing work needs fairly regular maintenance, and the DCA team is so stretched by a lack of available people that these large sites are just getting left behind. The system is incredible, with plenty more to find yet, but there may come a time when the JH-Speedwell/Titan connections become impossible again if maintenance isn't kept up. A big ask, but we need far more recreational cavers to step up and volunteer, as the ratio of users to workers is pretty tragic at the moment.

As for the Cow Arse Worms problem, it's inevitable that some of this is coming from the farm, as liquid manure runs downslope from the farmyard to the mineral vein in heavy rain, where water then comes in from many input points to take it down the system to Speedwell - or the FSE connection, being a natural collection point for the water when the overflow dam doesn't work. It's not their fault, just the topography and the hydrology combining against us. It's quite likely the miners had the same problem when they were using it, and at least we have the benefit of synthetic clothing and pressurised plumbing

 

[Chocolate fireguard]

There are a couple of separate things here.

Larry is right, the Cow Arse Worms problem is relatively new - IIRC it started about 15 years ago, and nobody seems to know why.

But if water regularly comes down Leviathan it will do a couple of things.
It will take silt into the connection with FSE and, block it, as presumably happened after the miners left.
It will percolate through at the top of the slope and wash out the finings that may be stopping the Boulder Piles collapsing, again as presumably happened after the miners.

The dam and pipes to R2D2 really have to be the subject of routine maintenance, and as pwhole says DCA just don't have the people -especially the young, fit active people (like the mainly retired DCA crowd used to be - sorry Phil, Pete etc) to undertake work like that.

Digging through some manky, worm-infested sludge is one thing, re-engineering a route through the Boulder Piles is quite another.

 

[FabianE]

If someone would take the time to talk me through the current setup and how it works / how it's supposed to work and what maintainance work is needed, I'd be willing to try and assemble a team of "young" cavers as you mention to keep it maintained 👍

 

[pwhole]

There are so many projects to do, for DCA, TSG and myself that I just can't fit any more in, so it would be really good if you could get something moving here. From memory, the only thing that needs doing ASAP is clearing out the overflow dam, which is below the Tea Rooms and above the final pitch to the bottom of Leviathan. From the dam and the Tea Rooms two large-diameter hoses bolted to the wall empty into the 'R2D2' flood-controller, which contains the water and sends it down another hose via the climbing-shaft route to the Speedwell streamway. Obviously this overflows in wet weather, but it takes most of the impact force out of the water and allows it to dribble away less harmfully.

Last time I saw the dam was about two years ago, and it was full of rocks and gravel then, so water just pours straight over it. There are plenty of anchors nearby to rig working ropes from, and a guaranteed dry period of weather would make it fairly stress-free, apart from I guess lowering/dropping the dam infill over the ledge, as piling it up around there wouldn't be advisable.

R2D2 below, just after installation - all I have, but I think it's still more or less working, it's just not receiving as much water as it should.