Bert Bolle Barometer - Labour-intensive

Labour-intensive

Maintenance is an ongoing concern for the barometer, with one of the major issues being water vapour, which constantly enters the pump and could easily emulsify with the pump oil. Special provisions are made to prevent this. Since water vapour is extracted continuously, the water level in the reservoir needs to be topped up every day. In addition, the abundance of sunshine in the barometer's environment, combined with the presence of algae in the rainwater that is employed, leads to a risk of algae growing within the water pipe. To address this, the owners have employed chlorine to kill the algae, but the evaporation of the chlorine had to be specifically catered for. Wear and tear also places considerable strain on the vacuum system's vulnerable pump, its 11 solenoid valves and its relays. Finally, the barometer needs to be exclusively filled with pure rainwater, as tap water contains many minerals which may be detrimental to the barometer.

Because the water barometer has always been treated with great care, the instrument still looks almost new despite its age. A well-considered choice of durable materials like oak and borosilicate glass certainly play an important role in its continued longevity. Other attempts to copy the instrument have floundered due to the use of inferior material, a lack of constant supervision, pollution of the pipe system and other factors reducing durability.