| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| hague720 |
rain water recyclingI want to set up a harvesting system for the roof of the house we currently rent.Does anyone have the calcs and is there a schematic diagram i can get of the layout and of the insert to the drainpipe so i can make me own??Any help much appreciated - First post - GREAT SITE!! 
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| Behemoth |
Hellooooo and welcome!
No I don't! But it would help to know what you want to use the water for - internal toilet flushing? irrigation? I'm sure the 'men of pumps' will be along shortly.
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| Rob R |
Re: rain water recyclingWelcome
As Behemoth says you'll need a bit more background information for what you need, you'll also need to find out the average rainfall for your area. As it's a rented house I assume you'll be using an above ground tank for storage. These lot have some good links that may help... www.rainwaterharvesting.co.uk |
| dougal |
Hi and welcome!
Were you thinking of serious heavy duty "harvesting", or just 'collecting' for garden use? Collecting is pretty straightforward, if you have a big enough roof. You might even be as astonished as I was at just how quickly a big butt can fill up... (seems it takes less than an inch of rain...  )
But "harvesting" involves filtering, maybe uv sterilisation, LARGE scale storage, almost inevitably some pumping, and a bit of serious plumbing. It goes a *long* way beyond trapping it from a drainpipe!
What do you have in mind? |
| hague720 |
rain water harvestingmany thanks for the signposts thus far!!Just a few more details if i may?? The system will primarily be for the garden , as the landlord may not take it lightly the back yard looking like an oil refinery!! lol
,however, what im most interested in is the device that diverts it from the drainpipe to the butt.... we have no cash, (AT ALL!!) having been made homeless and re housed into our present location. our garden has gone from a wide expanse to a backyard with a church roof to the rear(whose drainpies run into our garden( ) and we have next door roof AND our roof entering a drain pipe (also in our garden)!!
After recent events im trying to be as frugal as poss, hence even trying to make this rain diverter!! Im downloading the spreadsheet off of the link to work it all out, maybe when things settle down a bit i may even try to pump some of the supply up to our loo !! Many thanks for making us feel welcome,we cant answer promptly as we use the library service to acsess the site and space is limited!! Many Thanks - " T " |
| dougal |
I'd suggest that a minimal cost solution is just to divert *all* the downpipe supply into the storage butt, and then to channel the overflow to a drain. A bit of plastic pipe glued in place through a hole in the butt, and with a piece of hose jubilee clipped to it should handle the overflow.
The next refinement is to add a strainer to catch leaves and stuff. If you don't mind clearing it occasionally, the strainer could be as simple as an old kitchen strainer, wired below the downpipe outflow. Commercial "diverters" are simple in principle, but awkward to construct. They have a small lipped 'shelf' all round the inside of the pipe. Water running down the sides of the pipe is stopped when it hits the shelf. A hole just above the shelf for a transfer pipe 'diverts' the flow to the waterbutt. When the butt is full, the transfer pipe fills up, and so does the lipped shelf. The rainwater then just overflows the shelf lip and continues down the downpipe. In that way, the height above ground of the top of the lip sets the maximum water level in the butt. Naturally you want the diverter's lip to be a little bit lower than the top of your butt, so it doesn't just overflow! I think you'll find it simpler to divert all the flow, and then pipe the overflow back to the drain. Not as elegant, but probably simpler to construct. |
| hague720 |
rainwater diverter BIG THANKS Dougal !!!! right now the Mission Impossible tunes playing and ive got the details i need !! Going to the scrap heap after this to effect "Scrap Diverter MODEL no. 1"
If im succsesful ill let u all know how i got on!! Many Thanks - " T "
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| lowri |
I tried the commercial "water diverter" and had awful trouble with it, there was no way of filtering and the thing quickly bunged up and backed up to the gutter, causing it to overflow down the front of the house. I went back to the "chain of waterbutts" system as suggested! Had there been a removable filter above the diverter (and incorporated in it?) all would have been well. |