Rain Water Harvesting

[thehuman]

Do you have Red Water diverters on it as well, or do you only catch rainwater?

Only rain

 

[T-Man]

IBCs are also an option, not pretty though. Look on Gumtree/OLX for a clean second hand one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_bulk_container

 

[Leonidas]

I always wondered, what about the dirt and other crap that was on the roof that now is washed off into the tank. I can't imagine the water being that clean. Or are the quantities negligible?

 

[thehuman]

I always wondered, what about the dirt and other crap that was on the roof that now is washed off into the tank. I can't imagine the water being that clean. Or are the quantities negligible?

Lots of fun climbing in tank and cleaning it out
Done that a few times

 

[HavocXphere]

Rather invest in a grey water system if your circumstances allow for it.

Details? Would love to hear how that is practically implemented.

I always wondered, what about the dirt and other crap that was on the roof that now is washed off into the tank. I can't imagine the water being that clean. Or are the quantities negligible?

Would rather trust muni water for drinking to be honest.

 

[MickeyD]

I always wondered, what about the dirt and other crap that was on the roof that now is washed off into the tank. I can't imagine the water being that clean. Or are the quantities negligible?

I have a dual filter system in place. First filter removes all the bigger items (leaves, etc) and the second removes smaller particles. Combined they are pretty effective and also keeps out any bugs or mozzies.

But I don't use it for drinking water. If I did I would boil it before use.

 

[HavocXphere]

I have a dual filter system in place. First filter removes all the bigger items (leaves, etc) and the second removes smaller particles. Combined they are pretty effective and also keeps out any bugs or mozzies.

But I don't use it for drinking water. If I did I would boil it before use.

More concerned about the chemicals in the roof paint to be honest...that stuff you can't boil out.

 

[James Cready]

I always wondered, what about the dirt and other crap that was on the roof that now is washed off into the tank. I can't imagine the water being that clean. Or are the quantities negligible?

You can get a "Super Head rainwater tank filter" that filters it pretty well from what I've heard. A secondary filter could be installed as well I guess to remove chemicals out of the water to make it safer to drink. The filters has to serviced regularly though.

 

[AntiGanda]

No not really . Water tast better than municipal water . A friend did sponser me some filters . 2 x course . 1 x carbon filter . Need to clean filters filters the flow not great

We used to drink tank water on holiday and it tasted odd.

 

[Beachless]

Details? Would love to hear how that is practically implemented.


Would rather trust muni water for drinking to be honest.

With all the heavy metals the mines pour into our water system Im not so sure.

But rainwater also lacks minerals so its not healthy to drink.

 

[HavocXphere]

With all the heavy metals the mines pour into our water system Im not so sure.

Gets removed during water purification. Or rather should be anyway.

But rainwater also lacks minerals

 

[MickeyD]

We used to drink tank water on holiday and it tasted odd.

'cos it contained no chlorine or fluoride?

 

[James Cready]

Good Day all
I am considering investing in a rainwater harvesting system currently (you know, ALL the rain we've been having is just going to waste ). For the time being I want to keep it basic, just a tank connected to a gutter that catches the water. At the moment I am not looking at connecting a pump or anything, I mainly want to use it for irrigating the lawn and garden (with hose pipe as I do not have an irrigation system) during dry times, and for that, gravity will do the trick since I do not have a large garden and lawn.

I did look at the 700L "watercon collapsible rainwater tank", which will cost about R 1,110.00 plus a rainwater diverter on the gutter, which is another R 131.00. However I do not know what the quality of the tank is like.

Can anyone advise on the quality of such a system?

And any suggestions as to a good, yet affordable, system? Tank, pipes and diverter connected to the gutter etc. (I may consider one or two more in future, but for now just the one.). I am in Vereeniging, so dealers close by would be preferable.

Thanks in advance
James

From the responses I take it that no one here has tried the Watercon collapsible rainwater tank. At less than R 600.00 for a 700L tank it is as cheap as you can get, but I am concerned that the quality may not be great.

 

[Colin62]

I personally don't think 700l is worth bothering with, and if you look at a 5000l JoJo, it's about 89c/l, which isn't too bad.

 

[tcofran]

http://www.rainharvest.co.za

Slightly OT, but they say on the site that it takes 155l of water to make 1l of beer.... interesting.

http://www.rainharvest.co.za/2011/05/how-much-water-does-it-take-to-make-1-litre-of-beer/

 

[James Cready]

I personally don't think 700l is worth bothering with, and if you look at a 5000l JoJo, it's about 89c/l, which isn't too bad.

I hear ya! My big problem is space though, at the back of the house, I literally can't fit anything bigger than 750L JoJo tank in. At the front I can go a bit bigger, but probably 2000L maximum. At front I will probably end up considering a JoJo, but at the back of the house I'm not sure what to do and I have other reasons for really wanting a tank, or two at the back specifically.

 

[AntiGanda]

'cos it contained no chlorine or fluoride?

Could be that, or the rain collected something on the way.

Also those tanks are treated for mosquito.

 

[TheJman]

Could be that, or the rain collected something on the way.

Also those tanks are treated for mosquito.

probably not great to drink from then...

 

[Geoff.D]

As a kid, I cannot remember living in a home where rainwater collection was not done. It is only when we moved to Cape Town that we lived in a home without a rain water tank. (Galvanised iron tanks) The filtration system was quite simple. The tanks were double tanks, a tank inside a tank. The outer tank collected the initial flow off the roof, which then trapped the initial rubbish etc, and had a drain valve to allow you to empty it periodically. The water then overflowed into the inner tank, which was then used for whatever it was needed. The inner tank kept quite cool, the water tasted wonderful! Mostly used for irrigation, bathing etc but in time of need, water is water. Once a year, one flushed the tank out if you could handle the water wastage. Can't remember it being a big deal to do either. These days one can filter the water and replace the good stuff for drinking.

I agree, we should all be doing this again, we have become spoilt over the years. But these days the tendency is to squeeze more bodies per sq km, smaller properties etc, making it increasingly difficult to do this sort of thing. And then the aesthetics, not an issue to be ignored.

 

[pinball wizard]

The only problem I have, is that it doesn't rain these days.