Water backup systems compared

Mannydefreitas said:
I just fitted a stop cock.
I don't trust Non Return Valves....
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Those are 2 completely different devices for 2 completely different purposes though. The stop cock is for completely cutting off the water supply in either direction. The RDZ valve is designed stop your alternative water supply from backflowing into the municipal water supply, especially if the pressure from the municipal water supply drops below the pressure from your alternative water supply.
 
deweyzeph said:
Those are 2 completely different devices for 2 completely different purposes though. The stop cock is for completely cutting off the water supply in either direction. The RDZ valve is designed stop your alternative water supply from backflowing into the municipal water supply, especially if the pressure from the municipal water supply drops below the pressure from your alternative water supply.
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You should be cutting off the municipal supply completely if you have them on the same pipe network and are using the tank system, non return valve aside. Stopcock is reliable.

The same goes for the pump side, have a stopcock for when you’re not using rainwater. Don’t rely on a non return valve, that can be a very expensive exercise.
 
lkpat said:
You should be cutting off the municipal supply completely if you have them on the same pipe network and are using the tank system, non return valve aside. Stopcock is reliable.

The same goes for the pump side, have a stopcock for when you’re not using rainwater. Don’t rely on a non return valve, that can be a very expensive exercise.
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You're missing the point of the valve though. The valve is there to stop the municipal water supply from being contaminated with the alternative water supply. That's not mutually exclusive with the use of stop cocks, which I agree you absolutely should be using as well. The valve is simply mandated to protect the integrity of the municipal supply.
 
deweyzeph said:
Those are 2 completely different devices for 2 completely different purposes though. The stop cock is for completely cutting off the water supply in either direction. The RDZ valve is designed stop your alternative water supply from backflowing into the municipal water supply, especially if the pressure from the municipal water supply drops below the pressure from your alternative water supply.
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I think for many people, it depends on how they have the stuff setup.

I know my plans for a "buffer" tank will not have an issue with backflow, purely because I will fill the JoJo tank from municipal supply and pull all my normal usage off the JoJo tank. Its a much cheaper and simpler solution in my opinion.
 
I have both Rain Water Harvesting and Borehole. With a UV and Particulate Filter hooked into my household water system.
I can switch between the municipal system or my own OFF THE GRID system.
I have 26Kl of water stored on my property (one month's water supply) in 6 Jojo tanks.
 
deweyzeph said:
You're missing the point of the valve though. The valve is there to stop the municipal water supply from being contaminated with the alternative water supply. That's not mutually exclusive with the use of stop cocks, which I agree you absolutely should be using as well. The valve is simply mandated to protect the integrity of the municipal supply.
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I’m not missing that point. I did say non return valve aside.
 
LazyLion said:
I have both Rain Water Harvesting and Borehole. With a UV and Particulate Filter hooked into my household water system.
I can switch between the municipal system or my own OFF THE GRID system.
I have 26Kl of water stored on my property (one month's water supply) in 6 Jojo tanks.
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How many people in your house? Good grief. 25kl a month… so you’re the reason we are out of water. :ROFL:

Let me guess, top loader, swimming pool and irrigation?
 
deweyzeph said:
Be aware that many municipalities will not allow you to store municipal water in backup tanks. E.g. in Cape Town it is explicitly forbidden according to the by-laws to have a buffer tank. In addition, if you are going to connect your water storage system to the pipes in your house you will have to pay for a very expensive non-return valve that prevents your house's water supply from backwashing into the municipal supply. There are loads of by-laws and regulations that need to be considered with a water backup system, at least in a functioning municipality that actually enforces its by-laws.
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LOL. Reminds me of my friend whose gardener started the pump for the jojo with muni water stored inside. He did not flip one or two valves and he pumped my guys whole jojo back into the municipal system that was dry. LMFAO.

He was livid.
 
W@P said:
LOL. Reminds me of my friend whose gardener started the pump for the jojo with muni water stored inside. He did not flip one or two valves and he pumped my guys whole jojo back into the municipal system that was dry. LMFAO.

He was livid.
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The guy we bought from had people stay over and use their system before locking up. He arrived weeks later to find the back yard waterlogged full of municipal water and a R100k bill. They forgot the stopcock and the pumps non return failed. At least his jojo tanks were full.
 
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Reactions: W@P
lkpat said:
How many people in your house? Good grief. 25kl a month… so you’re the reason we are out of water. :ROFL:

Let me guess, top loader, swimming pool and irrigation?
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5 people in the household including the garden cottage.
Yes, pool and irrigation. 3 normal Geysers and two solar geysers.
Two top loaders. We do washing for our kids as well who drop their washing off once a week.
Our borehole is only 30 meters, and it actually runs dry fairly often.
I'm guessing there must be a lot of other houses on the same vein as us.
There is e-coli in the borehole water from sewage contamination... that's why we had the UV filtration system installed.
It's actually double filtered, externally and internally. Probably not necessary, but it came with the house.
 
LazyLion said:
5 people in the household including the garden cottage.
Yes, pool and irrigation. 3 normal Geysers and two solar geysers.
Two top loaders. We do washing for our kids as well who drop their washing off once a week.
Our borehole is only 30 meters, and it actually runs dry fairly often.
I'm guessing there must be a lot of other houses on the same vein as us.
There is e-coli in the borehole water from sewage contamination... that's why we had the UV filtration system installed.
It's actually double filtered, externally and internally. Probably not necessary, but it came with the house.
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Nice, that's a great setup!

Any solution to treating water if they continue to spray Glyphosate into the Vaal?
 
deweyzeph said:
Be aware that many municipalities will not allow you to store municipal water in backup tanks. E.g. in Cape Town it is explicitly forbidden according to the by-laws to have a buffer tank. In addition, if you are going to connect your water storage system to the pipes in your house you will have to pay for a very expensive non-return valve that prevents your house's water supply from backwashing into the municipal supply. There are loads of by-laws and regulations that need to be considered with a water backup system, at least in a functioning municipality that actually enforces its by-laws.
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That's interesting. Same for hotels, shopping centres and office blocks or are they exempt? Since the water issues many years ago, masses of Joburg properties have tanks to store municipal water? Not directly, but they're filled up by water tankers that are bringing municipal water.
 
hj007 said:
Nice, that's a great setup!

Any solution to treating water if they continue to spray Glyphosate into the Vaal?
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Glyphosate honestly doesn't concern me any more than does Vinegar (another organic alcohol based pesticide). The World Health Organization has tested both Glyphosate and alcohol since 1974, and considers both of them to be carcinogenic.... but only in high doses and low yields. Those concentrations would far exceed what the average human is exposed to.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Glyphosate toxicity and carcinogenicity: a review of the scientific basis of the European Union assessment and its differences with IARC

Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide worldwide. It is a broad spectrum herbicide and its agricultural uses increased considerably after the development of glyphosate-resistant genetically modified (GM) varieties. Since glyphosate was introduced ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
LazyLion said:
5 people in the household including the garden cottage.
Yes, pool and irrigation. 3 normal Geysers and two solar geysers.
Two top loaders. We do washing for our kids as well who drop their washing off once a week.
Our borehole is only 30 meters, and it actually runs dry fairly often.
I'm guessing there must be a lot of other houses on the same vein as us.
There is e-coli in the borehole water from sewage contamination... that's why we had the UV filtration system installed.
It's actually double filtered, externally and internally. Probably not necessary, but it came with the house.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I completely understand the three extra. We had three kids at school until 5+ years ago. Washing clothes probably took the most. The sewerage thing is probably not as much an issue if you have a 100m deep borehole I'm guessing. 30m is pretty shallow. Would sinking it another 20m make a difference with the running dry, perhaps?
 
lkpat said:
Yeah, I completely understand the three extra. We had three kids at school until 5+ years ago. Washing clothes probably took the most. The sewerage thing is probably not as much an issue if you have a 100m deep borehole I'm guessing. 30m is pretty shallow. Would sinking it another 20m make a difference with the running dry, perhaps?
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No, we haven't bothered because speaking to other people in the area ( Walkerville, etc...) who have 100m boreholes... they say theirs are also running dry.
Honestly, it's not really a concern... because with all the tanks, I have more than enough storage.
 
deweyzeph said:
It's actually called a reduced pressure zone valve, mandated by the City of Cape Town if you install a alternative water supply to prevent backflow, and yes, they are pretty expensive compared to a normal non-return valve.
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There is no way I'm registering my wellpoint.
 
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