tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762293635463803805.post2521705433690096245..comments2022-10-19T15:54:10.874-07:00Comments on Guesstimated approximations: Water at my house - part 1: rainwaterAngus Wallacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01518875828382696708noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762293635463803805.post-1740470783850105702015-06-23T15:01:28.907-07:002015-06-23T15:01:28.907-07:00It’s great that you’ve decided to install a few ra...It’s great that you’ve decided to install a few rainwater tanks to your house; they’ll serve you well in the long run. Anyway, how are the installations coming along? In any case, I hope things are doing fine for you. Thanks for sharing!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://rainfilltanks.livejournal.com/3349.html" rel="nofollow">Bert Aguilar @ Rain Fill Tanks</a>Bert Aguilarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10498762516139895231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762293635463803805.post-23662638750042873202014-11-09T02:49:44.606-08:002014-11-09T02:49:44.606-08:00Cheers Chris,
Your comment about wet sumps makes ...Cheers Chris,<br /><br />Your comment about wet sumps makes me wonder whether I've used the correct term. What I meant was a system whereby the gutter downpipe would be routed, underground, to the tank where it would raise up and train into the tank as per normal. Of course, the pipe lower than the tank outlet would always be full of water. I thought this was a "wet sump" system..<br /><br />Yes, digging trenches is hard work (yup -- we're on a clay base here too,and it seems closer to rock than dirt!), but I've found the digging pretty satisfying and enjoyable (though not as much as breaking up concrete ;-). I really enjoy the physical work, and don't shy away from it at all (though I've seen your blog, and terraforming by hand remains a bit out of my league ;-)<br /><br />Interesting what you say about the stagnant water -- we have very sporadic rain here in summer, so perhaps it's more of a problem. We've had two showers since August: one was maybe 10mm, and the other 1 mm. If we're to have enough water over summer, it's crucial that we catch every drop! We've used about 10 kL since then I think, which leaves us about 20 kL... I don't expect much rain before March...<br /><br />Happy with the pump, especially the low pressure. Uses little power, which I like.<br /><br />ps. got chickens yesterday. hurrah!<br /><br />Cheers, AngusAngus Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01518875828382696708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7762293635463803805.post-43253215920164460062014-11-04T02:33:35.787-08:002014-11-04T02:33:35.787-08:00Hi Angus,
A wise decision as wet sumps (which are...Hi Angus,<br /><br />A wise decision as wet sumps (which are a plumbers preference in Melbourne too) always fail during big storms when the power disappears at about the same time. Many years ago when I lived in inner Melbourne, I saw neighbours yards flood during massive storms when the power is cut and the sumps overflow.<br /><br />Yeah, I use the 25mm black - green stripe (lower pressure than the blue stripe) pipe here and the flow/pressure from gravity is pretty good. Digging the trenches is always a hard ask and you may be on a limestone or mud-stone base (not sure - it is volcanic clay here – which is still hard)? Electric jackhammers with a clay spade are a cheap option for trenches and if you're on solar...<br /><br />Exactly, you only ever know the best arrangement for a particular setup once you've lived with it. You're in good company as I would have simplified the roof design so that it all drained to one side of the house rather than having to run 100mm pipes (two lots of them too) to connect up to the tanks.<br /><br />Incidentally, the grundfos pump was an excellent choice. The main house pump here uses only less than 600Wh when it is working. It isn’t much power really. The little 12V DC 17L/min pumps uses about 125Wh so pumps are really efficient.<br /><br />I haven't found that stagnant water is too much of a drama here, but it is warmer where you are. Mind you, there was also a mini drought here where very little rain fell here for 5 months from October to February a few years back. The water in the down pipes didn't really contaminate the main tanks when the rain eventually fell again. Mind you, those tanks were only half full at that stage as I only had 25kL left in the system and was more than a little bit nervous about running out. A bit of algae did eventually exit the down pipes and you always have to be careful during big storms to ensure that the stainless steel mesh filters don’t get clogged with algae, leaf litter etc.<br /><br />First flush devices never get maintained so they fail too.<br /><br />Only those that do, know and you seem like you have a good setup for water! Good work.<br /><br />Cheers<br /><br />ChrisFernglade Farmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06950962122594709186noreply@blogger.com