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| A part of the Veggie Garden |
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| The First Tank |
So, I bought my first rain tank and put it next to a large shed which I thought, having the biggest roof, would give me the most water. At the time I was not aware that nearly all the gutters were rotten.
However there was enough water to get me through the summer but not the winter, SO, I invested in another tank on the following year and put it at a corner of the house. OK, this was enough for the summer and the winter but ran out at the end of winter because I had started expanding the garden................
SOOO, the next season I invested in another tank for another corner of the house. This worked fine but there was a corner left so having a little spare money I invested in tanks three and four. I already had an old small tank at one corner which water I was using to water my seedlings.
This worked very well indeed and now we had plenty of water plus extra.
There was another incentive which helped me decide to go the "tank" way.
We have numerous power failures here during the summer storms and I had left water in a pot on my "Gas" stove to be warmed for the bath. I left it as the electricity that time came back on sooner than expected. It stood in the pot on the stove for a month or so. I had forgotten about it until I needed the pot for something else.
Boy, was I surprised to see what had settled out of that water in its time in the pot. The bottom of the pot was a reddish colour. So, you know what I did when I first went onto tank water. Oh yeah, I took a sample (not from the purifiers) put it in a covered glass, and left it. In two months there was nothing in the bottom of the glass. That really made my day.............................
I was not aware of the amount of water that came off a roof and in those early days of sitting listening to the water going into the tanks was music to the ears. (nearly as good as the Cure or Led Zeppelin) BUT, I had a problem. There was more water coming from the roof than the tanks could handle. Now, I did not like to waste such a precious resource so then, in October of 2010 made a decision to see whether it was possible to use some of the excess water for the house.
I invested in a 2500 litre tank and plugged it into the tanks close by so the overflow could be fed to it, thinking that this would be big enough.
Ha, it also overflowed, and by now I had already connected it into the house supply. SOOO, I had to buy another tank of the same size and plugged it into the one I had just bought. This one I was feeding in from the bottom of the one next to it. I had actually thought I had made a mistake buying two smaller ones but it worked out best in the end. When one is getting low I switch over to the other one. Also, if one has a problem then it does not affect the whole system.
My system goes thus.
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| An overflow tank |
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| Pump and pressure controller |
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| One of the milk filters |
 Dry matter removed by one of the filters  |
| Examples of used milk filters from the tanks |
As can be seen from the photo above, the filters catch most of the rubbish that comes off the roof before the water goes into the tank.
I check them after every rain because they clog up quickly and prevent water running into the tank/s
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| Purifiers for drinking water |
The water for the bath etc is straight tank water.
OK, what are the downfalls.
Cost.
It cost me (including pumps and tanks, and I include ALL tanks) plus minus R35000. Sounds a lot but if you are only buying tanks for drinking water then you do not need so many. It also took me a few years to get it set up because as I said, I did not plan for using it in the house in the beginning.
I am man alone so for a family you might need to use more tanks.
Space
You do need the space wherever you stay to put the tanks.
Cleaning
You do have to keep on cleaning your gutters especially if there are a lot of trees around. In winter here most of the trees lose their leaves so the gutters have to be checked regularly. (the leaves block up the drain pipes). I have an idea to stop that but have not got around to trying it out as yet.
And the PLUSSES
For a start you KNOW what you are drinking, what is in it and where it comes from.
At the moment I am only using the overflow from three tanks. One tank I keep specifically for the garden and another as well, but this one I pump from if running short in the house.
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| Dry junction box |
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| Tank and Pipe inspection |
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| Inspection over all OK |
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| The system as it stands 4/2011 |
You are also helping the environment and "Mother."
I actually drank some municipal water in the dairy the other day. Guess it must be me or my taste buds are not used to it but that water really did not taste nice at all.
I have been drinking tank water since December of 2010 and to be quite honest, am very pleased to see how well the system works.
I think that you need to be careful that the water does not become stagnant. I have not gone into that myself so try not to use water that has been in the tanks for too long. That I will use for the garden. I have a feeling that using it the whole time will help stop that anyway.
Time will tell.
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| Does it get any cleaner |
I was pumping water from one of the overflowing tanks to the "House" tanks and wanted to see what it looked like. As you can see, this water is really nice. And it still goes through the purifiers before being drunk.
That reminds me. We had a power failure last week which forced me to use Muni water again temporarily (I need electicity for my pressure pump). Not by choice I promise you. I could not wait to go back to "clean" water again.
If you asked me now, "Was it worth it," I would say emphatically. YES, just knowing it is possible and for my own peace of mind...................................
29/7/11
I have invested in a small filter which I have put in line, before the pump, to remove anything that might be in the line, that might damage it.
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| My new "In Line Filter." |
10/12/11
I have moved the tank from the garages to the house due to all the rotten gutters and also because the tank near the gate gets much more water than I at first anticipated and is already full.
The "Drinking Water" tanks are also full so I have prepared for another 5000 litre tank to be plugged into that system.
I am still blown away by the amount of water that comes off a roof. Just shows that there need not be a water shortage at all...............
It is almost a year since I went off municipal water and am sure the better for it.
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| The tank from the garage now collecting the overflow from the original tank. Amazing how much water comes off such an area |
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| Love Peace and Healing awaiting their new arrival |
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| Truth added and inspected |
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| 11/12/11 Plugged into the drinking water system and already almost half full |
20/1/12
A Story.
I was filling the calves drinking trough next to my house, from the water I use from the tanks and forgot to close the tap off. This meant that the pump just kept running until the water tank had run out of water. Now, it was coming from one of the 5000 litre tanks. So, as the other tanks were full I took water from them to re fill this tank.
Then on the day afterwards and the next day, we had storms. The result. Once again, all tanks are full again and overflowing.
So, when people say to me, "There is a water "shortage" I tell them that there is no such thing. We just abuse what is available.
Granted, I am man alone here with no family drinking from the system but I know that if you had enough storage facilities, that when it rains, if you have a roof, there is more than enough water for a family. I actually get a little depressed when I see my tanks overflowing because I would love to have storage for the excess. And we only average around 600mm rain per annum here.
PS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stay away from genetically modified products.
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