rainwaterharvest

rainwaterharvest

( 9:10 AM ) Mega
ahhh shit it's been almost a year since my last entry, well the world of rain water harvesting has gone well. The system detailed here is still working and has provided the water needs for a small cottage for over three years now, no has gotten sick, never any water shortages. I highly recommend this sort of system for a cottage style property.

on the week end I did the first phase of yearly maintenance, cleaned the roof & gutters and set up the barrells that act as the first poit of catchement. When those are full and any impurities settle I will download the water to the linked barrell cistern in the basement.

Then fill the household piping system

BAM!!

ready for another season #

( 8:30 AM ) Mega
Its been a while mofo's

but I'm back at it

Loaded up the barrells over the last week with fresh pure mana from heaven

well on the way to another summer of rain water harvesting #

( 10:41 AM ) Mega
well it was just a fuse that had popped out.

now summers over

pffff!

now I gotta drain the whole thing #

( 9:29 AM ) Mega
So anyways I have a new problem, my brand new 1/2 hp monarch shallow well jet pump seems to be fucked. I think maybe it ran dry over night and well its fried.

so in order to enjoy water this week end I had to buy another but now they are $400

fuck.

I found out about a special cut off switch to prevent this

why don't they sell that stock?

Could however be an electrical problem with my whole house in which cas stay tuned for a new blog called wiring your cottage.

However the beauty of this rain water system is even with out a pump I have gravity on my side so staying at the lake with no pump in no big hardship. I still have water on demand for the most part from my outdoor show spigot #

( 12:14 PM ) Mega
Hey listen, I can see that a few people visit this site, the hardest part of putting together a system is design.

At the bottem of this page you will see some handy desigh links

If you have other links that you think would be helpfull to those of us who harvest rain water send em along and I will post em here.

megastir at gmail.com #

( 8:53 AM ) Mega
Well two heavy rainfalls = full cistern.

Now the final setup.

Hookup and prime the pump, check.

recap the drain on the hot water tank, check

fill up the lines in the house, check

no leaks.

the 2005 rainwater harvest is underway. #

( 8:02 AM ) Mega

This is the result of last week's setup

the harvest

fresh clean rainwater being downloaded from the filter tanks into the cistern

note the surf & sailboards and other assorted junk.

don't laugh.

I'll bet your place could use a cleaning

( 8:23 AM ) Mega
So It was April 30 when I finally got my system in place. I cleaned the drains & roof and cistern with some sort of new and powerful bleach and as we speeak rain is falling and the water is accumulating.

However I seem to have misplaced the spigot from the bttom of my water heater. One of those deals you know where your like "yeah i'll put it in a very safe place where I will surely find it next spring"

Can't find it.

I hope you can buy a new one.
I'll let all you rain water folks know what happens

stay tuned #

( 11:51 AM ) Mega
OK you rainwater harvesting mofo's out there, I'm back to thinking about water again. Obviously here in canada for at least 6 months our water is frozen solid. The laws of physics dictate that it takes energy to liquify the stuff.

Because I'm lazy. I didn't bother

although I do have a rather cool device called a heat-line that I highly recommend to any one with a frozen pipe problem. I have used this in the past and as the cool kids used to say it is da bomb!

however thats neither here nor there.

But now that spring has arrived I will once again entertain and delight you all with tales from the leading edge of the rainwater harvest movement.

First post states this:

Damn! I missed setting up my system in time for the first heavy rain of the season.

Stamp an "L" on my forehead.

Anyways where my place is, it was probably still frozen maybe even snowing.

letting the first rain clean off the roof is probably a good idea anyways.

I will catch the next one.

I need about 1000 litres to top up all the nooks and crannies of my clever little enterprise.

then hope no pipes cracked over the winter which would force me to drain, solder and refill.

cazart!
megastir #

( 9:13 AM ) Mega
Sorry those pics are hosted on Buzznet and the server has gone down.

I will repost to another server shortly if they do not come online soon #

( 2:39 PM ) Mega
shower

or outdoor show with view.

Dig?

#

( 2:38 PM ) Mega
shower

Then I enjoy my custom shower.

Indoors #

( 2:34 PM ) Mega

The rain comes off the roof via eaves then flows to these settling tanks under each eave. Then after settling the cleaner water then moves down to the cistern.

As I write this in west Quebec, the Sweden Vs Finland World cup hockey rages on.
Finland 4 Sweden 3

I love satelite TV #

( 2:26 PM ) Mega
settling tank

So I'm finally putting up some pics. Here is the guts of it. the linked cistern, the pump and pressure tank.

#

( 9:11 AM ) Mega
Something is fucked with my water heater,

The pressure relief valve was opening sat morning.

whats up with that???

Also getting some condesation on my cistern and that could be a problem because the water droplets moisten the wood floor below the cistern. That will lead to rot.

Not good, must be fixed maybe with a concrete platform.

Used the outdoor shower on the weekend.

something great about that.

Its just so much better than and indoor shower.

especially on a hot day.

#

( 1:43 PM ) Mega
you want gmail?

all the cool kids have it.

I have tons of invites

email me megastir at gmail.com #

( 10:41 AM ) Mega
Well its June. No problems. Lots of water. This whole thing is great. Because my neighbour bullied me into it I bought a huge plastic tank from him. I don't really need another cistern but perhaps I will use it to add capacity. I need to clean it though. Then place it downstairs.

I should change this blog to deck repair because really thats what I've been working on now.

However if you have any rain water questions email me at megastir at gmail dot com

In fact I have a bunch of cool gmail email addresses to give away

all the coo kids have em

email if you want one

#

( 8:21 AM ) Mega
Pouring rain up there last nite.

cleaned the eaves & spouts as they got full of debris and were clogged

lots of rain in the forecast

this whole thing is working like a charm for the most part

general maintence is needed on a system like this

keeping down spouts clear
ensuring overflows are functioning properly
chlorination of cistern

#

( 8:43 AM ) Mega
Had the whole gang up at the lake this weekend 3 kids 2 adults.

we had enough rain over the past week to have filled up the cistern

we used maybe 1/5 of the cisterns capacity

so it seems to be a great alternative to drilling a well for us.

water quality is good

the only hitch is I keep have to remind everyone to make sure no driping facets and not to let taps run.

these are things someone from say... water challenged southern california would never do anyways

but up here in water plentifull Canada our wastefull habits are hard to break

#

( 8:10 AM ) Mega
well the rain came.
my main cistern filled and I though I had a leak but I've discovered that when you first fill a water system like this you get some small leaks that soon stop. mostly from the joints.

so after initially being pissed and thinking i will have to replace the cistern. It stopped leaking

Its raining today and i think I left one of the shut off valve open.

fuck! #

( 1:04 PM ) Mega
well after after a solid rain storm or two finally got back to the lake

had 500 litre's of rain water so I cleaned and hooked up the cistern and filled it with that water

now It rained again last nite so I should be able to fill the cistern and start the pump and hopefully fill the hot water tank etc.

so far so good. #

( 11:11 AM ) Mega
NEW SEASON 2004

cleaned the roof & eaves & casks

Set up casks under eaves and we had 22 mm rain last night so barring any leaks they should be full that 400 l of water should be enough to fill the system hot water tank and pipes etc

probably won't be able to check it till next week some time #

( 9:27 AM ) Mega
Well winter's freeze is here. I drained everything and brought it all inside except for one settling tank which I will leave outside to see how the ice effects it.

Water was plentifull all year for my needs and I think the experiment was a success.

The only thing left to find out now is how the system deals with freezeing and how long it will take to get back online next spring.

#

( 8:27 AM ) Mega
So now after a summer of rainwater harvesting. Which by the way worked out great, we are headed for freeze up. I disconnected one barrell all together and cleaned it. It was a settling tank under an eave. It was not to dirty I will let it dry then clean it with soap and water for spring. The other settling tank I kept on line and its full. I disconnected the water lines and the flush valve worked sealing the water in. I'm curious when it will freeze solid. And if it would split if left to freeze. The lines are drained and there fore will not freeze and crack. I have the heat on in the house so the cistern which is full at 600 litres should provide for enough water till at least xmas which is when I stop using the place till Apr. So we shall see. #

( 8:48 AM ) Mega
Well Fall is truely here and the system has served me well all summer. It has proven to be adequate for cottage usage. I never ran out of water, not even close. So now the question is what about the freeze up in a month or so. I am planning to drain the lines soon but keep water in the barrells for as long as possible.

so far no real cold yet #

( 10:19 AM ) Mega
No real rain for a few weeks

system working well but drawing down #

( 11:28 AM ) Mega
A simple roof washer that is working for me.

materials:

1 20 litre plastic water jug availble from grocery store
1 ft long section of 2 inch abs drain pipe
1 2 inch T fitting of 2 inch ABS drain pipe
1 small piece 2 inches long of 1 1/2 inch ABS pipe

Take the water jug and use a circelar drill to drill a hole in the bttom 2 inch diameter. Then insert the length of ABS pipe (2inch) seal around the hole

Then take the small piece of 1/2 inch pipe and seal the top of it with plastic or foam then drop it into the larger diameter pipe. place the T fitting on top of the 2 inch pipe that sticks out of the jug.

drill some small holes into the lid of the jug to act as a slow drain when the washer is filled up.

Voila attach to system

the water enters the jug through the t fills the jug lifting the small piece inside the pipe till the jug is full of the first 20 ltres of dirty water then the t closes and the remaining water flows to the cistern. when the rain stops is slowly drains out of the jug the valves slides back down and is ready for the next storm

cheap and easy
simple roof washer

I'll try and get some pics up soon
email me for questions
#

( 10:19 AM ) Mega
OK so I designed and built the rainwater harvest system.
This post details pressurizing the system.

In the past I've taken water from a well built over a natural spring. The water was pure and plentiful but each spring and fall silt from the surrounding fields was gradually filling up this well and infecting the submersible pump I had installed 10 years ago.

Due to forces beyond my control this spring well has become unusable and the submersible pump will not work on my rainwater application.

So with the existing pressure tank that had a gauge and t fitting on the bottom plus the fact that my cottage is wired for a 230V pump circuit all I needed was a pump.

Since it is drawing from a 200 liter barrel right in my basement all I needed was a 1/2 horse shallow well jet pump and foot valve. Thus I purchased a dual ball bearing (more durable) 1/2 horse pump at Manions pump house. For $280 Cdn plus tax. I also had the pump guy reset the wiring on it for 230 v because they come stock 115v (it's just a flip of the switch) and he also re-pressurized my tank with the proper PSI setting for this pump. I think that was worth doing although I think you could get cheaper pumps at places like Princess auto or even home depot. But they are not dual ball bearing pumps and there is no expert to hold your hand about the pressure tank and wiring mysteries that I was nervous about.

Any hoo I got the pump up to the lake and plumbed in a nice intake line to the cistern I decided to plumb a valve into the intake like to facilitate an easy prime which worked great.

Then I wired the pump and let her rip!

It worked great and the water is clean and free of sand.

The only drawback seems to be some very minor leaks on some of the fitting but they had stopped after a few days. This seems common in plumbing jobs as the joints seem to seal up somehow.

It rained last night so my whole system should be full. My girlfriend and I were up on the week end and as girls do she used lots of water to flush and wash etc etc. I need to refrain from being a water miser even though after all this work I am very aware of the waste of water around me now. ( I was a hopeless water waster myself up there before this project)

My capacity is 600 liters in the basement of pure water. 150 liters of hot water and 400 liters in the two rain barrels used as initial settling tanks under the eaves.

The next step is to build and put in use a slow sand filter and a roof washer that will dump the first 20 liters of water from the roof as the rain starts. I have a basic design idea for both.

Stay tuned
#

( 8:34 AM ) Mega
Shitload of rain on the weekend
I will be installing the pump this week
stay tuned for updates from the bush #

( 8:52 AM ) Mega
well its been awhile....
I've been away
some rain but not much
I need a pump #

( 8:35 AM ) Mega
I chlorinated the system yesterday

I won't be back for a few weeks

we had some rain yesterday but it looks dry for the next week at least #

( 8:29 AM ) Mega
Well there was a shitload of rain last friday (June 13) and I went up to check the system and the overflows were clogged. I think there is an algea issue I need to deal with. I want to bleach out the lines before they get overly green.

Lots of water and I installed and enjoyed an outdoor shower.

boo yah #

( 12:42 PM ) Mega
Rain yesterday 8.6 mm #

( 8:19 AM ) Mega
I want to build the outdoor shower this weekend.
I need toresearch mixing concrete for a base. Its something I've never done before (concrete)
should be interesting

more rain today, in fact its pouring

I'll check in later with totals
#

( 8:34 AM ) Mega
Rain yesterday 4.8 mm but it was very much thunder cells so I'm not sure what happened in Wakefield
we shall see on the week end #

( 8:39 AM ) Mega
everything is now dialed in
the over flows are built
The cistern is holding water with no leaks.

water quality could be better I will have to resaearch that.

I will try and get some chlorine I guess

rain yesterday 3.6mm #

( 8:46 AM ) Mega
no rain since maybe last saturday.

I have to get up there and check on it.

#

( 8:37 AM ) Mega
I left the hatch in the crawl space open.

I am an idiot #

( 8:47 AM ) Mega
more heavy rain 7-13 mm yesterday but I think a lot more fell in Rupert. I was able to test the system partially and had to repair one small leak in the cistern ( forgot to glue some of the drain pipes ) but otherwise It looks like it will work pretty well

I have to come up with a better overflow control system on the upper barrells and hopefully the newly sealed cistern will perform well
I will be away for a week so hopefull when I return we'll get more rainy weather as its great for testing.

needs:
1 1/2 or 1 3/4 flexible hose for overflow
panty hose for filter material
create a lid for each upper cistern with filter
pump and pressure tank
wiring plan re: new hot water heater
low flow shower head #

( 8:35 AM ) Mega
Well Saturday I built the rest of my system. Now all thats left is the finishing work which I will do tonite
I will post then after a test run.
#

( 8:04 PM ) Mega
yesterdays rainfall 24 mm to possibly 42mm, outstanding #

( 9:43 AM ) Mega
Here my list for saturdays project

60 ft of 1 inch pvc water line
2 2inch to one inche reducing setups
8 ft of 2inch abs drain line
one more 2 inch T
a shower head
4 concrete blocks #

( 9:08 AM ) Mega
Sat is my day for finishing this project

Forecast is looking good.... or bad I guess

good for rain Sat and Mon and Tues upcoming

I will update from the lake on Sat
au revoir #

( 8:19 AM ) Mega
rainfall yeasterday appears to have been somewehre from 3mm to 7.4mm depending on which source.

I have picked up some more piping and hope to finish my cistern design this week-end #

( 8:33 AM ) Mega
no rain #

( 8:10 AM ) Mega
rainfall yeaterday 0.4 mm

weather outlook has no rain forecast for awhile at least I won't be checking on my system till next week. #

( 8:02 AM ) Mega
rainfall yeaterday 2.8 mm

one of my settling tank barrells had the float valve get stuck open. I wonder if it stayed shut yesterday and filled the barrell?

I need to price out and aquire these items to complete the system

55 ft of 1 inch water line
20 ft flex 1 1/2 inch drain line
3 1 1/2 inch t connects
1 1 1/2 to 1/2 inch dishawasher and 5 ft of clear line
4 concrete blocks

#

( 1:55 PM ) Mega
May 11 rainfall 6mm Ithink this was the rain that filled the barrels

Intersting weather station data from kanata #

( 1:02 PM ) Mega
Faced with a deteriorating well a steeply sloped lot I decided a rainwater harvest system was the best bet to provide water for my cottage.

I began with the math:

Location: Rupert West Quebec
Roof size: 540 sq ft or 50 sq m
Pitch co-efficient .75
Filter efficiency co-efficient .9

A pitched tiled roof with an area (plan view) of 50m2 in an area with a local annual rainfall of 861mm would yield:

50 x 0.75 x 0.9 x 861 = 29,059 litres

To calculate the required tank size
A proven and workable rule-of-thumb sizes the tank to store 5% of the annual rainwater yield. This has been shown to give a reliable optimum tank size. For our example therefore, the storage tank required would be:
5% of 29,059 = 1,453 litres

Then I designed a system. Faced with a cold climate I needed some storage indoors. Thus an expandable linked barrel system in the basement fed by 200 litre barrel settling tanks placed 10ft above at the bottom of the eaves trough downspout. Using the formula for water pressure 1ft rise = .433 PSI my feeder system is pressurized to 4.33 PSI enough to power an outdoor shower and fill the indoor cistern after a heavy rain.

The use of food grade barrels and toilet tank flapper valves I was able to create 800 litres of storage for $200 Cdn expandable at the rate of $35 for 200 litres.

The eaves trough around my house needed replacing. I used aluminum trough total cost $160 Cdn . The downspouts are ABS 2 inch drain pipe total cost $90 Cdn.

Its taken my 3 days to install the first half of my system, the eaves downspouts and the settling barrels. I still need to solve the filtering or roof washer problem install the water line and outdoor shower, plus decide on a pump that will draw from the cistern.

This blog will chronicle my follies and foibles as I attempt to get this up and running.

Thanks to all those pages who cam before me. I have linked your scources

To contact me use megastir"no_spam"@yahoo.com

#

( 8:45 AM ) Mega
May 12 Precip. Total 3.8 mm upper Barrels full

OK so I built most of the system. Its located near Wakefield Quebec the specs are as follows:

#

rain water harvesting stats and experience canada

contact me

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