Return of the Rev
Well-known member
HAVE ONE WATER BUTT WHICH COLLECTS OFF GARAGE ANYONE HAVE A MORE ELABORATE SYSTEM INSTALLED?
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How much rain water do you collect?
- Thread starter Return of the Rev
- Start date
surrey jim
Not in Surrey
total of 5 water butts off the greenhouse, shed and an out building. Hopefully they will top up nicely with this rain.
Return of the Rev
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #3
Would like to run water off the roof of the house,is there anyone that installs the more challenging systems?
Mr Bridger
Sound of the suburbs
Have installed my own rainwater harvesting system, as water efficiency is my job.
3000ltr tank in my front garden , my toilets are flushed with rainwater, my washing machine is hooked up to rainwater and also the garden taps back and front.
It's the way forward....
3000ltr tank in my front garden , my toilets are flushed with rainwater, my washing machine is hooked up to rainwater and also the garden taps back and front.
It's the way forward....
The Large One
Who's Next?
Five water butts outside our house, two of which are specifically for the use for the Community Garden.
The ashtray on the patio table gets quite full at times.
champion7
fast and furious
6 water butts connected to house,garage and shed.
dougdeep
New member
Yes, yes there is.
The Stout Yeoman
Master Farter
All of it ... then I sell it on to unsuspecting mugs as spring water .... made a right killing this morning ....
Mackenzie
Old Brightonian
5000L tank via our barn roof. Feeds the water troughs in the fields.
One heavy shower will usually fill the tank, it always amazes me how quickly it fills up.
One heavy shower will usually fill the tank, it always amazes me how quickly it fills up.
Puppet Master
non sequitur
- Aug 14, 2012
- 4,056
butts.... *snigger*
surrey jim
Not in Surrey
How much does a system like this cost?
Mr Bridger
Sound of the suburbs
all depends on your requirements, how many in your household? access to your front /rear gardens for siting the tank.
I put mine in the front garden, as i have a small lawn at the front and had planned to block pave my drive. At the time of doing this i opted to dig up my lawn and put the tank there, so i could go for a less expensive tank so it didn't have the weight from cars etc.
The size of tank will depend on your roof size, rainfall (depending of where you live) and turnover of water. You don't want the tank too big with water sitting there for long periods. I calculated on mine , that 3000ltrs would suffice and have a good turnover of water with 3 x W.C.'s, a washing machine a good garden use.
In periods of dry weather, like now the tank will top itself up just enough via a mains feed. it works the same way as a wc ball-valve (but via contact switch and solenoid valve) when the level drops too low the contact switch is activated and the solenoid valve opens in mains water tops up , enough to close the switch.
I chose a flatline system, which means its only 1m high. So again, less spoil to dig out and you don't have to reinforce the footings.
I would charge about £4/5000 for the system i fitted, but prices will start to come down as we move forward.
I'm working on proving the payback time at the moment as this still seems to be a bit sketchy. I have installed a digital display on the incoming rainwater supply so i know exactly how much its costing each month, so you can take into account this as well as the following;-
Surface water discount from your water supplier. (At the moment you pay them a set amount to get rid of your rainwater)
As we use rainwater to wash our clothes with, we use half the amount of washing powder, we used to as its soft water. Not my department but my misses says washing powder is quite expensive these days, we we've halved that.
Added to this it must prolong the life of the washing machine, again as the water is soft.
The one question i haven't found out the answer to yet and no estate agent can tell me, is that does the price of a rainwater harvesting system add to the value of the property when selling? if there are any estate agents on here that can answer this then i would be grateful?
My theory is it must do. Whenever i see houses for sale and advertised they highlight the fact that a RWH system has been installed, and to think if a large family moves into a house and you say to them you water bills will be reduces by a third, then its only a bonus.
The downsides to RWH systems is they have to be maintained ( filters cleaned regularly) and slight increase in electricity when the pump kicks in.
We have offset the electricity problem by changing all our spotlights in the house to LED's and switch off all the stand by's at night.
There are cheaper options out there now if you haven' t got the budget or space. We've just started installing a framed space-saver water system that will go down a side alley. (only 150mm deep) and come in a modular system (400ltrs at a time ) so you can increase capacity. this can feed a downstairs wc , washing machine and garden.
The only problem with above ground systems are bacteria / legionella. The reason why most systems are below ground is so nothing can proliferate. It's cool and dark so bacteria doesn't survive.
Above ground systems are rife for this, so if you use a water butt pump, especially after a prolong period of time, be careful of the spray!!! How manufacturers of these pumps get away with this is beyond me.
Worried Man Blues
Well-known member
Rural West Wales so no mains drainage ooh about 100%