Rain Sample

hey vencino.. it was a corrugated metal roof, read post #13 in this thread...

i remodeled a rain catchment system which was very similar to your drawings, on a house i was renting. it worked pretty good but was high maintenance cuz the house was over storied with coconut and broadleaf trees so gutter muck and bio-slime was an issue even tho i had six screen and fabric filters on each downspout.

also, the height of gutters relative to the storage tank limited my design and if i was doing it from scratch, i'd bury the storage tank next to the house to get more room for a sand filter, i'd still use the six screen and fabric filters upstream of the sand filter. you'll also need an inline filter before the pump.

i found the leaf guards over the gutters to be a pita to clean and they cause leaf debris to build up on top of them and up the roof and then the roof water runoff overflows the gutters. the screens also need to be removed to clean the gutters of the muck that builds up inside the gutters. i ended up putting 1/4'' hardware screens/dams on the upstream sides of all gutter corners and cleaned them when necessary. the gutter screens would work ok if the trees were back a bit but i'd still choose my corner hardware cloth idea. another thing to consider about gutter screens is how the gutters were installed. my application didn't allow for tucking the screens under the drip edge of the roof.

i really liked the rainwater for bathing and cleaning. the only mineral in it was from the leaves and a little from the roofing material.

 

Using rain water as drinking water is not something we would normally do. Rain water here causes allergic reactions to some in my family who shower with. So in Siquijor we have a concrete tank, 1/2 for municipal, or when that shuts down, for delivered potable water and the other half for rainwater harvested from the roof. We have two well type pumps and compressors, one for delivered water and the other for rain. The rain water is soft and excellent for the washing machine for clothes. My next project is to re-plumb rain water for the toilets. Not so hard to do. Showers and dish washing continues to use municipal (again, when available) or delivered water but delivered water use will be substantially cut. Cooking and drinking, we will continue the 20L bottles. Very cheap and tastes good, same as we did in Cary NC. In Siquijor, sometimes they suffer heavy droughts and no municipal water is available. Saltwater intrusion destroyed the wells. All we have is govt or private delivered water (both are expensive) and rain.


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So far no Municipal water available here in Maluay where I live so only Well water. I would love a nice big tank with electric pump like back in Oz where I could use for a Washing Machine/ Showering/ Washing up etc... I would still buy Mineral Water to drink, I have gotten use to that where as in Oz I just drank chilled water from the Tap.

I often wonder what inside the Well here looks like as it is I think 15 years old, it is on its last legs, and runs out of water when pumping by hand to fill the 3x Pails inside during Summer.

I have to admit that the Gutter Guards were a waste of time back in Oz also with so many trees close to the house, and it won't be any different here I assume once things get going with growth.

I would like to build a large hollow block tank eventually under the patio floor area so it is out of site but accessible. I mean a LARGE Tank so we have year round water, one that is fully lined with the sahara-cement so it does not leak, will just have to see how it plays out. But good to hear the experiences of others here as it gives me a better idea of what I have to expect here.

 

You ALMOST earnt yourself that TURD Rating mate! NO I did NOT watch it after I saw the title, that is why God invented the Light Switch, I don't want to see THAT in broad daylight! LOL

 

I saw IT Squat and I was OUTTA THERE!

I sat through a compulsory "Educational Birthing video" when my first son was born. Halfway through one guy bounced from his seat and YANKED his pregnant wife clear out of her seat and RAN for the door! The guy to my right tried to (unsuccessfully) vomit through the louvered windows and I d*mn near joined him! Sorry but you HAD to be there to fully appreciate just how HORRIFIC IT WAS!

 

If the well water is colder than surface water, and it usually is, it will stop the plant growth for a couple of days. In the south in the US, the farmers will run a mile of pipe to get surface water before they will use well water on the crops.

 

I always thought water that came from below ground level was warmer than that above? I have noticed here when taking a shower (we pump water by hand and shower from a pail) that it is warmer if you take a shower straight after pumping the water. If you shower the next morning; I swear a Brass Monkey could sing soprano afterwards!

 

Might be a lava spill deep down in the earths crust warming the water, who knows go a bit deeper and you could have free hot water