Rain Water Collection and Storage

[William P.N. Smith]

I built and use a home rainwater catchment system... it is the only way for
me.... and use this water for everything except for drinking and cooking....

as to the quantity of water used every day.... I have limited it to
about 10 gallons a day.... which includes a quick shower.....

Are you doing laundry yet, Gig? 8*)

 

[JNJ]

With a flexible water tank, it can be an addition to a restful

lifestyle: http://compusmiths.com/TomPronal.jpg or a fun one:
http://compusmiths.com/WaterTrampoline.jpg

Hmmmm...so whenever you want to take a shower, send the kids out to jump on
their water trampoline -- then you don't need a pump!

James

 

[JNJ]

with no conservation, 2 adults and 3 kids, a washing machine that runs
once

daily, and a dishwasher that runs once daily, we were hard pressed to use
more than 35 gallons / day / person. Now we use about 15 / person, and the
composting toilet will drop that even further.

I cannot wrap my mind around this low of a usage. Our washing machine alone
uses 52 gallons per heavy load and at the moment we're right at the 100
gallons per day per person rate. We're not even doing anything that is
especially wasteful -- just normal day-to-day living.

James

 

[JNJ]

are you irrigating or filling a swimming pool on a regular basis?

No, not at all. In fact, my outside spigots have been shut down all summer
(one burst this winter and the other had a pipe burst downstairs; I haven't
gotten around to fixing either of them). I'm about to re-check my toilets
again to make sure the flappers aren't leaking (food coloring in the tank
trick) and I'll be reinspecting the plumbing in the basement for leaks, but
I'm pretty much out of ideas otherwise. I'm going to install a dishwasher
soon -- that will cut back on some of our water usage as well.

James

 

[Nick Pine]

Wouldn't it burst?

It might need reinforcement (eg shadecloth) if filled to more than a 1' depth.
Greek and Israeli greenhouses have 25 cm (10") water ducts between rows to
store solar heat overnight, "pressurized" by raising each end about 0.5 m
(1.6') above the ground.

Nick

 

[clare @ snyder.on .ca]

I thought the North American Wasteful Standard was 100 gallons per
day, and I know the regional water authority just asked our town to
get us down to 65 gallons per day. Several people in the newsgroup
seem to live on a lot less, though they may move some of their water
use elsewhere. 8*)

My wife and I spent the last week "camping" with our trailer. Water
tank holds 20 US gallons. We also took 5 gallons of drinking water.
The main tank lasted 5 days, the drinking water all week. Showers were
not included. In a pinch the lake looks after that, but we had the use
of a shower-house.
Two summers ago when I was in West Africa, a shower was 3 gallons
max.

 

[Veronica Gazzola]

How would one go about building a slow sand filter

 

[j.b. miller]

How about getting a used swimming pool filter unit and letting the water go
in the top hole and collecting the filtered water that will drip,drip,drip
out the drain ?
Simple,cheap.No need for the control valve,just the filter container. Local
swimming shops may have a 'body' for you for free too !!

FWIW
Jay

 

[NOONE]

This is not the case in all areas. We live in remote West Virginia. The
land that feeds you with many many millions of cubic feet of natural
gas. This gas comes out of wells just like your water does. Many wells

Can you collect enought amount of this gas to power your stove? If you can,
then it is possible to boil the water to collect its steam for a
distillation process to get good water for cooking/drinking.

 

[Hollywood]

How would one go about building a slow sand filter

If you have to build it yourself, start your tube with the small stuff and work up to the big
stuff.

This is going to sound like a survivor story but I have built filters from things ranging from
PVC pipe to bamboo.

In the roughest conditions, I have stuffed a couple of handfuls of grass into a three foot long
piece of bamboo, followed by enough packed sand to fill about two feet and then small rocks to
filled to the top.

If you have access to one, a pre-backwashed clean pool filter might work. If you don't need it
right away, empty out the sand and let it dry in the sun to evaporate the chlorine.

 

[Steve Spence]

a 55 gallon drum (make that 2, one for the roughing filter) as described at
http://webconx.green-trust.org/cistern.htm

or you could type in "slow sand filter" into google.

 

[Walter Daniels]

Michael,

There is as much water here as there was 3.5 billion years ago. The same
amount will always exist on this planet. That's a fact. People like you
who chant "you must conserve... the water is running out!" are generally
ignored. Nothing personal, but I've lived long enough to hear this water
conservation argument come up every 10-15 years (since the '60's) and
then it quietly fades away. As it should. You see, 40 years have passed
and we still have lots of water. Holler "wolf" one too many times and no
one listens to you!

Perhaps you should talk to "farmers" in the West and SouthWest US.
Out there "groundwater" is badly depleted. So badly, that it is
causing restrictions in how much they can pump. IIRC, it is being
pumped "up," 2-4 times as fast as it replenishes. You are familiar
with the concept of "replenishment," aren't you? (Deficit spending,
IOW.) In the 1960's The colorado actually dlowed at the Gulf. Today,
it barely exists, at that same point.

This is not "Cryiing Wolf," but real, _hard_ fact. Refusing to admit
facts, because they are inconvenient, is just as much "Chicken
little."

Dean

Sig coming soon

 

[Walter Daniels]

The others are right - you're nothing but a troll. You make claims about
water being _everywhere_ but can't address the issue that it isn't. Complaining
about where people live or how much your taxes are doesn't address the
real problem of supply not meeting demand.

Woerse yet, he has _proved_ that he is an engineer, probably with an
MBA. He willingly pays, to receive and contaminate, something that
falls from the sky for *free.* He does so, in the name of "saving
money." =8-0