Water pump for water thank

[Pink7]

I have set up some water thanks who collect rainwater, then one of this thanks is set up to clean water for drinking, so a need away to get water from the other thanks to the drinking water thank.. a not to big mobile pump maybe?

 

Pink

[Crossy]

Assuming you have power near the tanks there are loads of simple submersible pumps about, add enough hose to reach where you need the water to go and you're good.

[Saanim]

Harvesting rain water: It should be noted that the receiving water will be very dirty, even after the roof was cleaned by rain a day before. Not only the gutters but the roof will get dusty not only from surrounding roads but also from the vegetation, a fine black dust. After the season when cleaning the tank you will find few cm of a black mud at the bottom of tank.

 

Anyway, the water can be used once properly sedimented, the outlet taken few cm above the bottom mud.  If you are buying a plastic tank you will see at the bottom 2 different outlets, however, they are not very distanced. And the lower outlet for the draining is not really at the bottom of the tank.  So if you need it to flush the dirt fully out, you need to move the tank in an angle and spray the dirt from the top.

 

Conclusion: when buying plastic tank, to think on proper outlet for draining and to think how to flush it properly.  If building by concrete, prepare the bottom in a good slope and the outlet with not so small valve (should be 2").

 

The quality of the stored water can be improved by an occasional addition of alum, alaune, (potassium aluminium sulphate), in Thailand very easily and cheaply available:  SaanSom,  in pieces (ice-like) or milled, a wonderful material that flocculates and clear the water, in Thai villages well known.  In Europe known as small sticks for  blood stopping after shaving.

 

The sedimented rain water can be re-pumped into the central storage tank where from the water is taken by an automatic pressure pump for house demand. And it should go through a sand filter that can be backwashed after some time (then surprised when seeing how much it was dirty).

 

No special sand needs to be filled in, just a washed out  river sand.       

Edited June 4, 2021 by Saanim

[Artisi]

31 minutes ago, Saanim said:

Harvesting rain water: It should be noted that the receiving water will be very dirty, even after the roof was cleaned by rain a day before. Not only the gutters but the roof will get dusty not only from surrounding roads but also from the vegetation, a fine black dust. After the season when cleaning the tank you will find few cm of a black mud at the bottom of tank.

 

Anyway, the water can be used once properly sedimented, the outlet taken few cm above the bottom mud.  If you are buying a plastic tank you will see at the bottom 2 different outlets, however, they are not very distanced. And the lower outlet for the draining is not really at the bottom of the tank.  So if you need it to flush the dirt fully out, you need to move the tank in an angle and spray the dirt from the top.

 

Conclusion: when buying plastic tank, to think on proper outlet for draining and to think how to flush it properly.  If building by concrete, prepare the bottom in a good slope and the outlet with not so small valve (should be 2").

 

The quality of the stored water can be improved by an occasional addition of alum, alaune, (potassium aluminium sulphate), in Thailand very easily and cheaply available:  SaanSom,  in pieces (ice-like) or milled, a wonderful material that flocculates and clear the water, in Thai villages well known.  In Europe known as small sticks for  blood stopping after shaving.

 

The sedimented rain water can be re-pumped into the central storage tank where from the water is taken by an automatic pressure pump for house demand. And it should go through a sand filter that can be backwashed after some time (then surprised when seeing how much it was dirty).

 

No special sand needs to be filled in, just a washed out  river sand.       

Washed river sand is a very poor choice/fllter material, you should use "sharp" sand (if available????) or commercial filter material. 

[Pink7]

I have already a water purifier with 3 different filters

 

 

Pink

[Saanim]

1 hour ago, Artisi said:

Washed river sand is a very poor choice

What I do with the poor choice when seeing what's coming in and what's getting out...

[Bagwain]

2 hours ago, Saanim said:

What I do with the poor choice when seeing what's coming in and what's getting out...

You are gulding the Lillie!

Plus putting a pool in the picture is rubbish. Here you go again being the expert when you are clearly not!

There is no way the sand filter would clean that water to what you are proposing & intimating!

Get real!!

[Saanim]

1 hour ago, Bagwain said:

Here you go again being the expert when you are clearly not!

There is no way the sand filter would clean that water to what you are proposing & intimating!

Get real!!

I do not claim to be an expert, yielding that to others...

And I agree that the sand filter alone cannot filter the iron (and other heavy metals happily contained in such a ground water). 

 

However, in my more than 10 years being reliant on water source from bore well only I have developed a way how to get a clear water that is also acceptable to a low chlorination that a swimming pool needs. Otherwise, any small iron content will be immediately discovered by chlorine, hence will discolor the water.

 

That was the case in my first pool days, when an "expert"sold me a large sand filter vessel, guaranteed a perfect cleaning directly from the fresh bore water. What happened when added a bit of chlorine shows the picture.  Luckily, I got an advice from another (real) expert who advises to add SaanSom (alum). Within 5 days the black water slowly disappeared and a feather-like clouds stayed at the bottom that I could suck out.

 

       

[Saanim]

Continuation of my story with ferrous water.

My next improvement was a creation of few sand filters in the way as it is shown in villages, however, they do not feed a swimming pool. The fresh water is led onto a upper concrete ring tank with sand at the bottom, the filtered water flows into the two tanks underneath and further on into other sand filters, if any. Some provide shower stream with purpose of airing the water for faster oxidation. It does not help, the oxidation needs more time.

  

This filter assembly also does not work properly, after 2 weeks the sand of the upper filter is clogged by a fine iron rust layer, the water does not go through but over the edge.

[Saanim]

Continuation of rusty water story:

After struggling with the clogged sand, trying to flush it, seeing that it needs something else.  The whole trick lies in the proper oxidation of the fresh water, the iron in form of fine rust will settle at the bottom, clear water taken above the settled rust.

 

For purpose of the oxidation/sedimentation I built by blocks and bricks a tank 4 cbm on top of an auxiliary building, with a partition wall that separate somehow the inlet from outlet, however, the water can go slowly through holes in the separation wall. Having the water settled for 2 -3 days, adding immediately chlorine for speeding up the oxidation, another day alum for faster clearing, flocculation. 

 

After initial filling and settling for 3 days I had opened flow of the new water in small portions, controlled by a level switch on/off on the top of the tank. The outgoing water goes by gravitation into pressure vessel sand filter (possible to be backwashed), then further into 3 gravitation sand filters in series (concrete tanks). Then the water is collected in a storage tank ca. 5 cbm.  From there an automatic pressure pump taking the water pushing it through the last filter (No.5) , being pressure vessel sand filter (backwashed) for the demand of house and swimming pool 60 cbm. 

 

The water goes through 5 sand filters connected in series.

 

  

[Saanim]

With this solution I had received at last a clear water, being able also to chlorinate slightly the swimming pool. However, it had needed a lot of effort, regularly adding chlorine and alum for the sedimentation, and frequently backwashing the first and last pressure vessel.

 

But there is another however: after certain time, every 2 - 3 months, the sedimentation tank had to be cleaned, the rust layer at the bottom comes to some 5 cm thick.  An unbelievable mess that does not move out by itself even over small slope and strong spraying, it has to be squeegeed to get it to the drain outlet.  

 

The first picture shows completely clear water coming from the bore well, that however turns in that ugly rusty water within 20 minutes by the oxidation phenomena.

 

The last picture shows how the water hads cleared up after 3 days with help of chlorine and alum, the rust laying at the bottom 

Edited June 4, 2021 by Saanim

[Saanim]

^{The story does not end here: in addition to the top tank cleaning every 2 -3 months - and backwashing the pressure vessel sand filters - it needed after more than 1 year more cleaning. To exchange the sand filling completely, to fill it with new sand (the poor choice, washed river sand available in different sizes ca. 0.5, 1, 2-3,  4-5 mm at nearby village.  (the same I fill in my sand filter for swimming pool).}

 

From the pictures we see the first sand with the residues of pure ferrous rust (with some clayish addition). Whilst the sand from the last pressure vessel (No.5) is totally black and heavy, those are heavy metals, manganites, their oxidation occurs later than the iron.  The last picture show how the new washed river sand looks like.  

 

 

[Saanim]

Another continuation of my struggling with the rusty water:  

The continuous small additions of the new water into the sedimentation tank contaminate the partly cured water. The new rusty water will get dissolved into the clean water, even when more labyrinths are put in-between the inlet and outlet. Seeing it so in other larger facilities, at villages, hospitals, the water gets rusty anyway. That's the cause of the heavy soiling of the sands as I showed above. 

 

To avoid this, later, after having the new sand filling, I had stopped the continuous process of addition new water. Filling the top tank and waiting on the clearing 2 - 3 days (with heavier addition of the chlorine and alum). Then only emptying the whole tank volume, letting it through the filter cascade up to the storage tank. And fill in again the new water into the top tank for sedimenting.

 

With this intermittent process I have avoided the enormous soiling of the sands. However, it had needed a daily observing water levels, filling, emptying, addition of chlorine and alum. 

Remark: a small addition of chlorine is good to give timely also into the storage tank, to avoid some bad germs creation and to help with the later oxidation of heavy metals.  

 

In fact, after few years I had tried with another solution: getting the water from river over 100 m. For that purpose I had dug out a well at the bank of the river. And  with a submersible pump  brought the water into the top tank. To my disappointment the water was also not clean, even after a year. Although not really ferrous but contaminated with clay that also needed to have it oxidised and settled. Then running it 50/50 with the bore water, it helped a bit to the sedimentation.

 

With all these troubles I had provided over 10 years my clean water. Finally,  3 years ago the tessabaan system was brought near to my house. And with some small donation I was lucky to get the water up to the house, thus stopped with my struggling.

 

However, the swimming pool does not see the difference of the struggled water and of the easy water (not so cheap). And even if some "experts" do not believe it all...