Collecting And Using Rainwater With Government Water Backup?

[Wentworth]

I would be grateful for polite suggestions please, about this, bearing in mind I know diddly-squat about plumbing.

I was hoping to collect the rainwater for garden use, by way of taps around the garden wall as it's too impractical to lug a hose.

I was told it's possible to combine the collection of rainwater along with government supply for the dry periods, in one tank. I wonder about rainwater overflow and I've been told that even a specifically designed 'Rainwater Collecting Tank' would need a manual diversion system, which is just not on. Also, as the taps are plumbed to a particular tank then I would need government water as a backup.

Is it possible to install a tank that has a rainwater overflow diversion as well as a government water inlet??

[kevjohn]

This is only a quick hand drawn diagram of what I have.

Hope it is of some use to you

Thai House Tank.pdf

The idea of my setup is that if every there is a dry spell then the tank can be filled in readiness for if

the town water fails.

Edited September 21, 2012 by kevjohn

[Wentworth]

I really appreciate the drawing. How do you cope with rainwater overflow?

[55Jay]

Without opening can of worms on rain vs. city, I will presume you have no objection to mixing supplies.

1. Mixing. KevJ's sketch is pretty neat if you are hard over on mixing into one tank. You should not leave the downcomer hose attached all the time and should flush before capturing, and still use screen/filter to keep bugs, twigs, leaves and dead birds out of your storage tank.

2. You could have 1 city tank and 1 rain collection tank next to each other and connect them both to the same pump with a Y gate and valve to select which tank for suction. It would introduce rain water in your house pipes though when taking a suction off the rain tank.

Overflow on rain tank:

- Cut off valve on the downcomer hose, but not recommended for a couple reasons.

- Punch an overflow at top edge of tank, and run a pipe down or off to wherever you want.

- Remove the downcomer hose when tank is full.

I don't know the lay out, size or location of your property but other thougts I have are:

3. If your city pressure off the street is good enough and city supply isn't really a problem even in dry season, then think about installing a sprikler system right off the main city line coming in off the street. If your garden is before your storage tank, this will provide hands off watering without depleting the water level of your storage tank. You could put in a second city collection tank, linked to your first, for extra storage and piece of mind.

4. Install an independant rain collection tank and pump just for your garden. In a pinch, you can also top up your city house tank by hose if you ever got into dire straits in a dry spell or water supply problem. Depending on your property config, this might involve some minor civil work + the piping.

I use my rain collection/pump for garden watering as much as possible, and city for the house. Topped up my house tank from rain supply once but that was an unsual situation.

Good luck.

J

[kevjohn]

I really appreciate the drawing. How do you cope with rainwater overflow?

The pipes delivering the rain water to the tank can be swung away from the tank inlet.

The inlet is covered with fine aluminium gauze to prevent rubbish from entering.

If it has been dry for some time, then the rain water from the fist good rainfall is allowed to

flow to the ground, so that dust and whatever does not enter the tank..

To answer 55jay concern re mixing town and rain water, due to the rainfall that we receive,

we have never had to put town water into the tank as we have a good supply of town water.

This option is something that would only be used, as a last resort, if there was a great period of time between rainfalls

and we were to lose our town water supply for some reason.

We also use our tank water for drinking, after boiling.

Hopefully you will get more suggestions to enable you to sort out you situation....Good luck

[55Jay]

Realized my response does not address your inquiry exactly - you want to be rain with gov back up.

I deleted above post but was timed out on Edit, so you got the original.

[kevjohn]

Realized my response does not address your inquiry exactly - you want to be rain with gov back up.

I deleted above post but was timed out on Edit, so you got the original.

I would not say that.

I think all suggestions and experiences can help people decide what is best for their situation.

At least you shared your thought on the question, asked by Wentworth, to maybe give him an answer to his problem....

Edited September 21, 2012 by kevjohn

[JeffreyMcCollum]

My mom farm in Oregon uses a rain water, as they say catchment system

I lived 20 years in Hawaii, over 50% of the homes there use catchment systems for water use

It is very simple. and your system seems even simpler not needing a filter for drinking

And all the tank needs is a simple over flow drain.

We used 5000 - 10,000 gallon tanks, but you don't need that much

PM me if you want help

[wayned]

I collect rain water - roof runoff - in 12 big cement cisterns via rain gutter and moveable downspouts. When they are full, they just overflow onto the gravel drain base they are sitting on.My government water goes into a stainless steel tank and is connected to a pump for pressure delivery to the house. I have a dedicated pump into one of the rain water cisterns which is plumbed to an extra faucet in the kitchen for drinking purposes. When the "drinking" cistern gets low I fill it using a submersible pump placed into one of the other cisterns. If the government water is off - happens frequently where I live - I use the same submersible pump to fill the stainless steel tank. I do it through a system of valves and hoses, not manually moving the hoses, only the pump. Pratical where I live in the "boonies", but wouldn't work in small area.