Water Collection System Our Rainwater Harvesting and Collection System: Our Rainwater collection system is composed of basically the existing roof of our house, standard gutters, and down-spouts. We have two collection tanks, one above ground galvanized 1150 gallon tank, and a underground steel tank of 1500 gallons. A two and a half inch PVC pipe leads from the tanks an electric pump and 40 gallon pressure tank. We use the water unfiltered to water the lawn and garden, but there is also two course filters and an ever-pure filtration system that can filter the water for domestic use if needed. For some time we did not use any city water, the meter was not even turned on. Then the city tried to sue us for illegal use of the sewer, since obviously we were flushing the toilet, but not buying any water. So we had that turned on and we have not heard from them again; although we have used very little of the city water supply. The Pump Room: The pump room is nothing more than a small outside closet that is about 24 by 30 inches where you would usually find the typical gas hot water heater. The gas hot water heater has been removed and replaced with a electrical pump on the floor on the right side, the pressure tank for the rain-water collection system is on the left, a back-up five gallon electrical water heater sits on a shelf above the pressure tank. The water filters and a variety of switching valves are also located in the pump room over the pump on the right wall of the pump room. This makes it very easy to connect to the existing plumbing to the house. As a note the city water system and the rain-water collection system are not connected in any way; so there is no chance of contaminating our precious rain water with the contaminated city water supply. As for maintenance all there is to do is replace the filter cartridges about every six month, as you would do with any conventional water system filter. Domestic Hot Water System: The hot water side of our water system is mainly heated by a home-made thermo-siphon solar panel. The tank was made from a old gas water heater tank . The Temperature in the thermo-siphon tank usually remains above 140°F with an average temperature of 160°F, but if left unused for several days it can easily reach the boiling point and pop the pressure valve to let off excess steam. The thermo-siphon tank leads to a back-up five gallon electrical water heater, set to 105°F, which seldom if ever comes on and also acts as a buffer when the solar water is extremely hot. The backup is just for periods of several cold and cloudy days. During periods or extreme freezing conditions the thermo-siphon tank can be drained and by-passed, just to make sure none of the pipes will freeze. The drain flows back into the rainwater collection system so no water is lost. As for maintenance the thermo-siphon panel must be purged once and awhile to remove any sand or mineral deposits that may have entered the system, this helps keep it operating at it's peak performance. Ponds: We have two fish ponds. One ground level in the front, and one above ground in the back which are filled when the rainwater collection system is full. Each pond has it's own filtration system, with fountain, and pump. Each stocked with plants, fish, snails, and the occasional frog. Water Harvesting and Pond Links on the Net: Texas Natural Resources has some nice PDF files all about collecting rainwater in Texas, or any place for that matter. Texas Guide to Rainwater Harvesting | (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) Rain Harvesting Video Presentation | (Requires Real Player) Van Ness Water Gardens has a nice catalog also in PDF file format with lots of pond care tips and accessories. UNSORTED RAINWATER HARVESTING LINKS: World Climate Historical Weather Averages Search for Location Austin Dam Travis County Average Rainfall Manchaca, Travis County, Texas USA Average Rainfall Domestic Rainwater Harvesting Report Harvesting Rainwater for Landscape Use SimTanka Downloadable Program Page Water Supply for the Florida Solar Cracker House Sizing the System Roofwater Harvesting Research Group Rainwater catchment system at ccat | Drawing Re: Rainwater not as pure as it used to be... Texas Wildflower Research Center Rain Water | Tank | Gutters Rainwater Catchment Systems Wet Harvest by Suzy Banks The Alberta Sustainable Home Re: Centrally supplied fresh & hot water Rainwater harvesting: a new water source by Jan Gerston Solar Power | Rainwater Collection 101 Gardening Links Sourcebook Harvested Rainwater The Answer Sleuth's cistern Green Building Disccssion, Agriboard The Greening-of-Data Interim Report, Water Issues Green Building Program Austin, Texas Research Highlights Canada Water Reuse Systems Rainwater Harvestion fron Rainwater Collection Over Texas Book on Rainwater Harvesting Available from TWDB Texas Water Development Board Rainwater Harvesting
Our Rainwater collection system is composed of basically the existing roof of our house, standard gutters, and down-spouts. We have two collection tanks, one above ground galvanized 1150 gallon tank, and a underground steel tank of 1500 gallons. A two and a half inch PVC pipe leads from the tanks an electric pump and 40 gallon pressure tank. We use the water unfiltered to water the lawn and garden, but there is also two course filters and an ever-pure filtration system that can filter the water for domestic use if needed. For some time we did not use any city water, the meter was not even turned on. Then the city tried to sue us for illegal use of the sewer, since obviously we were flushing the toilet, but not buying any water. So we had that turned on and we have not heard from them again; although we have used very little of the city water supply.
The pump room is nothing more than a small outside closet that is about 24 by 30 inches where you would usually find the typical gas hot water heater. The gas hot water heater has been removed and replaced with a electrical pump on the floor on the right side, the pressure tank for the rain-water collection system is on the left, a back-up five gallon electrical water heater sits on a shelf above the pressure tank. The water filters and a variety of switching valves are also located in the pump room over the pump on the right wall of the pump room. This makes it very easy to connect to the existing plumbing to the house. As a note the city water system and the rain-water collection system are not connected in any way; so there is no chance of contaminating our precious rain water with the contaminated city water supply. As for maintenance all there is to do is replace the filter cartridges about every six month, as you would do with any conventional water system filter.
The hot water side of our water system is mainly heated by a home-made thermo-siphon solar panel. The tank was made from a old gas water heater tank . The Temperature in the thermo-siphon tank usually remains above 140°F with an average temperature of 160°F, but if left unused for several days it can easily reach the boiling point and pop the pressure valve to let off excess steam. The thermo-siphon tank leads to a back-up five gallon electrical water heater, set to 105°F, which seldom if ever comes on and also acts as a buffer when the solar water is extremely hot. The backup is just for periods of several cold and cloudy days. During periods or extreme freezing conditions the thermo-siphon tank can be drained and by-passed, just to make sure none of the pipes will freeze. The drain flows back into the rainwater collection system so no water is lost. As for maintenance the thermo-siphon panel must be purged once and awhile to remove any sand or mineral deposits that may have entered the system, this helps keep it operating at it's peak performance.
We have two fish ponds. One ground level in the front, and one above ground in the back which are filled when the rainwater collection system is full. Each pond has it's own filtration system, with fountain, and pump. Each stocked with plants, fish, snails, and the occasional frog.
Texas Natural Resources has some nice PDF files all about collecting rainwater in Texas, or any place for that matter. Texas Guide to Rainwater Harvesting | (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) Rain Harvesting Video Presentation | (Requires Real Player) Van Ness Water Gardens has a nice catalog also in PDF file format with lots of pond care tips and accessories. UNSORTED RAINWATER HARVESTING LINKS: World Climate Historical Weather Averages Search for Location Austin Dam Travis County Average Rainfall Manchaca, Travis County, Texas USA Average Rainfall Domestic Rainwater Harvesting Report Harvesting Rainwater for Landscape Use SimTanka Downloadable Program Page Water Supply for the Florida Solar Cracker House Sizing the System Roofwater Harvesting Research Group Rainwater catchment system at ccat | Drawing Re: Rainwater not as pure as it used to be... Texas Wildflower Research Center Rain Water | Tank | Gutters Rainwater Catchment Systems Wet Harvest by Suzy Banks The Alberta Sustainable Home Re: Centrally supplied fresh & hot water Rainwater harvesting: a new water source by Jan Gerston Solar Power | Rainwater Collection 101 Gardening Links Sourcebook Harvested Rainwater The Answer Sleuth's cistern Green Building Disccssion, Agriboard The Greening-of-Data Interim Report, Water Issues Green Building Program Austin, Texas Research Highlights Canada Water Reuse Systems Rainwater Harvestion fron Rainwater Collection Over Texas Book on Rainwater Harvesting Available from TWDB Texas Water Development Board Rainwater Harvesting