Rain water storage in SA

[Savage805]

How substantial does the footing need to be? We talking concrete slab? Pea gravel?

My installation was a DIY project and I just used a 4" footing. Being level is probably more of a concern. Shifting of the base would most likely break the seals on a metal cistern. The size you were talking about (one solid piece) a few inches of sand would be fine to avoid puncture from below.

 

[Savage805]

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[Watchdog]

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Those are cool collection tanks I like the smaller footprint. How much can they hold?

 

[Savage805]

They are appox. 1100 gal. each. They are on the uphill side of the house to improve the water pressure. They are also hidden from the street. If you didn't know they were there you would never see them. The narrow profile works better for us living in the city. I don't recall how much they cost but they were more expensive than the round tanks. They are also daisy chained with the yellow hose seen at the bottom of the picture.

 

[breakingcontact]

You guys have some nice setups. Im planning on one or two smaller tanks. I forget if they are 125 or 250 each. Yes I know water goes quick but my space is pretty limited.

 

[HKaltwasser]

How substantial does the footing need to be? We talking concrete slab? Pea gravel?

Sand.

I like those slender metal tanks.

 

[RetArmySgt]

Lots of good info here.
Rainwater Harvesting

 

[ScorpionHunter]

I have valves on the two main lines that run to the tank. I open them up and let gravity do it's magic, then close them once the pressure reduces before it sucks any unwanted material back in. It's enough to keep them clean of the sitting water.

Are you running a UV ionization unit?

I have an ozone generator running with a sand filter as the water in the tank recycles for a few hours every night. Then at the house, I have two canister filters and finally a u/v light that hits the water right before it goes into lines in the house.

If you don't mind dumbing down your purge process a bit for me, in what part of the pipe is there pressure? The stagnant water I have is in the underground pipes and vertical pipes at the level of the top of the tank. In other words, I have a "U" where the pipes come vertical off the gutters down to the ground, make 90 degree bends to horizontal underground to travel to the tank, then 90 degrees back to vertical as high as the top of the thank, then 90 degrees to horizontal to hit the first flush, then finally into the tank.

 

[HKaltwasser]

I have an ozone generator running with a sand filter as the water in the tank recycles for a few hours every night. Then at the house, I have two canister filters and finally a u/v light that hits the water right before it goes into lines in the house.

If you don't mind dumbing down your purge process a bit for me, in what part of the pipe is there pressure? The stagnant water I have is in the underground pipes and vertical pipes at the level of the top of the tank. In other words, I have a "U" where the pipes come vertical off the gutters down to the ground, make 90 degree bends to horizontal underground to travel to the tank, then 90 degrees back to vertical as high as the top of the thank, then 90 degrees to horizontal to hit the first flush, then finally into the tank.

I have access points in between the main feed lines to the tank. They are lower than the collection points on the house and the tank. When you open those valves, the gravity of that lower point will force the water out. It doesn't clean 100% of it out, but it does it well enough not "stink up" the tank water.

I probably didn't explain it well enough to paint a good visualization of it.

 

[KBMiii]

I recently set up a 55gal barrel to a rain gutter. I bought the bendable tubing from Lowes and the barrel from Dave The Barrel Man.
I was a little skeptical of the setup until the big rain shower Thursday night, it was almost over flowing from that one night!
Now I need to find a way to transfer the water to another container in case it rains again.

 

[HKaltwasser]

I recently set up a 55gal barrel to a rain gutter. I bought the bendable tubing from Lowes and the barrel from Dave The Barrel Man.
I was a little skeptical of the setup until the big rain shower Thursday night, it was almost over flowing from that one night!
Now I need to find a way to transfer the water to another container in case it rains again.

It doesn't have an overflow outlet that you can route to another barrel?

 

[KBMiii]

HKaltwasser, yes there is a spigot at the bottom. I just did not expect the barrel to fill up completely in one night.
This is an unfinished project I should have said. I need to get some more containers (I am thinking 5gal) to store the water in.
The primary purpose of this is to provide water for my future garden and to help water the lawn and various plants that my wife has.

 

[RetArmySgt]

I recently set up a 55gal barrel to a rain gutter. I bought the bendable tubing from Lowes and the barrel from Dave The Barrel Man.
I was a little skeptical of the setup until the big rain shower Thursday night, it was almost over flowing from that one night!
Now I need to find a way to transfer the water to another container in case it rains again.

Try this one.
How To Make Your Own Rain Barrel | Survivalist Daily

 

[HKaltwasser]

HKaltwasser, yes there is a spigot at the bottom. I just did not expect the barrel to fill up completely in one night.
This is an unfinished project I should have said. I need to get some more containers (I am thinking 5gal) to store the water in.
The primary purpose of this is to provide water for my future garden and to help water the lawn and various plants that my wife has.

Usually there's an overflow outlet at the side of the top to re route overflow to another area or container.

 

[KBMiii]

RetArmySgt, that is pretty cool. I can see several ways that would benefit my garden.

HKaltwasser, there is one at the bottom.

 

[HKaltwasser]

RetArmySgt, that is pretty cool. I can see several ways that would benefit my garden.

HKaltwasser, there is one at the bottom.

If it's at the bottom, it's not an overflow. It's either a main supply or alternate.

 

[J. Fred]

I have 2 -1000 gal. tanks. One is rainwater collection. It feeds a water trough for wildlife. Helps in circulating water through the tank.



The other is fed by the well. It feeds two water troughs for wildlife.