avoid water shortage

[Rick]

Consider putting in what I did ....I have a 6500L underground storage tank.

All of my downpipes go to underground surface water drain as normal ... what I have is after final gulley connection, I have the pipe diverted to tank ... so it collects all roof water.

I added a large outbuilding last year and have also added that to take feed.

System is automatic .. as long as water is >10% in tank the system provide mains pressure recycled water, if tank drops below 10%, it auto tops up with mains water ... saving messing about with manual divert valves etc. I plumbed in a 3rd pipe run in house .. So I have Hot, Cold & recycled ... the recycled goes to the WC's washing m/c and outside taps.

At least 30% of your water is used in flushing your loo .... so I save well over that.

You can buy the bits individually, I bought it as a System from ...

I found after sales pretty dire, product itself is OK. Been in use now for 10 yrs.

[Weatherlawyer]

Massive!

How do I get one in my terrace?

[Weatherlawyer]

Ha just thought.

Can I utilise the chimney stack?

If I replace the plasterboard front downstairs and use that foam glue and some 3/4 ply with a sheet of PVC damp proof?

Any suggestions on how to fit the tap? I have an angle grinder. Will that help?

What could I use to divert more water from the gutters into the stack? Some sort of pump but it would have to be weatherproof as well as waterproof. Or is that the same thing?

[jgharston]

Just for a toilet, like this:

[Moonraker]

A very grand looking system Rik, no price though. On the principle "if you have to ask the price you cannot afford it" I guess I will not be having one.

[Brian Gaff]

It won't be long before they start taxing us on storing water individually, as presumably everyone who does this will be depriving the rest. Brian

[Steve Firth]

And how do you prevent the water going septic?

[Jules Richardson]

Savlon?

[Rick]

I did a self build ... and a lot of things I built-in have long term benefits .. yes they did add to cost of house, but marginal compared to main build.

Water Storage Heat Recovery (air) Underfloor Heating (14 zones) Central vacuum cleaner Distributed video Distributed audio Full structured wiring to every room etc.

As I did install of each myself ... savings were considerable .. plus all VAT reclaimable.

[Rick]

I actually went to authority and they dropped my rates .. as they do not have to take my surface water ...

[Rick]

It doesn't .... it is stored underground in total darkness, pre-filtered on entry to tank ... I open tank once a year and water is crystal clear ...

I suppose it's same as an underground source - that dos not go septic.

No light so no growth. ?

The pick up actually floats 4" below surface of water so anything floating does not get sucked up .. plus pick up is a large filter.

When tank is full the surface overflows to waste taking any surface floater with it.

It is not potable water though ...

[Rick]

Be interested how you would apply it ? (angle grinder ?)

[grimly4]

That occurred to me too. Best I could come up with was a gallon of disinfectant lobbed in every so often - or perhaps a circulating UV system, if that would work and wouldn't be pricey.

[Jules Richardson]

Pressure washer!

[Steve Firth]

Rainwater collection is something we do in Italy, not much choice given metered water charges and the shortage of water. We filter the water flowing into the tank, after it passes through a sand trap, but the OP's system sounded cruder than that. UV systems are an option, but we don't use the water for flushing or washing.

I'm not sure that I would consider a system that just piped rainwater into the tank without cleaning it first.

[grimly4]

Err... no. At the moment it all (or a huge amount) runs off down the drains and doesn't get a chance to percolate down into the subsoil. The depriving of the rest happens by other means...

I've been convinced for years that the root cause of the drought conditions in England most years is simply due to excess land drainage by farmers on hillsides. It's all fed into the rivers and nothing much goes to the reservoirs. Similarly, millions of houses shed their rainwater into the drains of one sort or another. The recent moves by planners to require permeable car parking in front of housing is a step in the right direction, imo, but just a drop in the bucket.

[grimly4]

Definitely not. If I construct something here I'll be filtering it, at the very least to get the bird shit/moss/crawlies out of it. Rooves are pretty unhygenic places, from what I see.

[Tim]

Aren't folk losing sight of the fact that Rick is only using this water for toilets, washing machines and the garden? I'm sure it's plenty clean enough for those purposes.

Tim

[grimly4]

Certainly so for toilet cisterns, but I'd be leary of using it untreated for washing machine rinses.

[ARWadsworth]