More water collection

[dcg9381]

We built (and lived in) our shop before our residence went up. The shop serves as infrastructure for the house - water collection, water filtration, water pump, etc. We've been living on 15,000 gallons for the last 2-3 years and have had to truck in water as Texas has been under drought conditions on and off.

Texas A&M has an excellent water collection spreadsheet. Give it roof area, average rain fall, tank size, etc - and it can determine (depending on usage) the sustainability of off-grid water collection. I used this when we designed the house. At the time, the shop was 2400 sqft of roof area. We've expanded it since.

Spreadsheet/calculator: Rainwater Harvest Calculator

I've "slowed down" on projects - working all weekend every weekend didn't leave me much left over... But my spouse gave me a nudge this weekend to complete the water project. We added another 10,000 gallons of collection off the house. I still need do the final plumbing between the tanks, but hopefully this will get us by without having to tank in water again.

Why did we choose water collection? A well here starts at about $20,000. Not counting my labor I'm in for less than that with 5 x 5,000 gallon tanks. Also the water here is exceptionally hard (almost off the scale) and rain water tests as much cleaner - it's easier on the house and much easier to clean up to be drinkable. The water table in Texas continues to decline, so I'm expecting dry wells in the next 5 years.

A few photos:

 

[chad215]

Looks great! I'll getting ready to start my collection system. I'm only getting a 500g tank to start since I'm not at my property all the time and it's a shop more than a residence. Do you have any info/pics on your filtration and stages? I have an idea of what I'm going to do but would like to see some proven methods.

 

[dcg9381]

Looks great! I'll getting ready to start my collection system. I'm only getting a 500g tank to start since I'm not at my property all the time and it's a shop more than a residence. Do you have any info/pics on your filtration and stages? I have an idea of what I'm going to do but would like to see some proven methods.

Chad, our filtration is fairly simple:
1) Spin down (rough) sediment filter
2) Large (20"x8") sediment filter for fine sediment.
3) UV system to kill anything remaining.

You can buy some of these systems "off the shelf" - they look like this - ours is just a bit larger:


That's it, all plumbed in appropriate sizes for volume, of course. The system serves the kitchen in the shop and provides a water main to the house.

You can drink the water like this. I had it tested before and after by a company called Stephens Ecology.

We have additional filtration at the house for "drinking water" faucets and ice makers, but it's a simple reverse osmosis system (2 sediment filters, membrane, and additional UV) - I designed the house plumbing so one RO system served several locations.

 

[chad215]

Awesome and thank you- Any chance you've got a link to the filter above so I can check it out?

 

[dcg9381]

Sure.. Here are several filtration / UV systems:

Whole House UV Water Disinfection and Water Filtering Systems. Whole House treatment, filtering and Ultraviolet water disinfection systems. Chemical free whole house treatment systems

Water Treatment with UV water purifiers and cartridge water filters. Chemical free water filtering, treatment and disinfection. Water filters with UV disinfection combination units for home and commercial water treatment. Whole House UV water sanitizers and water filter systems

purestfilters.com

 

[chad215]

Do you bother with a "first flush" system? I have a white metal roof and my building is taller than the trees around me. I've heard that unless you have a very dirty roof, it may not make much difference.

 

[dcg9381]

Yes, there is a first flush system in front of every tank in addition to a "leaf guard" - basically a screen for leaves, etc. The first flush collects a substantial amount of what I'd deem as "gunk". I assume it's largely dust and other **** that's in the air, but it does accumulate over time and they need to be cleaned every few months.

I don't think they are absolutely necessary, but I'm trying to avoid having to clean tanks themselves after a few years.

For those who don't know what this is, it's a very simple mechanical float system that "looses" the first X gallons of water that come off the roof. I've shown a diagram below.

The other thing I should mention is that the first flush systems will ice in freezing weather and have to be disabled - otherwise you'll burst PVC.

 

[ycgoat]

Any concerns or problems with bird droppings; do the UV and RO systems keep that and other microbial under control

 

[BombShelter]

Awesome! I used to sell industrial plastic piping and loved helping put together systems similar to yours. Up here with the rements of Silicone Valley of the Midwest, we had (have) a lot of companies that specialized in water treatment for circuit boards, chip production, etc. Osmonics is a big one, they sell equipment for every application.

Osmonics - Reverse Osmosis System Archives - Complete Water Solutions

complete-water.com

Now I work with foundations and am always telling home-owners that the little 50 gallon drum under their drain spout isn't going to hold much of a rain storm, they need big tanks like you have!

I have an Aquasana set up for my house with the UV, I'm just checking out their site, they've really gone up in price over the last few years. If you do a set up like this buy some extra true-union ball valves so it's easier to unhook parts to maintain or replace filters.

Aquasana Water Filters | Whole House Water Filtration Systems

Enjoy clean and great-tasting water straight from your faucet! Aquasana offers drinking water filters, shower filters & whole house systems at an amazing price.

www.aquasana.com