Saturday, February 11, 2012

Rain Water Harvest System With A First Flush

The couple of days I got home before dark I was able to do some work on the rain water harvesting system.

Even though I had one in place, it was a make shift system and I was loosing many, many gallons of water every time it rained.
Plus I did not have a "First Flush" system in place to catch the contaminates before it dumped into the tanks.

What contaminates you ask, after all it's clean rain water right?

My house like most is an asphalt shingled roof and every time it rains some of the particles from the shingles wash off into the gutter making their way to the bottom of the storage tanks.
Plus there is the dirt and dust that collects on the roof from the normal everyday wind. We also live in a farming community way out in the boondocks where they still spray the fields with airplanes. Even though they are careful, I am sure some of the chemicals still settle on the roof tops of our houses.

 That is where the First Flush system helps out. It will collect around the first five to seven gallons of rain water and then bypass the flush system leaving the bad water in the pipe and dumping the clean water into the tank. The lingering heavier particles will still be able to fall to the bottom even during the bypass stage.
This system will reduce the build up of foreign matter in the tanks and increase the quality of the water.  


 The bypass is made up of 3" pipe, two 2"X3" adapters, a 3" clean out, a 2" sweeping "T" and an empty water bottle. This picture shows the bottle being placed in the bottom of the pipe then clean out cap is screwed back on finger tight.
When the water fills the pipe, the bottle floats and when it reaches the 2"X3" reducer, it clogs the hole and the water is bypassed into the tank. After the water is bypassed any left over heavy particles will hit the bottle and still sink to the bottom of the pipe.

After the rain has ended, all I have to do is unscrew the clean out cap on the bottom and drain the pipe.

Even though every rain water harvesting system should have a first flush, it will not collect 100% of everything. This water will be filtered enough to put on the gardens and to be used for the animals, but for the bathhouse I still want it to be filtered a little more.
Before it goes into the bathhouse, the water will be filtered using a hot tub filter.

Just wanted to share this. I thought somebody might need it in the future.    
         

32 comments:

  1. Looks like a good idea. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Very interesting, I had never heard of this before. Thanks for sharing, I always learn something new here :)

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  3. I hope it is useful to you Stephanie. Thanks for the comment.

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  4. Good job!!!
    YeOldFurt

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  5. Great system...well done..took notes.

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  6. Thanks buddy, hope your getting around better.

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  7. I just seen a documentary where they were able to collect meteorites off a roof top. THe guy put a really big magnet in a catch pan then ran the downspout over the magnet. He then sprayed water onto his roof for a while. So all of the runoff then ran directly over the magnet and anything metalic that was attracted by a magnet stuck to it. There was a lot of long black slivers that he said was slag but there was also 3 small round black pieces that he said were actually tiny pieces of iron meteorites. Thought it was pretty coolmaybe you can test it on your system, Do you have an old speaker with a big magnet on it?

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  8. Well HHBL, I never really thought of it. What good are they if I did find some?
    Interesting thought though.

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    1. Redneck, here is a link to the documentary showing him collecting the metiorites off his roof, if you want to take a look. Its at about the 4 minute mark. http://documentaryheaven.com/national-geographic-extreme-universe-collision-course/

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  9. we do the rooftop thing too...have a metal roof and wow, that is alot of water. we have three good sized sheds and i am now trying to convince my husband how convenient it would be to have water available near those sheds as well.

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  10. Anony - Oh how it saves time. The first one I built was at the Mini Barn and I water all the pasture animals out of it.
    It sure beats dragging around a hose or bucketing the water.

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  11. Great idea! I was wondering how I was going to do that other than using screening. Now I know.

    - Genevieve

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  12. Good idea. I learn something new every day.

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  13. G - If you have trees around your house it needs to be done a little different. Being I have none I did not need to install a pre-screening section.

    Rob - Thanks

    HHBL - Thanks for the link. I will check it out.

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  14. This will sure come in handy when I get around to installing my collection system!

    See? This is why I love the blogs...always something new to learn! Thanks!

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  15. You bet HJ. If you have any questions just let me know.

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  16. HillBilly - Thank you. It took a year and many different designs to get this where I wanted it. Yesterday was the first rain in use and I am happy to say it worked as good as the tests.

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  17. This is a smart idea! I'm impressed with how the water gets separated from the dirt, which increases its quality. Then you can make it go through your First Flush System. The water can also be used to water your plants in your garden. I'll ask my dad to try this at home.

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  18. Richelle - Thank you. Every rain water system should have one. If the tanks are small enough to clean out then you do not have to have a first flush but my tanks are 12 feet tall and I cannot get into them safely so this will keep the build up of sediments to a minimum.
    Watering the animals and gardens is the main reason I have this system. Second is the bathhouse.
    Thank you for the comment.

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  19. Hello,
    My organization has compiled a presentation on best methods for building a rainwater capture system. Previously we recommended using 6" PVC with a 5" rubber ball as a FF stopcock valve. Your design beats that hands down and will be included in a presentation April 1st and included in the documents on our web-site - with full credit to you and your web-site.
    Killer Idea - Killer Application!

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  20. VRCA-A,
    Wow, I am glad you found MDR and I am glad I could help. If you need any more info just let me know. My email is in the left side bar of the blog. I will be more than happy to lend a hand.
    Please let me know how it was received at the presentation.

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  21. Any rainwater harvesting unit is more efficient with a first flush system. It is better in providing good quality water. It doesn’t work much like a filter, but as a diverter. It doesn’t direct rainwater to the storage tank unless it is clean. Also, you won’t have any worries about the extra cost because this is very simple to build, operate, and maintain. Everyone sure needs this. Thanks!

    Tabatha Tidd

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  22. The use of rainwater harvesting unit with a first flush system is really helpful in storing and providing clean water. A first flush system can give you the assurance that the water is filtered, and the dirty particles are left in the pipes. This water can be utilized for gardening and for animals. It can also be used for bathing; however it is advisable to use a hot tub filter first before using it. This can prevent the occurrence of skin rashes and allergies.

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  23. It is important to filter first the rain water before using it for other purposes, such as watering plants. It’s full of acids and pollution, making it almost contaminated. But with the filtering system, foreign substances are separated. We should always make sure that the water we use is clean, or else it might endanger our health.

    -Sharon Strock

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  24. Hey, nice site you have here! Keep up the excellent work!

    :Rain Water Harvesting

    System


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  25. Ha!!! Just what I need - thanks :)

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    1. If you have any questions Dani you can email me. Good luck.

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  26. I am about to build a small house with 2 2000 gallon cisterns, and I love your pop bottle idea because now I don't have to find and buy the right sized ball.
    An idea I came up with to filter the water after the first flush is full is to install milk filter socks which are cheap compared to regular water filters. This is an experiment, so I do not yet know what the water flow rate limit is. I might end up using a whole bunch of PVC T's with short pipes/nipples to mount the socks over. If you also want to do this experiment; I ordered my filters just today at http://hambydairysupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=18053&page=1 200 filters for $19.49. I intend to test my water before drinking it, and if the water needs further filtering with an expensive filter, these socks should make the expensive one last much longer. I also have a galvanized roof that is just beginning to rust slightly, and I found a primer and roof coating the is certified water catchment safe for drinking. Primer: http://www.weatherbarrier.com/wb/wb.nsf/products/1850-Primer--Sealer
    Coating: http://www.weatherbarrier.com/wb/wb.nsf/products/Raincoat-2000

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    1. Thanks for info Anony, Let me know how it turns out. I use a Bio Sand Filter to run the rain water through before I drink it.

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