Joined: Nov 18, 2004 Posts: 1082 Location: Central Texas
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
I Googled "polyaromatic hydrocarbons + water purification," and I found this abstract on natural materials for removing PAHs from water. Cattails! I would have never guessed. Of course the exact method and procedure might cost you a little money, (and I have no experience with this "natural method"), but it offers an alternative other than using a fossil fuel (activated carbon or synthetic resins) for removing PAHs from water.
Quote:
Abstract:
The use of two natural sorbents, kapok and cattail fibers, were investigated for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) removal from water. Naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, and fluoranthene were the PAHs studied. For comparative purposes, a commercial polyester fiber sorbent was included in the investigation. The PAH sorption and retention capabilities of the three fibers were determined through batch and continuous-flow experiments under noncompetitive and competitive conditions. In the batch experiments, cattail fiber was the most effective sorbent. Kapok fiber provided the lowest PAH retention, while cattail fiber had slightly less PAH retention than polyester fiber. When two PAHs were present in the same system, a competitive effect on the much less hydrophobic PAH was observed. Similar results were obtained in the column experiments, except that polyester fiber performed much poorer on naphthalene. Cattail fiber is a promising sorbent for treating PAH-contaminated water, such as urban runoff.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:50 am Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
On the barrel valve thing, I should have noted that if you lay the barrel down on it's side, (commonly the way it's done for industrial dispensing) all you have to do is go to the hardware store and find a srew-in valve that fits a 3/4" pipe thread hole, the standard small hole in barrel tops. Mcmaster Carr, in my previous post, also has these cheap--a couple bucks for a 3/4" plastic valve.
This requires a barrel stand of some sort, which can be made of 4 x 4's, or I think Harbor Freight lists them made of steel. They have a "rocker" on one end that allows you to stick it under a full drum sitting vertical, and rock it onto it's side to lay down for dispensing. Bear in mind that 50 gallons of water weighs about 400 lbs., so be careful! _________________ Local fix-it guy..
This post is a reply to some of Heineken's questions about this 1,550 gallon water tank in his "Arthur Two-Sheds Jackson" New Shed thread.
Q: How much does it cost, including delivery?
A: The last two 1,550 gallon tanks I bought this last March were $560 ea. plus a $100 delivery charge. The company is about 60 miles away.
Q: How do you keep the water in it from going bad? (For drinking purposes, I mean.)
A: I filter water from the tank through a 5 micron sediment filter, a 3 micron carbon filter, and kill bacteria with a UV lamp, as mentioned on page 1 of this thread. I also distill some of the filtered rainwater with a solar water distiller for drinking and cooking purposes. Most of the water of course, is not filtered or distilled, but used for irrigation using gravity flow only. Without electricity, I could distill the rainwater, but I couldn't pump it through the micron filters or irradiate it with UV. I plan on getting more PV for the pump and UV lamp.
Q: Do you add a little chlorine?
A: No.
Q: Or do you treat or boil or filter water you remove from the tank, if you want to drink it? I assume the tank is filled with runoff from a roof. Doesn't that add particulates to the water (bits of leaves, twigs, bugs, etc.), which then proceed to rot? Maybe there's a filter at the intake, but when water is rushing in from a rainfall, a fine filter wouldn't have time to handle the load.
A: I use screen in the downspout pipe to prevent large debris from getting in. An L-dead leg sediment trap helps as well on the inlet pipe. (See pics on previous pages.)
Q: How do you remove sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the tank?
A: I haven't had to remove the sediment from any of the tanks since I bought the first one. There is some in there, but it stays below the outlet port. The collection surface should not be under any trees. I've cut back, and cut down, some cedar trees that were shading part of the house and near the new shed.
Q: Can it be turned on its side and the inside washed out with a hose? (How heavy is it, when empty?)
A: Yes. Not sure of the weight, guessing about 150-200 lbs., maybe more. _________________ About my avatar: Guess.
Last edited by PeakOiler on Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:10 pm; edited 1 time in total
Doesn't drinking distilled water have a negative effect on the human body over time?
Just wondering.
If you boil salt water, it just gets saltier! Most filters don't remove salts, unless one uses deionization resin filters and/or RO. Simple water distillation is the recondensing of water vapor, leaving solids, minerals, and salts in the basin.
Edited for clarification. No pun intended.
If I learn of any detrimental effects, since I've been drinking purified rainwater for, geeze, how many years?, about 6 I think, I'll let you know. I get my vitamins and minerals from foods, not the water I drink. _________________ About my avatar: Guess.
Joined: Nov 18, 2004 Posts: 1082 Location: Central Texas
Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
Will the plumbing ever end?
Today I finished plumbing the 3/4" pvc pipe "T" from the 2" pipe that interconnects four of seven 1,550 gallon rainwater cisterns. The buried 3/4" pvc pipe manifold will gravity-feed rainwater to 10 peach trees and 1 pecan tree by opening one valve as shown.
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