Like the illusion of Wall Street, with its vast and powerful investment banks, now shuttered, China too is an illusion perpetuated by the Globalists that gave us the 15,000 mile Caesar salad, poisoned cat food and lead based paint on babies' pacifiers. Like the illusion that money would come from thin air to always push housing prices higher, China has spent a generation pursuing its illusion. Pursuing an unattainable dream to be like the West, while 6000 years of its carefully shepherded top soil blows into the sea.
Joined: Nov 18, 2004 Posts: 1136 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: 1136 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.
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 13141 Location: naive idiot fantasy world
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 3:18 pm Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
Some actual rain would help our rainwater collection efforts...... _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow." - jboogy
Joined: Nov 18, 2004 Posts: 1136 Location: Central Texas
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 3:32 pm Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
Ludi wrote:
Some actual rain would help our rainwater collection efforts......
That's for sure. I did receive 0.65" last week. We do have a chance for scattered t-storms tomorrow and later this week. _________________ About my avatar: Guess.
Joined: Oct 16, 2004 Posts: 1281 Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 5:00 pm Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
Here in Australia, people often use 10,000 and 20,000 litre tanks. Also if you put the tank upslope of your house (or mount it on a high platform), you can get a bit of gravity pressure. You can rig up a diversion system that will direct the first flush of water, with its load of dust/polution, into a bucket, so the main water tank stays cleaner. I've heard a silver coin in the tank will kill off micro-organisms. I want to do more research on that though (ie. what size coin, what volume water, how effective?). _________________ Kind regards, Katkinkate
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops,
but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
Masanobu Fukuoka
Joined: Nov 18, 2004 Posts: 1136 Location: Central Texas
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 4:08 pm Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
A reason to use smaller tanks is that one of the cleaning methods for "floaties" is to let the tank overflow from time to time.
I use gravity flow for all irrigation from the rainwater tanks.
Shown below is a picture of the newest shed's rainwater catchment system. I had to burn out a few stumps where the tank is to be installed, (hard to do when there's an outdoor burn ban for nearly a year,) and I leveled the ground with some loamy soil.
The "L" dead leg PVC pipe and 3" downspout pipe I cut up today, and all the pipe is just dry-fitted until I get the tank moved into place and then I can measure the length of 1.5" inlet pipe to the tank. I still need to buy a gutter downspout screen for the gutter outlet. _________________ About my avatar: Guess.
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 4:48 pm Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
I'm having trouble finding diverter wye fittings for my collection system. We have one on the house to allow the first dirty water off the roof to go to the garden, then switch the flapin it to divert water to the cistern. This seems to be traditional around here on old cisterns, but nobody has the wyes now. Ideas?
I can make the blessed things out of a couple elbows and some tinwork time, but it's a major pain in the butt. And, I will need several for the new system and revamping the old one. _________________ Local fix-it guy..
Joined: Nov 18, 2004 Posts: 1136 Location: Central Texas
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:32 pm Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
patience wrote:
I'm having trouble finding diverter wye fittings for my collection system.... Ideas?
Really? PVC fittings (including wyes) are readily available at the local Home Depots, Lowes, and even the local hardware store in the little town near where I'm at. Interesting. I did make the point a few pages back in this thread to buy PVC while you can. Since PVC is an oil-based product, it's only going to get more expensive and rare as time goes on. Get it while you can!
I wanted to add that the new tank shown above will eventually be interconnected to the other four 1,550 gal tanks with 2" pipe. The small ca. 12' by 10' shed can only collect about 82 gallons per inch of rain, (2,455 gallons annually @ 32"/yr) and this tank will service a new part of the garden as well as the house.
My rainshadow will soon be enough to collect over 34,000 gallons (ca. 128,000 liters) per year @ 32" rain/yr.
_________________ About my avatar: Guess.
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 6:13 pm Post subject: Re: [Water] Rainwater Collection
PeakOiler,
Yes, I could find the PVC wyes, but I needed the diverter function--never heard of it at any building supply here! I wanted aluminum, which I can more easily work with, and found it at the link I put up.
Well, this is Indiana, the land of rain when you don't want it... Nobody ges too worried about having water. Not yet anyway. We get about 40" to 44"/year, but like other things, it's not distributed real well. In 2007, we had a part of the drought that affected the southeast. When I needed to water the garden, the city said no, they were running short. What good is city water if they run out when you really need it? So, we started to put together our own system for the gardens.
We have the 3,000 gallon tank installed, 2 ft. of its' 8 ft. height sunk in the ground, bedded in sand, and a metal shed over it to stop UV damage to the plastic. A 2" PVC line runs out to the garden area, where it reduces to 1 1/2" to a shut off valve, then to 3/4" for a series of hose faucets. Gravity flow to all three gardens. I've been waiting on the diverters to get the shop roof gutters run to this tank. The shop is 26' x 28', which gets us a bit over 450 gallons/inch of rainfall. The tank shed will add 60 gallons to that, or 510 gallons/inch of rain. We commonly get 4" rains in the spring, so filling 3,000 gallons should happen fast, and the diverters will be imperative.
The house, with a new porch added, comes to 1,704 sq.ft. of roof area, and has a 12' x 16' x 7.5 ft. deep cistern, or about 10,000 gallon capacity, if I did the math right. It leaks presently, but I have hydraulic cement on hand now, and a hand pump ready to install. _________________ Local fix-it guy..
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