Clean It Up

UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: LWC on January 10, 2008, 06:44:51 am

Title: collecting rainwater update
Post by: LWC on January 10, 2008, 06:44:51 am
we've had some good rain this week aint we!

well ive filled both ibc twice, and now thir half full again! thats 5000 litres in 5 days. and there wouldve been more but i didnt realise they were full. so probably more like 6000 litres

im well chuffed at this. at this rate i dont think i will be running out over the week when i start using it  ;D
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: L.Doubtfire - The Blade Runner on January 10, 2008, 06:48:11 am




LWC, whats your tds reading,also are you using any filters or strainers to catch
Any debris you get,if at all?
Thanks.

Lewis Doubtfire Gleem Clean (The Blade Runner )
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: LWC on January 10, 2008, 08:16:57 am
hi lewis ive just been out and looked, 009 ppm, also i emptyed the one ibc last night at 10 o clock, 7.30 i looked out this morning and it was full!! and as of yet no filters or anythin, just a downpipe into tank

it couldve been full for a while too! thats 1000 litre in 9 ish hours, thats over 100 litres per hour! better than my ro lol and all free and no waste
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: xxmattyxx on January 10, 2008, 08:22:52 am
hi lewis ive just been out and looked, 009 ppm, also i emptyed the one ibc last night at 10 o clock, 7.30 i looked out this morning and it was full!! and as of yet no filters or anythin, just a downpipe into tank

it couldve been full for a while too! thats 1000 litre in 9 ish hours, thats over 100 litres per hour! better than my ro lol and all free and no waste

Excellent
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: [GQC] Tim on January 10, 2008, 08:45:21 am
Sweeeet.....I might have a go at this.

What would you use for a van based RO setup? Booster pump from IBC to RO? Any filters in between?
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 10, 2008, 12:05:57 pm
i think im going to do this, mother is complaining that im going to run up the water meter...

two more ibcs in the garage... 1 ontop of the other- house and garage gutters running through the garage wall prefiltered into tank to get rid of any manky bits... rain water in top tank boostered into bottom tank through twin 4040 ro - its the same as what ive got at the moment except the holding tank for tap water is filled by the tap, fill it with rain water even better. Il let you know how i get on. Weve got a big roof i think il get up there and clean off all the moss first.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Captain Scarlet on January 10, 2008, 12:13:11 pm
I want to do it but there isnt much insentive because my tds is 34 and dont have a water meter, Luke
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Dean Aspects on January 10, 2008, 12:14:55 pm
I want to do it but there isnt much insentive because my tds is 34 and dont have a water meter, Luke

Thats my thinking also as my tds is 35 but if a ban does come into force then its the way forward

Dean
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 10, 2008, 12:19:50 pm
does anyone know if you can come off the water meter after going on it? and go back to fixed bill?
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: matt on January 10, 2008, 01:27:11 pm
does anyone know if you can come off the water meter after going on it? and go back to fixed bill?

nope
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: LWC on January 10, 2008, 05:15:38 pm
you wouldnt need to run it through a ro being so low. i asked alex a while ago and he aid you'd get around 50,000 to 70,000 litres from just DI and thats with no waste at all

win win all way round
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: stu_thomson on January 10, 2008, 05:31:36 pm
I collected some water from a greenhouse butt recently which was 006 i then experimented and put it through a tube with resin in via a watering can and to keep resin in tube had a piece of muslin over end, result was 000 water ;D
  Used it on my own windows and had loads of spots >:(
    Why ???

Now experimenting catching the rain water off garage roof, have cleaned out gutters and inserted several new scouring pads to downpipe (to act as prefilters) followed by resin held in by muslin, going into cleaned out butt.

will see how this works, still cant understand why the 1st water didnt work though as it was 000

stu
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: xxmattyxx on January 10, 2008, 07:32:03 pm

Now experimenting catching the rain water off garage roof, have cleaned out gutters and inserted several new scouring pads to downpipe (to act as prefilters) followed by resin held in by muslin,

  ;D  ;D  ;D I love it, what a thought, very enterprising, good thinking, this is what I call thinking outside the box.


Custy 'So, Stu, this purified water, where do you get it from'

Stu ' Oi sticks one of them pan scourers down me gutta an that its luv'

Matt
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jeff Brimble on January 10, 2008, 08:05:15 pm
I collected some water and put it through a tube with resin in via a watering can and to keep resin in tube had a piece of muslin over end, result was 000 water ;D
  Used it on my own windows and had loads of spots >:(
    Why ???

will see how this works, still cant understand why the 1st water didnt work though as it was 000

maybe its the resin but could be a variety of things, keep trying mines 001 fromma felt roof with sponge filters. But you have to wait for the right rain.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Village Gleam on January 10, 2008, 09:39:59 pm
Jon scwindows,
The physics of stacking one ibc tank atop another don't work. You'll kill some one. Don't do it.  Where you've seen it done they use frames.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 11, 2008, 12:19:36 am
Jon scwindows,
The physics of stacking one ibc tank atop another don't work. You'll kill some one. Don't do it.  Where you've seen it done they use frames.

why not? the metal caged palletted ibcs im talking about, ive seen it fine with the same ibcs i have with plastic pallets and metal cages. I dont see what the problem is its sturdy enough isnt it?
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: LWC on January 11, 2008, 10:47:25 am
i have filled them twice again. thats 10,000 litres this week...10,000 litres!! crikey!! and ive still got out and worked. cant wait till i sort it out properly
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Village Gleam on January 11, 2008, 01:38:02 pm
Maybe I'm wrong.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: bluez on January 11, 2008, 02:14:42 pm
Maybe I'm wrong.

 ;D ;D
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Village Gleam on January 11, 2008, 02:32:20 pm
The ones i've seen stacked have been empty. 1000KG falling 4' is a lot of force, plus a full one underneath would be already stressed.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 11, 2008, 02:37:49 pm
yeah, maybe not having both full then, fill the top one with rainwater, then pump through ro di into bottom one... Either way it doesnt matter i just thought it would be floor space saving, and gravity feed would help.
Theres been so much rain, shame its not all set up yet.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: LWC on January 11, 2008, 03:07:12 pm
gotta say it again, you wouldt need to put rain water through a RO
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: East coast window cleaning Services on January 11, 2008, 04:02:49 pm
Lets see some pics
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: LWC on January 11, 2008, 04:14:32 pm
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=4NH8qqRP3y0
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: East coast window cleaning Services on January 11, 2008, 04:23:01 pm
Surely that has to be filtered it was black in that ibc
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 11, 2008, 04:26:36 pm
the water looked green...



anyway looked a  good way of doing it, i would probably try to link all gutters to one pipe, into one ibc, somehow link them all up?
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: xxmattyxx on January 12, 2008, 09:52:30 pm
Being that Im doing a little forward planning at the moment, as Ive ordered my WFP kit, I also went out and bought a couple of 200 litre water-butts today.

Its been drizzly rain this evening and one of the butts is out there connected up to a gutter collecting water. The TDS reading is 6ppm, I was really pleased with that.

Matt
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: LWC on January 12, 2008, 09:56:47 pm
the water looked green...



anyway looked a  good way of doing it, i would probably try to link all gutters to one pipe, into one ibc, somehow link them all up?

yeh, that clear one needs cleaning out, the black ones nice and clean lol
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: frames to panes on January 13, 2008, 10:16:30 am
What does concern me with storing rainwater and not purifying is that when i was a kid we had a water butt connected to the greenhouse gutter with a lid. I seem to remember lifting the lid and watching all the larvae swimming about in the water, even some worm like things in there too, so basically any kind of microscopic bug is likely to get washed into the tanks?
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 13, 2008, 10:21:25 am
i noticed this too, it would be worth having the gutters run or drip over a filter funnel or some kind of cheap prefilter, to stop any of this-  but i would probably still put it through the ro too. I just would
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: frames to panes on January 13, 2008, 10:25:36 am
How could the water be pressured up to run through an ro? I would too if i could work it out.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 13, 2008, 10:45:37 am
youd need a booster pump.. i have a grunfoss one i got with an ro, but i have to use that with my system anyway.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 14, 2008, 02:27:53 pm
http://www.water-tanks.net/acatalog/rainwaterharvesting.html
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jeff Brimble on January 14, 2008, 05:12:51 pm
Good site John,
but it doesnt take me an hour to wash my car so maybe the figures are inflated.
I wash all my wfp windows with rainwater.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: xxmattyxx on January 15, 2008, 04:30:57 pm
I was thinking about this today as I running around picking a few pipe fittings up from the local DIY store about whether it would be feasible to loosely pack some DI resin into something, what sprang to mind was pair of my missus old stockings  ;D but a sock would do, and then fit this into the downpipe that fed the water-butt or whatever container the water was held in. Not too tight, enough to allow the water to still flow through, but that would then be a home-made DI unit, save worrying about having to do it prior to use, save worrying about pumping it through (gravity would do that for you) and ready-made ready to use water for the windows.

Any takers?

Matt
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Stevie G on January 15, 2008, 05:54:05 pm
interesting matt. one for jeff me thinks.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 15, 2008, 11:14:54 pm
with all the heavy rain weve had today and yesterday i bet i could have stored 5000-1000 litres just in 48-72 hours... pity i dont have it set up, so now i have to pay £100+ for the water bill...
shame i dont have any more ibcs! il have to dig holes in the garden and bury a few.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Nathanael Jones on January 15, 2008, 11:48:12 pm
i noticed this too, it would be worth having the gutters run or drip over a filter funnel or some kind of cheap prefilter, to stop any of this-  but i would probably still put it through the ro too. I just would

Seriously,.. you don't need to RO rainwater!!! 3/4 of it would end up going down the drain that way!!!!
Instead of spending on a booster pump, get a UV steriliser filter which will kill any living matter in the rainwater and simply put it through a DI vessel,... no waste, and water pretty much on demand.
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Jon-scwindows on January 15, 2008, 11:58:24 pm
ok
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Nathanael Jones on January 16, 2008, 09:45:16 am
I was thinking about this today as I running around picking a few pipe fittings up from the local DIY store about whether it would be feasible to loosely pack some DI resin into something, what sprang to mind was pair of my missus old stockings  ;D but a sock would do, and then fit this into the downpipe that fed the water-butt or whatever container the water was held in. Not too tight, enough to allow the water to still flow through, but that would then be a home-made DI unit, save worrying about having to do it prior to use, save worrying about pumping it through (gravity would do that for you) and ready-made ready to use water for the windows.

Any takers?

Matt

I found this pic on another forum,.. but he reckons it works well and has actually reduced the amount of resin he uses. I think there is a flow restrictor in the inlet pipe otherwise the DI would take a bit of a hit when its raining hard! The water goes in at the bottom and the pure product water comes out the top.




Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: xxmattyxx on January 16, 2008, 02:23:06 pm
I was thinking about this today as I running around picking a few pipe fittings up from the local DIY store about whether it would be feasible to loosely pack some DI resin into something, what sprang to mind was pair of my missus old stockings  ;D but a sock would do, and then fit this into the downpipe that fed the water-butt or whatever container the water was held in. Not too tight, enough to allow the water to still flow through, but that would then be a home-made DI unit, save worrying about having to do it prior to use, save worrying about pumping it through (gravity would do that for you) and ready-made ready to use water for the windows.

Any takers?

Matt

I found this pic on another forum,.. but he reckons it works well and has actually reduced the amount of resin he uses. I think there is a flow restrictor in the inlet pipe otherwise the DI would take a bit of a hit when its raining hard! The water goes in at the bottom and the pure product water comes out the top.







Thankyou for that, would you mind posting the link, if its allowed, if not could you email it to me please

matt@fridayhomegroup.freeserve.co.uk

Cheers

Matt
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: Nathanael Jones on January 16, 2008, 02:57:21 pm
e-mail sent!
Title: Re: collecting rainwater update
Post by: xxmattyxx on January 16, 2008, 06:44:51 pm
Thankyou, got it.

Matt