greyhat
Junior Member
Posts: 33
Likes: 38
|
Post by greyhat on Jun 13, 2022 15:23:02 GMT 10
Do you have a property or homestead that is self sufficient water wise? Tell us about it below.
After recently moving to a property that is not on mains/town water I'm slowly building up my knowledge in how everything works in regards to capture/storage, transfer and the flow of the water here.
The property is comprised of three dwellings, all have their unique differences but core similarities include rainwater capture to a tank and a electric high pressure pump (most Davey) into the building. We have a moderate sized dam that is used for everything except drinking at the main dwelling including lawn, home gardens and orchid.
At my smaller house we have 10kl rain catchment tank, 23kl main tank that feeds the house and a 4.5kl tank up on a approx 4m high stand that gravity feeds our kitchen tap. All tanks here are poly. The main tank is gravity fed from a larger tank 'upstream' that is also filled via rain catchment. There is not much elevation change so our tank fills to approx 80% cap.
Water is transferred between all tanks (as required) with a Honda petrol WT pump which is also used for roof sprinkler system in bushfire season. Pipe involved in movement around my house is 1" rural and we use Philmac fittings and blue handled ball valves.
What I like about the system is that so long as the tank on the stand has water in it, we'll always have drinking water to the house should we have no power or petrol. We have four Honda water pumps in use either for water transfer or firefighting duties. These have proven reliable so will continue standardizing on these for operating familiarity and ease of servicing etc.
Questions
- Do you filter your drinking water, if so, by what method and where in-line is the filtering done?
- Is solar used in anyway with your pumping needs?
- Do you have any type of automation involved, if so, what is its purpose/what hardware is involved?
- How have you documented your water setup? Paper drawings, Visio diagrams?
- What are some of the lessons you've learned from your water setup or changes that your are planning in the future?
Appreciate you sharing your setup info and knowledge gained this far.
|
|
bug
Senior Member
Posts: 2,316
Likes: 1,934
|
Post by bug on Jun 13, 2022 16:32:07 GMT 10
Regular residential block with 2000L water tank fed off the roof.
|
|
malewithatail
VIP Member
Posts: 3,963 
Likes: 1,380
Location: Northern Rivers NSW
|
Post by malewithatail on Jun 13, 2022 17:14:58 GMT 10
We have 45kl tanks off the roofs of all houses, pumped to another 45 kl tank, about 30 meters in height above the dwellings, using excess solar power when the battery's are full. Another 45 kl tank in the same elevation has its water pumped from a 3 meg dam, again using excess solar power, or a Honda firefighter in an emergency.
Other small sheds have various size tanks ranging from 5 kl,to 20 kl, and various electric pumps, both 240 v, 24 volt and in an emergency, another Honda petrol pump.
Most tanks are interconnected to each other with 50 mm poly underground, so that balancing can be done to equalize the water levels, making maximum room for rain.
Almost all tanks also have a 32 mm Stortz coupling to allow the bush fire brigade to quickly connect to them in an emergency.
We have an on farm fire truck, holding 1,550 liters water and a Honda pump, hoses etc.
All the pumps have manual override control, in case the pump is needed and the sun isn't shining.
We have several spare pumps, both electric and petrol as well.
There is 50 mm pipe underground to all gardens/paddocks for irrigation, and numerous garden type taps on the boundary fencing.
Its all pretty well automatic in operation, I just check the tank levels every week or so for issues, such as balancing the water levels.
Hot water systems are a mix of solar, gas and electric boosted with excess solar again.
We have 6 off grid power systems here, and well over 40 kw solar installed, with huge submarine battery's.
If evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve.
|
|
Beno
Senior Member
Posts: 1,310
Likes: 1,433
Location: Northern Rivers
|
Post by Beno on Jun 22, 2022 19:34:09 GMT 10
My rainwater tanks are all integrated to shift water from my uphill tanks off my shed to my house tank or vice versa if needed. The only filter is the screen on the inlet. I have pumps on dam, creek and bore for use on gardens, stock and whatever i need it for.
My dam pump is semi automated. I can switch it on from the fusebox and pump for as long as i want. It shuts off due to pressure switch but i still use the circuit breaker just in case.
Lessons learned.
Use the one pipe diameter, mix n match sucks for maintenance and convenience. 1 1/2 inch or 40mm is enough to do what most rural blocks need.
Use gravity to your advantage. solar will be your friend there.
Try to electrify your water pumps. Electric are reliable.
Don’t go too crazy with over engineering your water. it’s wasted money. But definitely buy the best products you can afford.
Have a good supply of spares like joiners, pipe, taps, orings, teflon tape, hose clamps etc.
in future i want to document pipe location. i was not provided a plan on sale.
I have a lot of water head potential to possibly use as a stored water battery (tank on a hill running to a turbine). I will do the calcs one day to see if worth the effort. an extra kw of constant production for a couple of hours would be good.
|
|
peter1942
Senior Member
Posts: 146
Likes: 267
|
Post by peter1942 on Jun 23, 2022 11:45:16 GMT 10
Some months ago there was a post on this site where the person stated that he was going to have steel tanks and pipes as he did not trust plastic ones. It is our experience that plastic tanks if set up properly last longer than steel and the rural 40 millimetre plastic pipe will be capable of handling all you water needs. Concrete and steel tanks usually have steel fittings which over time will corrode and block up and the same goes for steel pipe. By letting your plastic pipes drain and then pushing water through them with your pump the air will help clean the inside of them.
We have over 100,000 litres of rainwater storage and the house overhead tank is pumped up with an electric pump that runs off the solar system which in turn can be offset with the generator. We have tried to match the rainfall and usage to our storage capacity but this does not always work.
One millimetre of rain per square metre equals a litre of water and using that equation as a guide in relation to your annual rainfall matched by your annual usage it will give you an idea of how much tank space you will require for your catchment area.
I have also heard of people putting additives in their tanks for one reason and another, this is a no no. If there are any issues with your water make sure the tanks that you have are used either for drinking water or for irrigation and have a filter system in the house for indoor usage. Dam water should be used to flush the toilet.
|
|
frostbite
VIP Member
Posts: 5,719
Likes: 7,119
|
Post by frostbite on Jun 23, 2022 14:56:56 GMT 10
This is my water supply. It never runs out:  I don't need no fancy solar pumps, because I'll have a bucket line of scantily clad Vietnamese backpackers moving water from my river to the water tanks. |
|
|
|
Post by ausprep130 on Jun 23, 2022 17:18:16 GMT 10
After Black Saturday many people had to get their roof cleaned of contamination and worst case the water tank also needed to be emptied and cleaned before filling again.
It might be worthwhile installing a tap and diverter to prevent water from going into the tanks if you ever need to clean the roof.
|
|
malewithatail
VIP Member
Posts: 3,963
Likes: 1,380
Location: Northern Rivers NSW
|
Post by malewithatail on Jun 23, 2022 17:31:59 GMT 10
We just swing the guttering away from the top of the tank.
If all the worlds a stage, why don't I ever get any rehearsals ?
|
|
Beno
Senior Member
Posts: 1,310
Likes: 1,433
Location: Northern Rivers
|
Post by Beno on Jun 23, 2022 18:10:18 GMT 10
We just swing the guttering away from the top of the tank. If all the worlds a stage, why don't I ever get any rehearsals ? Yep. And if you forget enjoy the extra nutrients and minerals! |
|
|
|
Post by spinifex on Jun 24, 2022 20:45:49 GMT 10
Do you filter your drinking water, if so, by what method and where in-line is the filtering done?
- Is solar used in anyway with your pumping needs?
- Do you have any type of automation involved, if so, what is its purpose/what hardware is involved?
- How have you documented your water setup? Paper drawings, Visio diagrams?
- What are some of the lessons you've learned from your water setup or changes that your are planning in the future?
My answers are:
no (I like keeping my immune system fighting fit by letting it take on waterbourne germs)
no - but it IS the way to go if you need pumping. I work with farm water systems a lot and solar pumps are the way to go. Quiet, efficent, reliable.
LDU's can be an excellent investment - and I use automated irrigation controls
Documented? Nup. But ... a pretty good idea! I find my pipes with a keen eye for differences in soil surface and pasture growth.
With rainwater/dam water ... make sure your underground pipes have regularly spaced ports that you can push a garden hose into to flush them out for silt.
And ... think about your grey water and how to make good use of it. Using water twice is the low hanging fruit of efficiency.
Oh ... and as others from rural settings have said ... 32 or 40mm is better for system efficiency over long distances. Important if you use pumping.
|
|
rosebud
Senior Member
Posts: 141
Likes: 164
|
Post by rosebud on Oct 6, 2022 19:38:42 GMT 10
I'm not self-sufficient in water, but I have a total of over 27,000 litres in 2 large tanks as well as 4 smaller tanks. At the moment, they are all chock-a-block. I'm seriously thinking of getting another larger tank.
If the mains water stopped flowing, I'd have a good buffer as long as it wasn't at the end of summer. I'd have to prioritise what part of the garden gets water. The tank which supplies the house is strained before it goes into the tank, then double filtered before it is pumped into the house. I can't get it into the house without the pump, but I can use the solar battery to run the pump if necessary.
I can also use the water outside without it going through the pump. The second large tank does not have a filter because it is only used for the garden and chooks. It also has a pump which isn't strictly necessary, but handy to have when the water level gets low.
The other 4 tanks are 1,000 - 2,000 litres each. Only one runs off the gutters, the others get filled when the main tanks start overflowing.
|
|
tactile
Senior Member
Posts: 1,069
Likes: 483
|
Post by tactile on Nov 4, 2022 11:17:37 GMT 10
In my previous abode I had a AquaNova waste water system. Everything went into this - grey & black water. The water that came out of it was crystal clear and my citrus and stone fruit went mad over it!
It had a 240vac - 24vdc aeration pump that runs 24/7 but shouldn't be hard to adapt to a solar system. It also used to require quarterly services to guarantee no pathogens etc. If you watch what the service guys do it's not hard to do yourself.
If I was ever to build a place on an acreage or a suburban dwelling, this is the first thing I'd dig a hole for! Along with rain water tanks, I was pretty self-sufficient in regards to water on a largish suburban block.
|
|
