Rain Water

[Vespa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbFxrJFkvAU

I know it's an American news item but how do we stand in the UK regharding "water rights"?

I've heard the phrase before so am I breaking the law collecting rain water in barrels for use in my garden? Is it an issue?

I'm not on a water meter but if I was I would seriously consider plumbing this grey water into my toilet but now maybe not.

[Ferricks]

Hi Vespa

Interesting stuff - but I think we're fine here.

I've been prepping for less than a year, but a gardener / interested in eco design etc for YEARS before that and I have never come across any caveats to the extensive recommendations to use rainwater both in the garden and for appropriate domestic use.

I think we'll be fine - and remember, if social order breaks down your toilet plumbing shouldn't be the focus of a dawn raid..... otherwise we'll know that there is truly no hope and all this really has been a colossal waste of time....

On a serious note - you're right to be staying within the law and my experience is that in this context I'm sure you're completely ok legally.

[archer1958]

Yep its fine Vespa - i have same plans in place

[junmist]

can I ask how your going to plumb the water into the house please

[metatron]

can I ask how your going to plumb the water into the house please

Solar pump to a holding tank in attic space?

[maxilaura]

the other day, for the first time ever, I actually saw in a garden a water butt placed under the garage gutter with some rigging in place for the water to go directly into the water butt. I know it is spoken of all the time - but this was the very first time I had actually seen someone who had done it. I am wanting to do the same thing, but money for the water butt and then the rigging up of the gutter etc is putting me behind.

[Vespa]

can I ask how your going to plumb the water into the house please

I wasn't going to replace the mains supply, just connect the cistern of the down stairs loo. I'm fortunate in that my house is built on a slope and the front (where the cistern is) is approx 1ft below the ground level of the rear where the barrels are located.
I thought about raising the barrels on a 3ft platform to give a 4ft minimum drop when the barrels are almost empty and a 7ft drop when they are full. Gravity should provide enough pressure to fill the cistern.
As for the plumbing I would have employed a plumber to connect the barrels to the cistern whilst still retaining the ability to switch back to mains water should the barrels run dry or the pipe work freeze in winter.
In pure economic terms I don't think it's worth it, as I said I don't have a water meter, but in prepping terms it may well be.
I like metatrons idea of a pump and a tank in the attic though, less chance of freezing in the winter.

Edit. Typos

[junmist]

Damed I haven't got a holding tank as that would have been the easy answer thanks all.

[Ian]

Vespa, you mention 'grey' water, the waste from washing machines and baths etc. I have looked deeply at this both in terms of reusing the water and in extracting heat. I have tried pilot systems as proof of concept and spent time at the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the Center for Alternative Technology (CAT) and their people.

I really don't think it is worth wasting time and money on. My and the BRE and CAT experiences are that the system fouls so quickly with fat, hair and scum that maintenance is just too much trouble and effort. BRE fitted some test houses with grey water systems that eventually needed fortnightly cleaning of the filters and monthly system flushes to keep them going, even then the system failed often.

My pilot suffered from constant failure because of hair wound around the pump impeller, a washing machine style pump can deal with the hair but does not have the pressure to pump to an attic store or to operate a float valve it you pump direct.

If you like tinkering a grey water system is fine but it will need almost daily attention.

Rainwater harvesting to supply toilet flushing, washing machine and gardening on the other hand is defiantly a goer. The only problem seems to be sizing the storage tank. All of the systems I have seen have an automatic switchover to mains water but don't tell you when they do so. Thus it is possible to have too small a storage tank which runs out and you start to unknowingly use potable water until it rains again.

The way the climate is going with droughts being balanced by deluges means that the storage tanks have to be much larger than you might expect, perhaps three months supply in many areas. This is costly. In my case 8-10,000 litres would be necessary.

[Bladerunner]

A friend of mine used to live next to a canal. After he bought the house he got a bill from a company for £480. He rang them up and they said it was because his water drained into their canal.

If it had been me, I would have sent THEM a bill for £1000 saying "that is for keeping your trench filled with water you theiving gits."

I know another guy who had a works unit with absolutely no water connected. He got a bill from the local water authority and when he questioned it they said it was because he had a roof and the rain water went into their drains. So they are charging poeple for the very same water they sell back to us!!!!!

Be lucky (and hydrated)