Annual catchment maintenance costs

[EightFingers]

Wondering what people are paying yearly for catchment maintenance. Filters, new tops, cleaning, chemicals, etc.
I'm assuming a 10,000 gallon tank.
Anyone know what a good guess would be?

[terracore]

Well, let's see:

Swimming pool cover from Amazon.com with free shipping $75 (every 3 years)
20 micron and 5 micron filters $12 for both (big island catchment, monthly*)
UV light $49-$99 depending on source (annually)
Chemicals $0 (we don't use them)
Liner ? (have no idea how often this has to be replaced)
Cleaning ? (no idea, have never done it)

* People change their filters at different rates. And it depends on water quality, sediment, etc. Usually our big filter gets changed every 2-3 months and the 5 micron more frequently, I put the monthly figure up there as the "high" end of swapping it out, in reality we don't switch them that frequently. We have learned that the cheap filters at walmart are worthless.

That comes out to about $20/month. I used $75/year for the UV sterilization light. Not everybody drinks their catchment water so that may not be a cost for you. Somebody else who has replaced the liner or cleaned the inside of the tank will have to chime in on amortizing that cost.

Edited to add- I forgot about the pump and pressure tank. I don't know how often they have to be replaced. I recently had to put a new pressure switch on my unit. It was $25. I could have got one on the internet for $16, but paying the extra $9 was a bargain because the guy at island catchment saved me about 2 hours of frustration explaining how to put it in quickly. There were a few tricks one doesn't know until they have done it before or somebody shows them.

[Lee M-S]

We vacuum our tank every couple of years. Bought a swimming pool sweeper attachment on a long pole, plus a hose to fit, think it cost about $60. We set it up as a siphon, so no further charges. This only works for low tanks, not tall tanks you can't reach into.

Aloha spelled backward...think about it.

[Guest]

In over twenty five years I have had one new liner - I went with the "oversize" (next pool diameter bigger) liner to ever prevent it from slipping into the pool when it gets low as the original one did. That was about $1,000.00 - installed and with 2 loads of new water.

New cover every five years or so - between 75 and 100.

I use 5 micron and replace every month. You can get two filters at Home Depot for around 12 bucks or so.

Most important lesson I learned was to put a knee high nylon stocking on the "fill" pipe from the gutters. Change monthly or more in heavy rains. Clean gutters every 6 months or so too. In doing this I have had my tank cleaned three times in 25 years – at about 250.00 a cleaning.

Occasionally, maybe 4 times a year, I add 2 cups of bleach. Amazing that in 10,000 gallons of water, adding 2 cups of bleach – and you can smell it in the water in the shower!

Most amazing to me – the pump works perfectly – and it’s going on 25 plus years old!

[kalakoa]

I use a stainless sink strainer basket for the pre-filter, it's "neat".

I save a little on filters by plumbing the toilet between the first and second pass; for that purpose, 5u filtration is overkill.

[terracore]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ken

In over twenty five years I have had one new liner - I went with the "oversize" (next pool diameter bigger) liner to ever prevent it from slipping into the pool when it gets low as the original one did. That was about $1,000.00 - installed and with 2 loads of new water.

New cover every five years or so - between 75 and 100.

I use 5 micron and replace every month. You can get two filters at Home Depot for around 12 bucks or so.

Most important lesson I learned was to put a knee high nylon stocking on the "fill" pipe from the gutters. Change monthly or more in heavy rains. Clean gutters every 6 months or so too. In doing this I have had my tank cleaned three times in 25 years – at about 250.00 a cleaning.

Occasionally, maybe 4 times a year, I add 2 cups of bleach. Amazing that in 10,000 gallons of water, adding 2 cups of bleach – and you can smell it in the water in the shower!

Most amazing to me – the pump works perfectly – and it’s going on 25 plus years old!

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You bring up a very good point- catchment involves roof maintenance too and that includes landscaping. Removing vegetation and nearby trees which dump things on your roof, get into your gutters and eventually your water. And you'll need to deter birds. My wife setup a bird feeder and I had to move it because it drew attention to our gutters. Where there are birds there is bird poop.

[birdmove]

My house was built in 1996 and we are the third owners. We have a pretty small pressure tank. Our pump looks like the original. Had a guy come out once because I made a booboo while replacing nout UV light and broke the tube that is inside the light. He said that old pump was a really good one. When we bought the house bthe previous owners had 30 and 5 micron filters. The replacment time varies. I've seen them go 3 months. And I've seen them need replacement early and late in the same month. You'll known when it's time when you notice how the pressure gets low when 2 things are running water at the same time.

Jon in Keaau/HPP

[terracore]

quote:

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Originally posted by birdmove

My house was built in 1996 and we are the third owners. We have a pretty small pressure tank. Our pump looks like the original. Had a guy come out once because I made a booboo while replacing nout UV light and broke the tube that is inside the light. He said that old pump was a really good one. When we bought the house bthe previous owners had 30 and 5 micron filters. The replacment time varies. I've seen them go 3 months. And I've seen them need replacement early and late in the same month. You'll known when it's time when you notice how the pressure gets low when 2 things are running water at the same time.

Jon in Keaau/HPP

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Can you tell me more about the booboo replacing the UV light? Our first replacement is coming up. Don't want to repeat the same mistake. Thanks.

[MarkP]

Do any of you use a "first flush" system that diverts the first few gallons of water coming off the roof?

[Andrew]

We had our pump switch go ****y and I called the good people at Waterworks in Hilo who offered the following free advice. Take the switch cover off and apply a little WD40 to the switch mechanism. I did as they suggested and it fixed the problem we were having like a charm.