Water Storage Tanks

[allensylves]

Mella,
You make like Jessica Alba in "Into the Blue" and put on your snorkel and fins and dive down and get the sunken treasure (my wife and I just rented the DVD and I could not resist). Again, I do not know how long the effect would last, but I would expect quite a long time. I assume the tanks have a port on top, like the heavy iron one-piece tanks we originally had. Most likely you would draw the water level down fairly well and then one person would go inside, grab the blocks, and hand them to someone up on top?

Allen
Baton Rouge, LA & HPP

[David M]

Mella

Allen's retreival method may have some merit LOL. The tanks have a plastic manway, screw on cap, 22 inch diameter.

Allen, perhaps one of the first tasks would be to test the ph of the water as is. Any idea what proper ph is for drinking water anyone?

David

Ninole Resident

[HADave]

I'm no means any kind of expert on the subject but I do know that ph measures the amount of hydrogen ion activity in a substance. The ph scale is relative and runs from 0 to 14,0 is the lowest and most acidic, 7 is nuetral and 14 is the highest and most alkaline. mainland water districts maintain an average 9.3 ph level in their reservoirs/tap water. The amount of sulfur and natural hydrochloric acid produced in Hawaii by the volcano is said to be very diluted by the heavy rains and mostly blown out to sea by the trade winds however the desert areas in the otherwise lush tropical forests do suggest acid rain damage. MHO test first treat to an acceptable akaline level that will have little effect on your copper plumbing & appliances. Perhaps the USGS would have the appropriate info you are looking for with regard to rain water ph in East Hawaii.

My 2 cents
HADave

[Cindy V]

We will be out in April and need to order our cathcment system, we had talked to Mike at paradise pools in HPP in Nov, any other recommendations? Pump/filtration systems?

[mella l]

Here is a cool site and makes it easy to understand for those PH challeged and water tank divers like me. LOL had no idea!

http://www.watersystemscouncil.org/VAiWe...1585PH.PDF

mella l

[David M]

Mella

Thanks for the most informative site. Been many years since my chemistry classes, but I was a bit concerned about the 9.3 value as being "average". We enjoy our water here being on the softer side

As for the leeching in copper plumbing, we purposely chose to go with cpvc for the main house. Our plumber recommends cpvc for this very reason. Ironically, our plumber for the small house " the shed" was more old school and used copper - also more frustrating for me to make changes as solvent/cement is so much easier/faster than sweating a joint.

David

Ninole Resident

[HADave]

Perhaps it's my turn to chuckle, as per the guidelines on Rainwater Catchment Systems for Hawaii, under water treatment highlights " Unless water PH is over 8.5 (as in some cement tanks), chlorine is highly recommended as a treatment to kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses, particularly the bacterium causing leptospirosis."

"Filters are not designed to remove bacteria and viruses"

Ultrviolet light does not kill all protozoans.... it will not kill Toxoplasma gondii a parasite cysts causing flu like symptoms.
There is more that you might just want to review. this info was from page 38... HADave

[pam jones]

That is some pretty sobbering reading material. No wonder locals buy water by the case when it goes on sale. If I'm reading this right, basically there is nothing an individual can buy or make to insure that the drinking water from their catchment is 100% safe. If I am wrong about this and there is indeed a system out there please bring it to the forum because I have been falsly led to believe that with filters and an ultraviolet light, our water would be as safe as that from the county supply. Yikes!pj

[radioguy]

I have a question. I bought a house in HPP 10 months ago. The house is only 2 years old and right now is just sitting empty. I am not doing any on going maintenance to the water in the catchment tank. Should I be? I hope this is not too lame of a question.

[loffelkopffl]

wow, some of you guys are really into it, i never gave water tanks so much thought, i can see where it can get mighty expensive. us hicks up here in mt.view, we just pour a ring and put a pool on it with a cover and bleach once a month. mines been fine now going on 8 plus years(just finally had to replace the cover)and looks as it will last another few,once a year i wash it down with soapy water, and paint any spots that look like they might rust. we use it for everything except drinking. i just go down to the watering hole twice a week and fill up a few bottles that we then run thru a britta filter, and drink up. the plastic ones interested me for awhile until i found out how much they cost(us hicks are cheap). have fun with your water!aloha