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That sound like a fair price.... I don't know if you'll be able to reuse the liner though. From what I've heard (and saw first hand with mine) the liner will have a certain amount of creases or folds when laid in the tank. As hard as you may try it is almost impossible to get all the wrinkles out and with the several tons of water pushing against those creases will cause them to crack when moved or in the very least make for a weak spot in the liner. I think a liner is cost like $3oo-400 buck. That is just a guess on my part. I just wouldn't trust a used liner. 10K gal. of water can cause a lot of damage if it let go.
Royall
What goes around comes around!
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quote:
Originally posted by 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
You can build a 5-gallon-bucket activated charcoal filter (GAC, Granular Activated Carbon) for well under $100 in materials that will give a 5-person household nicely filtered drinking water for six months. Then you replace the GAC and have another six months, and so on. In particular GAC is best tech for filtering hydrocarbons and synthetic organic chemicals.
DIY details are in Permaculture Activist magazine #69, Autumn 2008. Back issues available, see:
http://permacultureactivist.net/backissues/BackIssu.htm
Low tech, inexpensive, needs no electricity, will work on low pressure gravity fed water.
See also info on slow-sand and bio-sand filters here:
http://oasisdesign.net/
http://www.aqsolutions.org/
cheers,
John S.
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quote:
Originally posted by allensylves
...
A simpler first step would be to check with the lady that has put out the publication on catchment systems in Hawaii - sorry I cannot remember her name. See what she says about effects of concrete on acid catchment water, etc.
Allen
Baton Rouge, LA & HPP
Trisha MacComber. I asked her about this some time ago. She said that tossing concrete chunks or other alkaline solids (chalk/calcium chunks etc.) will not work well with the type of acidity we get from the vog here. The chemistry is different than other acid rain situations. Apparently the chemistry here is such that the surfaces of the intended alkalinizing materials will be neutralized - covered by a layer of something resulting from the chemical reaction of the surface with the water - and then won't have any effect any more.
Good old baking soda will work, of course.
However you'll have to dose your tank every so often as you draw off the treated water and it is replaced by more acid water.
She suggested that the finer the particulate of alkalinizing material, the better it would likely work. Mainly because there'd be way more surface area so it would take longer for the surface to be rendered ineffective.
cheers,
John S.
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does anyone know if the location of the tank is regulated? does this need to be within a certain distance of the house and can it be downhill a bit? is there any place in town that installs more than one kind of tank (to get unbiased information)?
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While I would defer to the real estate and construction professionals on this forum, I think there are some safety regulations as to the location of catchment tanks. A catastrophic failure of a tall tank right next to a bedroom could injure or even kill someone by sending a wall of water through the house, so a minimum distance is required. There may be other regulations, but that is one that I have heard discussed.
Cheers,
Jerry
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my plans say 10 feet from the foundation minimum
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I think my original question wasn't clear. Actually I was looking at more like 50 feet, and down an 8-10 ft. hill. I didn't know if this is too far!
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Aloha,
Re the thread on how to alkalinize your catchment water, the latest issue of the Big Island Weekly gives da scoop in the Mr. Big Island column to round out info from my previous post. Baking soda and fine granular alkalizers will work; big chunks of carbonates will not (it's the sulfur that coats the surface and renders them ineffective).
He also points out something I forgot, which is that products like cement blocks and other random chunks of new or "waste" concrete may be made with toxic materials in the mix (from additives such as fly ash, etc.) and those toxins will leach into your catchment water.
cheers,
John S.
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quote:
Originally posted by ric
I think my original question wasn't clear. Actually I was looking at more like 50 feet, and down an 8-10 ft. hill. I didn't know if this is too far!
Your pump will use more energy sucking up that extra distance. When the power goes out or your pump dies it will be some grunt work to carry water up to the house temporarily. If you put the tank at least level with or above the house, you can run a siphon hose for emergencies instead.
If you keep the tank as close to the house as possible it's easy to have no standing water from gutters to tank (overhead pipes). The further away, the harder that will be, and of course all the plumbing runs will cost you a bit more as well.
John S.
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Thanks to everyone for all of the information. I have been looking for this information as the reality of using catchment water sinks in. Now here is where I am looking for you guys to challenge me or change my mind (of course only if it is really necessary). When me and Lynn first started shopping for homes on TBI we almost immediately said "Na-uh... no way. We're looking for a place with county water or a well". I think this is still our preference but I am not sure that we are hellbent on county water or a well.
-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/
