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DIY Rainwater Harvesting System for Toilet Garden and Washer

4/9/2011

18 Comments

 
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All season rain water collection system


I love rainwater in my basement!

Recently I installed a Rainwater harvesting system on a 1200 sqft ranch home in surburban Allentown, Pennsylvania. You can likely duplicate this system in your home or business.

The collection system stores water in a basement, filters it, pressurizes it and distributes it to the toilets, garden hoses, and washing machine.

The system should save about 5000 gallons per year per person in your household (if you size the collection vessel(s) properly.)

It may sound a little tricky to install, but I have included pictures, a YouTube video, basic instructions, and a spreadsheet of all the parts/ tools you will need to take on this endeaver. You can do this with minimal plumbing knowledge!

UPDATE 12-19-15: The washing machine Y has continued to be an issue. I had to replace with a solid brass Y and separate 90 degree shut off globe valves. Luckily my washing machine is in the garage so a leak was not a huge issue.

Update 3-29-17: System still working well. Added a 4' long transparent section of tubing at the drain valve located at the far end of the system. This enables a quick level check without having to drill into the barrels. I secured the top with a zip tie and keep the valve closed. Ultimately I want to install a high level sensor float switch and a solenoid cutoff at the in-feed line. (Thus preventing an overfill scenario) Currently the system if totally full just backs up to the gutter collectors, but that is not a good fail safe in my opinion. I also added a wifi plug to the rainwater pump, that way i can shut it off when on vacation from my phone. I use the insignia ones, as It is very reasonably priced - though it would be nice to have a next compatible one that can sense when we away. Also, the PEX tubing is starting to have some issues due to freezing w/o too much trouble and UV exposure on the outside of the house. I have patched a few leaks, but suspect that I might need to replace the outside tubing with something else more durable or just replace it periodically, as it is not that expensive.

Side Note: The round in-feed screen filter has to be cleaned pretty regularly as I have trees around the home. If it is not cleaned, the flow goes to a trickle and you can not capture the water well during a storm. Clean those gutters!

Collecting rainwater accomplishes several positive things:

1) Decreases your water bill by around 5000 gallons per person per year

2) Decreases load on the storm system in your neighborhood

3) Decreases the amount of water that will try to seep into your foundation

4) Decreases the amount of power consumed by your water utility, indirectly allowing them to keep costs lower for you.

5) Decrease costs associated with maintaining your water softener - as less water will need to be softened

6) Increase water softness so that clothes and vehicle wash more easily & you can use less laundry detergent / soap - thus polluting less. Update: I am not using the rainwater for the washing machine any more, only the toilets. The system just doesn't collect enough water to make it practical, also the water quality varies.

7) Eliminates sudden temperature/pressure changes in a shower when someone flushes a toilet, uses the washing machine, or a garden hose. 

8) Increases anticipation of arriving storms - it's essentially raining free money for you to enjoy!
Fresh water will become more and more valuable as we progress into the future. Flushing a toilet with drinking water is really silly when you think about what is actually happening. Your spending money to treat water just to flush it down with waste - not logical. Our ancestors would likely look at us with head tilted wondering why we weren't using our gutters more wisely…

If you are feeling really ambitious and are able to collect the grey water from your bathroom sinks, showers, tubs, and laundry - this water can be recycled and filtered one more time in an auxillary system to supply water to the toilets and the garden hoses - though you will have to ensure that all of your soaps are bio friendly. Depending on your location, installing an inline UV sterilization filter may also allow you to use the water you collect for consumption.

Note: You should not collect the water from a kitchen sink, toilet, dishwasher as this becomes known as black water and must be sent into the sewer or septic system.
rainwater_bill_of_materials.pdf
File Size: 12 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

rainwaterbom.xls
File Size: 25 kb
File Type: xls
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18 Comments
Stephen Schwartz
4/10/2011 10:24:58 pm

BRET: Nice work guy.

I assume you needed extra plumbing to separate the rainwater system from the city water system? Hopefully you didn't cross-connect them - because that's illegal.

Then there's the part about your pumps requiring maintenance - and/or just malfunctioning occasionally. Also, I didn't see the costs anywhere. Plastic 55-gallon drums and a pump or two - maybe a couple of grand?

Then there's the part about 99 out of 100 folks not being able to install such a system without hiring a plumber (and maybe an electrician).

Am I starting to sound like your dad?

Anyway, it's a really "green" idea, and that's always good.

Reply
Bret
4/11/2011 02:43:49 pm

About $1000 so in parts. ROI is only a few years with a decent sized family. City water is separated by check valves. Drums were free from Sun & Earth a environmentally friendly cleaning supply company in King of Prussia. Take some skill but it was not rocket science.

Reply
Dave Anton link
4/25/2011 04:56:13 am

Hey Bret,

The system looks good.

Thanks for the help.

Dave Anton

Reply
Banks link
5/28/2011 11:15:05 am

I saw the video. Do you consult? I'm putting in a flush your toilet with rainwater soon.

Reply
Marc.T
12/24/2011 09:43:01 pm

Hey Bret
Thank you far sharing your clever persuits to 'get off the grid'
I live in South Africa and I am busy erecting a header tank at my house, in order to plumb it in to use in the home. I have 17500litres of possible collection of rainwater and I would like to ask you a few questions.
Did you put a ball valve to separate city water, next to each place that you changed to rainwater? or did you just use ONE valve to close off the city water?
What exactly does the rain reserve do?
I live under trees and am having roubles keeping the gutters clear of leaf. What would you suggest?
Keep up the good work.
Marc

Reply
Bret link
12/25/2011 01:07:53 am

Marc:
I have a two ball valves at each fixture (toilet, hose, clothes washer),
one ball valve is for the city water, other is for the pressurized rain water.

this allows me to only run rain water to certain fixtures, such as only the toilets. sometimes i need a lot of water for laundry and don't have enough in my tanks. Even though you have large tank, i would still invest in local control at each fixture.

Ensure that only one ball valve is open at a time - or you may foul the city water which is illegal and dangerous in most places. A check valve should also be installed on the city side if you want to adhere strictly to many codes.

If you use gutter helmets, the wire basket strainers, and the rain reserves in concert - leaf issues should be minimal. you will need to clean out your gutters every few months, or at least check on them.

The marine strainer basket eliminates the fine leaf matter prior to going into the tank, but the aforementioned components will prevent clogs beforehand - then you just need to clean the marine basket monthly or so.

Reply
Marc.T
12/27/2011 01:52:43 am

OK Thanks alot.
I was looking at your set-up again and I realised that you did it that way.
Today I got the header tank up to 5m and now we can go forward with the rest of the istallation. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a plumber, and here in South Africa we can get the solar water geysers that work of low pressure like header tnaks. SO we will install one soon, to also save on electricity bills!
Im feeling good about all of this.
Thanks again for your support.
Marc

Marc.T
12/27/2011 01:52:47 am

OK Thanks alot.
I was looking at your set-up again and I realised that you did it that way.
Today I got the header tank up to 5m and now we can go forward with the rest of the istallation. I spoke to a friend of mine who is a plumber, and here in South Africa we can get the solar water geysers that work of low pressure like header tnaks. SO we will install one soon, to also save on electricity bills!
Im feeling good about all of this.
Thanks again for your support.
Marc

Noire
2/2/2012 10:45:45 am

Can an above-ground swimming pool be installed in a basement for a collection tank? Does the water have to be chemically treated?

Reply
Bret
4/24/2012 07:12:26 pm

Seems plausible, though I would think that moisture and algae would quickly become a major issue.

Reply
Carpet cleaning equipment link
5/15/2012 04:21:01 pm

You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something that I think I would never understand. It seems too complex and very broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post; I’ll try to get the hang of it!

Reply
Ryan Kennedy link
6/4/2012 04:30:13 am

Bret,really like your plan,I have a building in rural TN that I plan to do auto repair in....a well here is 5K....can I use this system just for toilet,one hand sink and water to wash cars?Thanks very much Ryan

Reply
Bret
6/4/2012 10:27:01 am

TN gets really good rainfall - you must keep the business end of the system from freezing, or risk failure in some of the components. The new pumps they sell at Harbor Freight are more robust and i think this system could handle your requirement nicely. Make sure to keep the system moving water so you get good circulation - in other words water a garden once in a while to drain the system partially.

Reply
David Lowe
8/23/2012 04:55:34 am

I saw the pump was from Harbor Freight, I didn't see where you got the tank and pressure valve.
Thanks

Reply
Jordan
3/24/2013 05:54:14 am

I made a system very similar to yours- but i have one problem-one of my npt treaded pex adapters is leaking and I've tried to caulk it 2 different times to get the drip leak to stop from the barrel- do you have any suggestions?

Reply
Scott
9/14/2013 11:30:00 pm

I have three questions. 1) Is your solenoid valve normally opened or closed? 2) What type float valve did you use in that first barrel? ie, vertical, piggy backed etc. 3) Where did you get them? I really want to build something like this. I just wasn't sure of the float valve and solenoid. I found the well pump for $300.00 and I have the barrels, check, and ball valves. I watched your YouTube video and I think this is just incredible.

Reply
Bret
3/29/2017 08:00:28 pm

normally closed valve on ebay, though i have the shut off prior as well and a switch for the solenoid. I rarely use this feature - but still good to have so you don't have to mess with the toilet bypass valves. If you size the system correctly and rainfall is decent where you live likely won't need it. I think i got the float sensor from omega, it was pretty inexpensive. I do want to install a high barrel cutoff rainfall in-feed sensor with a normally open valve, but no time for that lately.

Reply
Pam Colton
3/30/2016 10:02:16 am

Hi there. I'm doing a project for a research paper on rainwater harvesting and your video was so great at explaining simply yet in detail about how a system can be set up and work. How is it going? How has it held up over the past several years since you installed it? Any update would be great for my report! Is there anything different that you would use today and is there a kit available to do this for consumers who are not at inclined as you but who would love such a system. Would love to quote you if possible so please share any information you feel comfortable with.
Thank you!
Pam

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