Oct
24

Rainwater harvesting

Posted in Greentalk by admin

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Rainwater Harvesting

Water is, has and always will be an integral part of our lives. For thousands of years ‘harvesting’ water from roofs has been practised, especially in India. Most South Africans who grew up outside of the cities had homes with underground tanks, or the old ‘Everite’ tanks. These practises are now, more and more being pursued by urban citizens.

There are numerous reasons:

  • Water shortages, and the resultant feeling of guilt, when ‘watering the garden’ for instance
  • Cost of water
  • Desire to have unpolluted fresh water
  • Independence, in that, householders have little confidence that local municipalities will have the capacity to control supply and demand into the future.
  • Urban homes have greater need for water as they are using more of their ‘garden’ space to produce crops.

The most popular means of harvesting would be the use of tanks, strategically placed under the outlet sockets of the roof’s gutters. Tanks manufacturers like JoJo have produced an array of quality products to meet all needs. The new ‘Slimline’, 750l, has been designed for the townhouse owner.

Selecting the right tank size

First calculate the size of your roof in square meters. The formula to remember is: For every mm of rain you may harvest 1litre of water per square meter of roof.

Roof size (m2) X mm rain = litres of water

Second: Determine what you want to do with the water.

  • Just drinking water
  • Total house water requirements
  • Garden & Pool
  • House and garden
  • Any combination of the above

The above criteria will determine the size of tank (or tanks) required and whether a pressure pump system will need to be added as well. We have just designed a system of 6 X 5000l tanks, which we connected together to totally supply the residence with water.

Literally anything is possible. When there is enough water, a pump can be specified to cater for your requirements.

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