Tuesday 12 April 2016

rainwater cisterns

The so-called "green" harvesting of roof-shed rainwater with above-ground rain barrels or catch tanks reduces the watershed that currently overloads a few of our municipal sewer and storm-water drainage systems. Still, could we do the same by installing underground cisterns similar to those used through the 1800's and early 1900's?
Description of the earlier cisterns
Many older homes and estates today still have the remnants of the early underground rainwater cisterns. These fairly large round, water-tight, root-free, 500-to-5000-gallon cisterns were made from brick, stone, rock, plaster, concrete, or combinations of the materials. These were each capped with an above-ground manhole-type of opening large enough to take a big bucket. This opening allowed the cistern to be periodically cleaned-out and repaired by the dog owner or with a third-party service. rainwater cisterns
The tin or zinc-plated guttering applied to the home eaves then, which carried the rainwater down seriously to the cisterns, were open and not covered. So, a significant bit of wind-blown tree leaves and seeds, and other debris could make their in to the cisterns. For that reason, the suction end of the iron plumbing was located above the cistern floor, where in actuality the debris would eventually settle.
This relatively clean, soft, outside water supply was plumbed directly to the long-handle hand-pumps installed at the kitchen and bathroom sinks and the bathtub in the primary house. It was also plumbed to the hand-pump in a tiny building behind the home that served as a summer kitchen and a location to clean laundry, to can garden produce, and to butcher chickens and hogs. This water supply remained relatively cool and unfrozen the entire year around. Generally, it absolutely was useful for cooking, washing dishes, cleaning, canning, butchering, and bathing. But maybe it's drunk, too, after boiling it. concrete tanks gold coast
Modern cisterns
Modern cisterns operate similar to the ones described above. However, instead to be built into the floor from scratch, they're buried prefabricated ones instead. That is, these cisterns could be prefabricated concrete receptacles, or they could be large prefabricated heavy-duty plastic tanks capped with fairly large screw-on tops, like the ones seen on certain lawn-treatment trucks.
Also, today's aluminum, steel, plastic, or copper eave gutters will have porous or solid coverings. Thus, the total amount of debris entering the cisterns from the rooftops will be minimal. Yet, the fine sand-like material shed by asphalt or composite shingles will must be filtered out early through the harvesting process; else, it will ultimately need to be removed from the buried cistern. The plumbing for the modern cistern will be heavy plastic pipe. Of course, the pump itself will probably be an electrical one, its size and accessories will depend on the way the harvested water is used. Know more
More-than-likely, because many of us already have reliable purified municipal indoor drinking and bathing water supplies, this cistern water will be useful for outdoor purposes, like, for the sprinkling of lawns and gardens, for filling fish ponds and small treated swimming pools, for watering trees and animals, and for washing vehicles, driveways, patios, decks, and houses. The next three advantages of the modern buried cistern system suggest this technology works well today: 1) they are hidden from view and out-of-the-way by being underground, 2) they don't foster the production of algae or mosquitoes in the summertime time, and 3) they help conserve the municipal storm-drainage systems and drinking tap water supplies.

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