Pipes and Wrenches | Installing a Rainwater Harvesting System

Summary

    – Zoom on rainwater harvesters

    – Step 1: Prepare a flat and rigid slab

    – Step 2: Install the connection pipe at the top

    – Step 3: Install the tap of the rainwater harvesting system in the lower part

    – Step 4: Install the filtering collector on the gutter

    – Step 5: Collect rainwater

Installing a Rainwater Harvesting System

Installing a rainwater collector is a relatively simple operation that allows you to save water for watering your garden. However, you must be careful to recover as much water as possible and avoid the proliferation of organisms. Follow the advice in this sheet to properly install your rainwater harvesting system.

Zoom on rainwater harvesters

Rainwater harvesters are commercially available in various forms and materials; the most common are made of polyethylene. You can also recycle a plastic tank or other earthen containers.

You will have to adapt its volume (between 200 and 1000 liters) to the needs of your vegetable garden but also the surface of your roof; if the collector is too small, it will overflow.

A few simple precautions will help you choose the right solution:

    – The tank must be closed to avoid the appearance of larvae and their proliferation.

    – You must empty it at the height of winter to prevent the water from freezing.

    – You can link two tanks together to increase their capacity.

    – You must determine its location under a downspout with care; the surface must be flat and stable.

    – If you have the choice, choose a northern exposure; the tank will not be exposed to the heat of the sun.

    – Some tanks are equipped with a tap; others are pre-cut to open the water outlet.

    – Connect a filtering system upstream of the water collector to stop plant debris coming from the roof.

Warning: the water recovered by this process is not potable. Even sanitary use is not recommended. It is not filtered enough and would damage your machines and pipes. You must then consider other storage and filtration systems with a much higher cost and maintenance. A total consumption requires an even more cumbersome process of potabilization.

1. Prepare a flat, rigid slab

Prepare the surface on which you will place the collector.

For example, you can lay a teak slab on the ground, which can be enough to stabilize a loose floor.

2. Lay the connection pipe at the top

    – Determine the location of the outlet connection on the tank shell: if a cut-out is planned, mark the circular mark on the upper part.

    – Drill the hole with the hole saw on the drilling machine.

    – Screw on the outlet pipe with its adapter; its length corresponds to the distance between the tank and the gutter.

3. Install the tap of the recuperator in the lower part

Proceed in the same way to install the tap.

    – Place it at the bottom to take advantage of the full height of the reclaimed water. You should still be able to get the watering can close to it.

    – Match the drilled hole to the tap hole.

    – Screw on the nut and gasket and then the tap.

4. Install the filtering collector on the gutter

The filtering collector is inserted into the downpipe, so you must cut the gutter.

    – Put the water collector in place.

    – Mark the collector’s location on the downspout, opposite the connecting pipe you have laid beforehand.

Necessary: make sure there is a slight slope to facilitate the flow to the tank.

    – Cut the gutter pipe with the hacksaw:

        ◦ a 1st time at the bottom of the drainpipe;

        ◦ a 2nd time at its top.

    – Cut the collector with the cutter to fit the diameter of your gutter.

    – Then, connect the connecting pipe to the collector.

Good to know: depending on the location of the gutter, it is sometimes necessary to completely dismantle the downspout to fit the collector in the upper and lower part of the gutter. To do this, loosen the collars that hold the downspout to the façade.

5. Collect rainwater

To make it easier to fill your watering can attach a piece of garden hose to the tap.

Here you are; you have now finished.