Rainwater Collection – Quality Issues
This is a fairly typical rainwater collection installation.
Gutters discharging to a pipe which discharges onto a screen fitted to the tank access point, cheap and cheerful!
I must have seen it hundreds of times . . . . . . but it has some negative implications on the water quality you will get from the tank!
Problems
- Although the screen keeps leaves, mozzies, and other debris out of the tank it lets sunlight in. This will encourage algae growth inside the tank.
- At the top of the tank the screen is out of view and consequently hardly ever gets cleaned. As a consequence the leaves rot and organic materials gets washed into the tank providing nutrients for that algae.
- Discharging water into the top of the tank isn’t the best location (see this link: Inlet Improvements).
Solutions
- Install a cover over the access point (Something like a round dustbin lid with a hole for the inlet pipe) This will keep the light out, but the issue of the rotting leaves will remain.
- Screen the leaves out at the gutter discharge using a rainwater diverter with a self cleaning screen (for an example see this link: Supadiverta), and pipe the inlet flow to the bottom of the tank.
For more posts see Rainwater