WATER EQUIPMENT

What water equipment do I need for the various functions.

A brief budget cost is provided at the end.

1. WHAT DID I LEARN?

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I would not recommend that my customers build, what I built, because I wanted to know what worked, and how well it worked. So I learned some lessons.

  • Firstly I already have fewer tanks than I ever had before. Several changes that I made, meant that I still have too many tanks. One of the main drivers was, that I have been progressively reducing my water consumption.
  • Secondly there are also multiple pumps already in the grave yard. This is the lesson, even though I bought from Australian companies, they were NOT a branded product. Mind, some things I bought via the internet have been very good, but it is often a lucky dip. I have decided to pay a little more and buy the branded item. As those companies have a reputation to protect and they have better quality control.

2. DO I NEED HILL TOP TANKS?

THE SHORT ANSWER IS NO!

  • Originally I wanted to use the benefit of a 20 meter fall to bring water via my filters to the end point. It worked, kind of, for the taps, but not for the shower.
  • I tried to get flowrate vs pressure drop data for the filters, but the suppliers have absolutely no idea and they don’t care. I took a punt that it might work, but the shower flowrate required was too high.
  • So I had to resort to pressure pumps. Lucky I decided to buy Davis pumps right from the start. But with the pressure pumps, I really don’t need Hill top tanks. I can just have a squat tank next to the containers.

 

3. SO WHAT DO I RECOMMEND for the water delivery side? — cost scenario COLLECT.

My water consumption, without recycling is 53L/day. So for two people that is 106L/day or 21,200 Ltr for 200 days.

  • I recommend 200 days water storage, because that spans at least 2 seasons.
  • If you do not want to recycle grey water. Then for the delivery side you need:
    • 2 fresh water, 10,000 Ltr squat collection tanks.      $3,800.
    • Maybe for prudency, you may want an extra 5000Ltr squat collection tank.                         $1000.
    • 1 pressure pump.     $700.
    • 1 set of 4 filters.        $800.
    • Piping valves etc.      $400.
    • TOTAL  $6,700.
P.S. the height of a squat tank stays below the gutter discharge point.
P.S. This recommendation only applies if you have an incinerating toilet. In fact I have said this before, I would not proceed with an agricultural tenancy without that toilet.

Total collection cost $6,700.

4. THE DISPOSAL SIDE IF YOU DO HAVE A SLOPE.  — cost scenario LBS.

We still need to make some assumptions:

The shower and basins discharge needs to make use of the slope as a primary objective. The next question is, can the Laundry also make use of that. In my case that was a NO.

So, lets proceed with the requirements for the shower.

  •  We need some pipes to bring the effluent into the top of a 2000 Ltr tank. In order to get rid of the froth and foam before running it over the property, or even the veg-patch, I recommend you blow air into the tank. In fact I do that for my sink water. For my shower water I have 2 x 1000Ltr tanks. One that bubbles air and the second one is a settling tank. If you do not want to use any extra pumps, you need to carefully have outlets at the tanks that control the levels in the tanks properly, so they can do their function. So, there are lot’s of flexibilities and a lot of them depend on the physical location.

Here is a suggested list:

  • 1×1,000L tanks (incl level stick)    $  800
  • 1xDavey  blower                           $ 600
  • plus piping, valves etc SAY           $ 400
  • TOTAL                                           $1800

COST suggestion method LBS  is $1,800.

5. THE DISPOSAL SIDE IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A SLOPE. – cost scenario LBNS. 

The water discharge from the laundry and basin and sink are 60cm above ground level. That is too low for a standard tank. In the case of the shower the problem is even worse, because that discharge is at ground level.

By the way:

In my first Laundry, I had a pump connected to the laundry, but it was difficult to start the pump at the right time and to synchronise the pump with the water flow. So, the result was that I flooded my Laundry several times.

  • In order to stay below the 600mm discharge height of the laundry tub, I purchased a flat 450L spray tank and a Karcher garden pump. For the laundry I can now do 3 washes before I need to pump those tanks empty.
    •  An alternative might be to connect directly to the washing machine outlet, but I do not know the pressure that this pump can deliver. Will it pump 2 meters high into a standard tank? But it still does not solve the discharge of the laundry tub, when in use.

A possible solution is to use a submersible pump, but it needs to be in a very small container. In order to keep that container full with water, the pump needs to be a pump motor with a variable speed drive, so the pump discharge rate can be synchronised with the input flow. I would dare say, this is not an off the shelf item. So let’s select this:

  • 1x450L flat tank                          $1200
  • 1xKarcher transfer pump             $ 400
  • 1x1000L tank                               $  800
  • 1xDavey Blower                           $  600
  • plus piping, valves etc SAY          $  500
  • TOTAL                                           $3500

COST suggestion method LBNS  is $3,500.

6. DISPOSAL FROM A LAUNDRY NOT NEAR BASIN. –– EXTRA COST. cost scenario LE.

This is the same solution as above, with the 450L spray tank and the Karcher garden pump, as explained above. You need:

  • 1 x450L flat tank.                      $1,200
  • 1 x Karcher transfer pump.         $ 400
  • plus piping, valves etc                 $ 400
  • TOTAL                                          $2,000

COST suggestion method LE  is $2,000.

Total water equipment costs.

COLLECT +LBS

COLLECT +LBNS

COLLECT +LBS +LE

COLLECT +LBNS +LE

$  8,500

$10,200

$10,500

$12,200

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