tank water filtration question-no motorcycle content :-)

[Dave Ross]

#3510

There must be some of you guys out there who are collecting their water supply from the roof. We're just building and have two large water tanks. We were told there is filter unit in the tank with the pump, but apparently it's not good enough for drinking. I figure that if it's not good enough for drinking, it's not good enough for brushing your teeth with or having a shower with it. After all, there could/will be bird shit in it, along with any other contaminant that will eventually make it into the tank.A proper filtration unit is about $3300, installed. It will treat all the water coming into the house. That's quite a bit of money. What have you guys done? Stick to bottled water for drinking? Get one of those small under-sink units installed? Boiled your water supply? Or have you just not worried about it?

[Arne Rohde]

#14451

That sounds like a very high price for a filtration unit. Certainly for a residential application.In this area it's now mandatory in new installations to have filters to remove particulate matter followed by a UV sterilizer to kill off any bacteria in the water. You can buy the filters as a package. Cartridges are available to remove particles down to 1 micron.We have two particle filters, one with a 20 micron cartridge and one with a 5 micron. Followed by a UV sterilizer. There's a similar system on TradeMe (http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-farming-industry/Farming-forestry/Irrigation-drainage/Pumps/auction-341894247.htm) which also has a carbon filter.In addition we keep any leftover boiled water (from tea making, etc) in the fridge as drinking water, but also drink water direct from the tap.In our previous house we had a 5 micron particle filter, no UV sterilizer, and an under-bench ceramic filter for drinking water.

[Richard Kuysten]

#14452

Don't know a thing about this Alex but….. my daughter has just moved to Beachlands where they have tank water.  She is here with us tonight and she tells me they have 2 sand  filters in the garage where the pump is.  No problems with the water so far.  How much will you save on water bills? long term I'd guess the 3 grand won't look to bad in a few years.Good luck.

[Dave Ross]

#14453

Thanks for the responses guys. Here are the specs for the system.The unit consists of 1 x AM252D25: Washable pre filter with 25 Micron removable disk (Washable or replace) followed by Giardia & Cryptosporidium removal 1x 20BWH Jumbo 4" x 20" housing 1x 20BST1 1Micron jumbo 4" x 20 " polystring wound cartridge (Flows up to 100-litres per minute when cleaning) 2 x 25-mm Ball valves 1 x S12QP UV Sterilliser rated up to 90 litre/minuteI guess they might be trying to sell me a Ferrari system, when a VW one would do.I have to find out what's already in the tank. Maybe we can do with less for the rest.

[Dave Morris]

#14454

VW will cost you more in the long runbut u knew that

[Dave Ross]

#14455

More than a Ferrari? Don't think so 🙂

[Anonymous]

#14456

Artig has given you some top class advice there,his system is spot on.Get the filter system installed somewhere nicely accesable in the garage maybe,that way it will be easy to service and always in the forefront of your mind,(the filters need to be replaced according usage or time)you can buy all the components yourself fromTrade me or P.M. me when you are ready and I will hook you up with a reputable re-sellar in your area.Additional things you can do to extend the life of your filters is to instal a small tank (first flush device) which catches the first lot of water after a long dry spell off the roof,this water is usually very dirty (remember what your car looks like after the same period of time)The idea is that this tank fills up first and then either slowly drains away to a soak away or you pull out a bung and flush out the sediment.Also pay attention to your gutters (spouting) you can get a product that stops any leaves or forien matter from collecting in the gutter and lying there untill the rain comes and washes it down the pipes.Altenatively if your only single storey,just do an inspection every couple of weeks or so.The money you save by sourcing the filters yourself can be spent on a first line of defence and you will have a system that will be both safe and pleasant to drink.Also you should be looking at water saving options within the design of yor plumbing system,ask your plumber about manifold plumbing its a way of both saving energy and water by running individual water lines from the source to the point of delivery and it eliminates having fittings buried in the walls.John Guest make a great range of products for this purpose and its  British made......support the Motherland...God bless the Queen !!!!!Hope this helpsRincewindPS Have a great Christmas

[Arne Rohde]

#14457

A couple of things I forgot to mention.Our system is plumbed so that water for the outdoor taps only goes through the coarse filter. There is no need for that water to go through the fine filter or the UV sterilizer. It probably doesn't really need to go through the 20 micron filter, either.Every year or two I suck the sediment out of the bottom of the tank. There are people who will come and do it for you, but I've found it relatively easy to do. Originally I used a small bilge pump at the end of a pole that would reach and could be moved around the bottom of the tank. Now I use a longer pipe, ending downhill of the tank, to just siphon water and sediment from the tank. No pump required. If it's on a level piece of land you could also use a pump on the end of the pipe outside the tank, sucking the water out, instead of a bilge pump inside the tank.There are also setups available that take the tank overflow from the bottom of the tank, keeping out most of the sediment, but then you end up with floating extraneous matter staying in the tank instead.Also, before starting to use a new installation you should flush it through with chlorinated water to kill off any bugs hiding in the plumbing. After you've killed off those bugs the UV sterilizer should stop any new ones entering the system. You should also do this if for some reason it has been used with the UV switched off.

[Dave Ross]

#14458

Thanks Artig, that's very useful information. I'll have to talk to our plumber to find out how he's plumbed up the system. I should have thought about this earlier, but I had just assumed we would be getting water of sufficient quality out of the system they've installed.

[Arne Rohde]

#14459

Something else you might want to consider, Alex.In rural areas lengthy power cuts are not unheard of. And no power = no pump = no water.Rural or not it's always a good idea to have a regularly renewed stock of drinking water available. Enough for a few days. Also it can be practical to have some water readily available for other purposes: washing hands, flushing toilets, etc. We have a tap installed which lets us take water gravity-fed directly from the tank, without needing to have the pump running. It's slow, but easier than climbing up the tank to get a bucket of water if you need it during a power cut.

[honeybear.2399]

#14460

My 2 pennies worth. All the above seems like a case of “overkill”  we lived on rain tank water no filters for over 10 years with 7 people including babies using it, no one ever got sick from it.  Regards Phil

[Dave Ross]

#14461

It's like most other things where there is a risk involved, Phil. Often not much happens, but when it does everybody ducks for cover. New Zealand has reasonably strict rules covering town water. However, private tank water supplies are completely exempt from any regulations. A lot of people don't even trust or like the town water supply, judging by how well bottled water sells. I'd rather not drink from a tank that contains bird and possum shit, dead birds, snails, contamination from spray drift etc. that happens to have accumulated in there. While it's probably healthy to challenge your immune system every now and then, I'd rather not do it using the above method.  I know that there is a level of maintenance required, but a good system will need a lot less looking after.

[Anonymous]

#14462

My 2 pennies worth. All the above seems like a case of "overkill"  we lived on rain tank water no filters for over 10 years with 7 people including babies using it, no one ever got sick from it.  Regards Phil

I know of several people who have been made very sick by ingesting tank water and I would certainly take every precaution to ensure that did not happen to my family or visitors.A lot of it depends on comon sense and maintainance of systems and infrastructure most of the time.But you are quite right Phill lots of people depend on tank water as their primary supply and most of them never ever get any issues,but when they do, it can be pretty debilitating.

[Anonymous]

#14463

I was with DOC for 17 odd years and drank water from creeks , water tanks and rivers . Cant say i ever got crook. But there is a theory that the water supplied to cities and towns is so full of “additives” that the general population using it have no resistance to untreated water, which does have the odd bug .Generally DOC post signs to say that water “may” be boiled before use.There is probably more chance of getting camplybacta from chicken meat than getting infected by water from a tank that has the normal safety precautions so that possums, rats , birds cant get into the tank........Merry Xmas

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