Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Malabar
Thiruvananthapuram
BOOK BUILDING
On your way to rainwater collection
D. MURALI
In that famous snatch from As You Like It, ‘Men are April when they woo, December when they wed,’ you’d find Rosalind tell Orlando, “I will be more jealous of thee than a Barbary cock-pigeon over his hen, more clamorous than a parrot against rain, more new-fangled than an ape, more giddy in my desires than a monkey.”
Recent times have seen an abundance of water ending as avoidable waste in the very cities that habitually clamoured for water, thus bringing to focus the absence of effective water management.
To help, here is ‘Rainwater Collection for the Mechanically Challenged,’ by Suzy Banks and Richard Heinichen, from Tank Town ( www.rainwatercollection.com). “We live in the Texas Hill Country outside of Austin. Our data about rainfall amounts, problems with incredibly hard water, and xeriscape recommendations are all gleaned from our tiny spot on the planet,” confesses the intro.
However, they assure that the book should ‘see you well on your way to rainwater collection and self-sufficient nirvana’ if you see “an average of 30 inches or more of fairly clear rain annually”.
Chapter 1 describes the hydrologic cycle, and leads us through ‘a day in the life of a raindrop,’ with an informative illustration by Tré Arenz. “For most household rainwater harvesting systems, the roof is the collection surface,” write the authors. “The square footage of your catchment surface is only as big as the footprint of your house.”
Know that “a chunk of water that’s one inch deep and one foot square equals exactly 0.6233 gallons.” Conservatively, a one-inch rain yields about 550 gallons per 1,000 square feet of collection surface. Usage per person is 25-50 gallons. (1 U.S. gallon = 3.7854118 litres, informs Google’s calculator).
“If we lived in Mawsynram, Meghalaya State, India, where the average annual rainfall is 467 inches, our collection tank would only have to be the size of a Big Gulp cup. But since we live in an area of biblical droughts, where rain hasn’t fallen for as long as 75 days, we’ll need storage to last us at least that long,” inform the authors.
A chapter on ‘storage tank’ discusses options ranging from fibreglass to concrete, metal to polypropylene. The authors use two 4,000-gallon fibreglass tanks, with “an interior coating of FDA-approved food-grade resin” and “a UV resistant gel-coat” on the exterior ‘to inhibit algae growth’. Such tanks are used in places like oil fields, and “have weathered the elements for decades without deterioration,” informs the book.
“Ralph Waldo Emerson must have been talking about rainwater collection systems when he said, ‘To be simple is to be great.’” Thus begins the chapter on siting the tank. Because “the fewer pumps, the fewer twists and turns in your pipe, and the more straightforward your design, the less you’ll have to hassle with maintenance.”
Water weighs about 8 pounds (1 pound = 453.59237 grams) per gallon, and what a 5,000-gallon tank, weighing 40,000 pounds, needs is “a stable, level pad.”
And this need not be complicated and expensive, point out the authors, for the guidance of the overcautious who may tend to “build concrete footings and haul in fill and rubble like they’re constructing a freeway overpass in earthquake country.” Remember, however that “a tree stump protruding in your pad can crack the bottom of your full tank like a bullet through safety glass.”
Essential read is the chapter on treating water, which involves two processes.
First, disinfection, to kill living things such as bacteria and viruses; and second, conditioning, to remove inert particles, minerals and chemicals.
Suzy and Richard explain all about pre-filters, activated carbon, UV or ultraviolet, ozone, chlorination, and RO or reverse osmosis. Tré’s illustrations guide you on the how-to, so get ready to wear “your plumber, electrician, ditch digger, and errand boy (or girl) hats.”
The final chapter on ‘tips and troubleshooting’ handles questions such as non-stop leaks and adamant pumps. “I don’t have any water pressure! Who do I sue?” reads a question. The authors snap back: “Yourself? You probably need to change your filthy filters. There may be air trapped in the pump or the suction line…”
Eliminate standing water to control the mosquito menace, advise the authors, and emphasise the need for ‘obsessive attention’ to cleaning gutters, screening tank vents and so on.
Essential read before the next rains!
Feedback to
dmurali@thehindu.co.in
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
Kochi
Malabar
Thiruvananthapuram
|
