The system also includes First Flush Water Diverters to capture the first water to reach the tanks, because this is usually the most contaminated water. Each of the tanks also has fine mesh screening material over the entry ports to keep mosquitoes and crud out of the tank. Since we have flat roofs on both the house and the garage, a lot of the white granular material from the roofs always gets washed off in each rain and would eventually clog the tanks.
This picture shows the green 130 gallon tank with the white First Flush diverter running down the post beside it. A valve at the bottom can be opened to drain the contaminated water and other debris out of the diverter. There is also a faucet visible about half way down that can be used to drain the tank.
In addition to the tanks, we had a system of new gutters installed to capture water coming off the patio cover and the three short roof sections along the back of the house. Fortunately, we had some paint left over from painting the house, so they painted the guttering so that it fits right in with the rest of the house trim.
We're very pleased with the appearance of the system. There is extra piping visible in a couple of places and the big green tank on the patio (Go Ducks!) may take some getting used to, but the big tanks are out of sight behind the garage and most of the piping is underground.
The overflow from the 130 gallon tank beside the patio goes into a system of PVC pipes running along the edge of the patio and the wall beside the garage, around behind the garage, and into the big tanks out behind the garage. The pipes and all the black weed block will all eventually be covered with decomposed granite (DG) and create a unified look throughout the back yard.
The two tanks behind the garage get water from the garage roof through the upper gutter and pipe and from the house guttering system through a pipe that comes along the base of the wall behind the garage and up into the tanks. The tanks are connected by a pipe between them. If we get a rainfall that fills the tanks, the excess water will be directed out toward the canyon, but away from the eroded edge, since part of the reason for installing this system is to slow the erosion process. Eventually we hope to have a small orchard out behind the fence that will absorb any excess water.
Cindy built the pads for both sets of tanks from cinder block resting on gravel and pavers (see earlier "Building Materials" post), and then we had Don Wilson, the mason who installed the stone facing on the patio and garage walls, install similar stone on both the pads. Good thing we ordered too much stone the first time, the leftovers came in very handy. Wilson Masonry
This system will give us over 500 gallons of water storage capacity, which translates to about the amount of water that comes off our roof during a half inch rainfall. For an environment that gets an average of ten inches of rain a year, with increasing demand for water and decreased supply, the ability to capture, store and use rainfall is becoming more important. We can also capture and use the water we use to wash off the solar panels on the roof when we do that.
Now all we need is some rain!
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