Next up is the water storage system. Space being an issue, I decided that 30 gallons would be a good quantity to keep available for direct use. This will be stored inside so that there are no issues with freezing.
My requirements for a storage container are not only that it is clean and strong, but also that I can empty and clean the tank of and sediment that may make it in to the tank. For this I chose a 30 gallon removable top barrel. This unit is HDPE and has a ring lock with a gasketed lid and NEW not recycled or "cleaned out". the only thing I don't like is it is, of course, blue.
The "bungs" on this drum accept 3/4" pipe and 2" pipe fittings. As you can see, there is a fitting that I already made to both fill and draw from it. the fill/drain assembly is a "dip tube". The tube goes down about 7/8 to the bottom. A word of caution here. DO NOT run the pipe all the way to the bottom. Yes you loose a bit of capacity, but you gain a settling space for anything that makes it through the filter and is heavier than water. Another note along these lines. Unless you are putting in only 100% potable water, do not drain to the bottom of the dip tube. If you do anything lighter than water that separated during storage will be drawn in to your water supply. For now I simply go by visual for the water levels. Later I am hoping to add a controller to monitor the level.
On the threaded fitting for the dip tube some minor hand work was require with the threaded adapter. As with the PVC, there is a lip in the threaded adapter to keep the tube from going all the way through. Out came the Dremel tool and the lip was ground away until the tube slipped through it.
In this photo, you can see the two valves. The valve on the left is for filling, and the valve on the right is for the delivery. To fill simply attach the water source, close the delivery and open the fill valve. When it is full close off the fill valve and open the delivery valve.
There is one detail with this that is not obvious. The valve on the left has a drain cap and is installed backwards. The reason for this is to allow the fill line to drain after the hose is removed from the outside. As I stated earlier, my fill line will run to the ceiling, across and out and back down to a tap on the outside. When I am done filling that line needs to be drained of water or else two things can happen. First is the line may freeze. More importantly though, if the outside tap is opened, the tank will be drained by siphon effect down to the level of the outside tap (about 3/4 of my water).
To prevent this, I first open the outside faucet and then crack open the cap on the valve to allow the water to be sucked back out of the line. In this way, the line is empty and i don't have to worry about freezing.
If at some point I wish to add more storage capacity, I simply need to add barrels and connect the valves to a manifold. The same thing can be done with 55 gallon barrels. Either way, I recommend open top barrels because eventually they should be cleaned and sanitized.
The next installment will begin to cover the "real" filtration system.
My requirements for a storage container are not only that it is clean and strong, but also that I can empty and clean the tank of and sediment that may make it in to the tank. For this I chose a 30 gallon removable top barrel. This unit is HDPE and has a ring lock with a gasketed lid and NEW not recycled or "cleaned out". the only thing I don't like is it is, of course, blue.
The "bungs" on this drum accept 3/4" pipe and 2" pipe fittings. As you can see, there is a fitting that I already made to both fill and draw from it. the fill/drain assembly is a "dip tube". The tube goes down about 7/8 to the bottom. A word of caution here. DO NOT run the pipe all the way to the bottom. Yes you loose a bit of capacity, but you gain a settling space for anything that makes it through the filter and is heavier than water. Another note along these lines. Unless you are putting in only 100% potable water, do not drain to the bottom of the dip tube. If you do anything lighter than water that separated during storage will be drawn in to your water supply. For now I simply go by visual for the water levels. Later I am hoping to add a controller to monitor the level.
On the threaded fitting for the dip tube some minor hand work was require with the threaded adapter. As with the PVC, there is a lip in the threaded adapter to keep the tube from going all the way through. Out came the Dremel tool and the lip was ground away until the tube slipped through it.
In this photo, you can see the two valves. The valve on the left is for filling, and the valve on the right is for the delivery. To fill simply attach the water source, close the delivery and open the fill valve. When it is full close off the fill valve and open the delivery valve.
There is one detail with this that is not obvious. The valve on the left has a drain cap and is installed backwards. The reason for this is to allow the fill line to drain after the hose is removed from the outside. As I stated earlier, my fill line will run to the ceiling, across and out and back down to a tap on the outside. When I am done filling that line needs to be drained of water or else two things can happen. First is the line may freeze. More importantly though, if the outside tap is opened, the tank will be drained by siphon effect down to the level of the outside tap (about 3/4 of my water).
To prevent this, I first open the outside faucet and then crack open the cap on the valve to allow the water to be sucked back out of the line. In this way, the line is empty and i don't have to worry about freezing.
If at some point I wish to add more storage capacity, I simply need to add barrels and connect the valves to a manifold. The same thing can be done with 55 gallon barrels. Either way, I recommend open top barrels because eventually they should be cleaned and sanitized.
The next installment will begin to cover the "real" filtration system.
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