Rainwater: How to get it, store it, use it?|We are building a house

By drzwioknarzeszow20/10/2022484 Views

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Poland has had a fatal water balance for years.Calculated per capita, we have less clean water than, for example,.Spain.This becomes severely felt in dry years, such as the current year.On a national scale, there is no reason to count on a rapid improvement.It is most often desirable to accumulate its supply, but sometimes its excess and puddles are also a problem after each major rain.However, there is a way for everything.

Why is it worth accumulating rainwater?

The use of rainwater gives many benefits.The easiest way to present an economic argument - we have to pay for water from the water supply, and we have the rainwater for free.In addition, if the house is connected to the storm collective sewage system, we can be covered by an additional fee in this respect (the so -called.Tax on rain).However, if we do not have a separate condenser (water meter) counting water used only for watering, and the sewage is discharged into the collective sewage system, all the water consumed enters the pool of sewage fees.Sewage disposal costs several times more expensive than water intake.

However, collecting rainwater is also beneficial for ecological and purely practical reasons.In this way, we increase the available water resources.One thing that it does not flow immediately to watercourses, and then to the Baltic Sea, the other that we save water supply water resources in this way.Water, which you need to get somewhere, then treat and transport with pipelines.We burden the environment less and infrastructure less.

Own rainwater magazine gives some independence.After all, we have often banned the use of water supply water for watering plants or washing the car has already been introduced.In this situation, we use the accumulated reserve.It is also worth remembering that rainwater, as very soft, free of excess calcium or iron, is even better for plants than water supply or well.

The catching and accumulation.On some plots, especially on clay soils with low permeability, the problem is the temporary excess water after greater rains.It is most felt on small properties, where the water from the gutters straight to the lawn forms stagnation on it.There, a good solution is to use e.g..underground accumulation and drainage system.

What can we use rainwater for?

The first association using rainwater is, of course, watering the plants.However, it is also suitable for washing the car, rinsing toilets and even washing.In addition, rainwater can supply a backyard pond or pool.

Infografika: Jaką część zużywanej wody możemy zastąpić deszczówką?

It is estimated that solutions of this type can reduce the consumption of water supply or well -water in a single -family house by up to half.Although such bills always depend on many factors.Not only how extensive the rainwater will be.

Reducing water consumption by collecting rainwater depends on:

Such criteria can be multiplied and specified for a long time.Therefore, we look at sellers with a lot of reserve, who without asking anything immediately declare how much we will save on the water.

A competent advisor from the company selling such systems will first conduct an interview with us, asking about the nature of the house and the plot.Because in a completely different situation there is the owner of a small plot, on which buildings and hardening occupy half the surface than someone with a large property, where these types of elements constitute only 10%.Even if they both wanted to spend the rest on a lush garden, the first one will have a few times more rainwater for watering..Simply, what he collects from the roof will then distribute in a small area.

Only, with this type of information, it will be possible to properly choose the type and size of the rain installation.

What are the ways of catching and storing rainwater?

The methods of catching and storing water are very different.Typical examples are:

Ground tanks (barrel type) is by far the simplest variant in implementation.Anyway, it has been found in allotment gardens for years.Simply, the water from the gutter goes to the barrel, and only after it is filled, with an appropriate transfer - to the surface of the area at the house.Such tanks are available in various shapes and sizes.Most often they are made of plastic, less often of wood.They are usually equipped in a tap in the lower part, facilitating the water for even a watering can.Although with a larger watering it will be much more convenient to use the electrical pump.Even the simplest, skeletal.

Podlewanie roślin to zdecydowanie najpopularniejszy i najprostszy sposób wykorzystania zgromadzonej wody deszczowej. (fot. Graf)

Underground reservoirs are above all a much greater equivalent of the grounds.Because while various barrels do not have more than 200-300 liters, the underground tanks have several thousand liters, i.e. several cubic meters (usually up to 10 m3).

They are most often made of reinforced concrete, less often from plastic.These are solutions similar to the construction of septic tanks.Reinforced concrete is characterized by very high durability and durability.Importantly, its large mass effectively protects against pushing or crushing an empty tank through groundwater pressure.

In turn, plastic tanks simply require a sufficiently solid anchoring in the ground, e.g..attached to the concreted disc.You have to follow the manufacturer's recommendations here.In turn, the lightness of plastic tanks means that it is much easier to transport them and embed in the excavation.Several people can transfer them, the crane does not have to enter the plot.On the already developed properties, this can be an important advantage.

Przeczytaj

Duże zbiorniki podziemne najczęściej wykonuje się z żelbetu. Są odporne na napór gruntu i wód gruntowych, nawet gdy są puste. (fot. Gizo)

Openwork underground tanks can be in the form of individual tanks or the so -called.drainage boxes.The latter connects in modules like blocks, thus obtaining the required size.In the case of these solutions, the water from the gutters does not go to the surface of the area where it could create stagnins.It is directed under the surface, and then gradually soaks into the ground.Then a temporary excess ceases to be a problem.However, the use of typical tanks to collect it also makes sense, because thanks to them we have control over when the water goes to the ground.

Zbiorniki rozsączające przechwytują chwilowy nadmiar wody, ale potem nie mamy już kontroli nad tym kiedy woda trafi do gruntu. (fot. Ekobudex)

And if the problem is only the poor permeability of the top layer of soil, and deeper are the more absorbent ones, we can build so -called.absorbent well.This is a construction, e.g..from concrete vertebrae, reaching from its surface to those deeper, permeable layers.The bottom of the well is covered with permeable material, e.g..gravel and thick sand.Then the water from the gutters is directed to the well instead of the plot surface.

The last solution, i.e. the use of rainwater inside the building, is still rare with us.We are more likely to come into contact with him as tourists on vacation in southern countries.But their popularity will grow, because our water resources are not much better.

However, to use rainwater inside the building, you need to adapt the water installation to this.Water intended for consumption and washing dishes cannot be mixed with rainy!It is primarily about maintaining adequate microbiological purity.

This does not mean that e.g..The system supplying the toilet toilets with rainwater is particularly complicated.You just have to take care of their separate water supply at the stage of laying the pipelines.You will also need a rainwater tank and a pump pumping it.It is necessary to think about the reserve supply of this part of the installation from the water supply, in case the rainwater supply ends.

Wykorzystanie deszczówki wewnątrz domu daje największe oszczędności. Ale pamiętajmy, że nie może ona mieszać się z wodą pitną. (fot. Roth Polska)

How to improve the functionality of the rainwater collection system?

Rainwater development systems are not only the tanks themselves.Also include other elements.Some simply necessary, while others recommended and improving the functionality of the whole.These are:

First of all, it should be noted that we only develop a part of rain water flowing down the plot.The one that flows down from the roof and is collected by the gutters.Alternatively, it also flows from the driveway or other hardened surfaces equipped with linear dehydration.

For this reason, it is necessary to properly connect to the gutter system.It should be equipped with a solid pollution settler, such as leaves.So you will need the appropriate wells and cleaning (searches) for downpipes.Otherwise the pollution would accumulate in the tank and then rot.If we collect rainwater.Especially if there are a lot of high trees near the house.Manufacturers of gutter systems offer a lot of such accessories.

The functionality of the system, even the simplest with ground tanks, can perfectly improve the use of an electric water pump.Admittedly, we will comfortably fill the watering can straight from the barrel using the tap mounted on it, but when watering on a larger scale, the pump will save us a lot of effort.In addition, thanks to it we can water not only water from the hose, but also attach it to the garden sprinkler.

Zastosowanie pompy do wody znakomicie zwiększa wygodę korzystania z deszczówki. Możemy wówczas użyć np. zraszaczy ogrodowych. (fot. Gardena)

Even a simple siddered pump placed in the tank is enough.It does not have to have high power, because a high -power device will also have a high flow (efficiency).And then we will empty the 200-liter barrel quickly, even too quickly.Higher performance may make sense in the case of large underground tanks.It is best to ask a specialist from the company where we buy a rainwater tank, what pump parameters will be optimal.

The water pump will also be necessary in more extensive systems in which water is used to rinse toilets or laundry.However, here the elements are selected individually, making a design of such an installation.And the possibilities are different.

Pumping rainwater can:

There is no one pattern here, such installations need to be designed individually.

If we use rainwater inside the house, in particular for washing, it is necessary to clean it in preliminary.The minimum is mechanical filtration so that permanent pollutants (seeds, leaves, sand, etc. do not get into the pipelines in the building.).They can even clog the valves and accumulate in different places.

Sometimes at home, so -called purification systems are also used.gray water or sewage without faeces.It is a relatively little polluted sewage flowing from the bathtub, shower or sinks.After cleaning, they can be successfully used to fill the cubs or watering the garden.So like rainwater.If we have such a cleansing system, it may be justified to pass by it a long -collected rainwater, which we will use inside the house.The one used for watering does not require it.