Design for a rain-water tank auto feed to attic tank

dohouch

Can't figure this out. Don't want to use anything more complicated than a ball-cock.
So the rain-water tank will be in the attic, probably above/over the present mains tank. ( How I fill the rain-water tank is my problem and not part of the present discussion.)

I have a hot water tank , which has electric emersion and a coil from oil boiler. So the mains tank needs to have a water at all times, for safety of heating system.

The only solution I've come up with is to have the mains supply half way up the tank, with ballcock, and the rain-water feeding in , via ballcock at the top of the tank. This would mean the at the water level in the tank would never fall below the level of the mains supply ballcock.

Any suggestions or alternatives welcome, simplicity is key.

thanks

Dtp1979

dohouch wrote: »

Can't figure this out. Don't want to use anything more complicated than a ball-cock.
So the rain-water tank will be in the attic, probably above/over the present mains tank. ( How I fill the rain-water tank is my problem and not part of the present discussion.)

I have a hot water tank , which has electric emersion and a coil from oil boiler. So the mains tank needs to have a water at all times, for safety of heating system.

The only solution I've come up with is to have the mains supply half way up the tank, with ballcock, and the rain-water feeding in , via ballcock at the top of the tank. This would mean the at the water level in the tank would never fall below the level of the mains supply ballcock.

Any suggestions or alternatives welcome, simplicity is key.

thanks

To me your post makes no sense. Safety of the heating system? Maybe have 2 tanks in the attic. One for showers and washing( mains water ) and use the rain water tank for toilets, outside tap and washing machine only. Your going to need a rain water tank to store the rain water outside and pump it to the attic tank

dohouch

Dtp1979 wrote: »

To me your post makes no sense. Safety of the heating system?

Present header tank can't be empty as it feed hot water tank and tops up heating system.

The only tap that needs mains water,IMHO, is kitchen tap. All other taps, etc can be fed rain water. Oh I live alone.

I could turn of supply to header tank and just feed it rain water, but without fitting some sort of 100% reliable monitoring system there is a risk of header tank running dry, and leaving hot water tank dry, etc.



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dathi

dohouch wrote: »

Present header tank can't be empty as it feed hot water tank and tops up heating system.

The only tap that needs mains water,IMHO, is kitchen tap. All other taps, etc can be fed rain water. Oh I live alone.

I could turn of supply to header tank and just feed it rain water, but without fitting some sort of 100% reliable monitoring system there is a risk of header tank running dry, and leaving hot water tank dry, etc.



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no you can not have the mains water ballcock submerged in the tank as you run the risk of contaminating the drinking water place the two ball cocks at the same height in tank but lengthen the arm on the ballcock for the water mains so that it only comes on when there is no rainwater

Calahonda52

Op, the hot water cylinder will never empty as it is fed from the bottom and extract from the top.
if the cylinder is plumber properly

IMHO, if u live alone u should be able to live within the annual allowance.

RW in cold taps that is not treated properly is a health risk, bird **** is full of stuff u don't want in your gut
Plumb the toilets for RW but no more..

Just to add if you contaminate the pipe work with some bug, the house will be much diminished in value and if disguised in a sale could be a lethal proposition for a new born baby or an elderly person.
I know you might say caveat emptor and who cares etc, so just some food for thought

dohouch

dathi wrote: »

......................place the two ball cocks at the same height in tank but lengthen the arm on the ballcock for the water mains so that it only comes on when there is no rainwater

Thanks for that idea.

Calahonda52 wrote: »

RW in cold taps that is not treated properly is a health risk, bird **** is full of stuff u don't want in your gut
Plumb the toilets for RW but no more..

Just to add if you contaminate the pipe work with some bug, the house will be much diminished in value and if disguised in a sale could be a lethal proposition for a new born baby or an elderly person.
I know you might say caveat emptor and who cares etc, so just some food for thought

@Calahonda 52, aren't you being a bit alarmist, I think a significant percentage of the world survives on rainwater.

By the way, I live on the Atlantic, 1/2 mile from sea.

DGOBS

Hi dohouch, I am afraid the chap above is not being alarmist, not at all. That threat is very real (my better half is a water microbiologist, so I'm not guessing or making this up)

Living 1/2 a mile from the sea has no impact, and the people around the world who drink contaminated water do suffer the consequences, and also have an immune system that has developed 'some' resistance to the type of water (and contaminates) they contain.

What you are doing WILL damage you health and possibly that of others.

dathi

DGOBS wrote: »

Hi dohouch,
.

What you are doing WILL damage you health and possibly that of others.

http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/water/drinking/Drinking%20Water%20Report%20Web.pdf according to this report a lot of what is coming out of your taps is not that great for you either . 172241 population on supplies at risk from cryptosporidium, 16 group waters warned for not disinfecting water adequately, 30% of private wells contaminated by ecoli hse report vtec (ecoli) highest rates of infection in europe and patients 4 times more likely to have consumed water from private well.

dohouch

The kitchen tap is is supplied directly by the mains, this is the present and normal situation in Ireland , all other taps, both hot and cold elsewhere in the house are supplied from attic tank, hot via hot tank obviously.

This would continue to be the case if I fill/or part the attic tank with rain-water.

dazed+confused

My better half is also a water microbiologist, and no I'm really not making this up. We discussed this topic at home really and after going through the various options of UV lamps and the filtration systems necessary to make rain water safe to brush your teeth and shower with we concluded that the only viable option was to use it for flushing toilets and no more.

Living 1/2 a mile from the sea has a definite impact in my opinion and that's the higher than average number amout of seagulls crapping on your roof and therefore into your mouth every time you brush your teeth. No thanks!

DGOBS

Living 1/2 a mile from the sea has a definite impact in my opinion and that's the higher than average number amout of seagulls crapping on your roof and therefore into your mouth every time you brush your teeth. No thanks!

Why I said no impact, any bird pooh will do! (pigeons, crows, sparrows, robins.......)

http://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/water...port%20Web.pdf according to this report a lot of what is coming out of your taps is not that great for you either . 172241 population on supplies at risk from cryptosporidium, 16 group waters warned for not disinfecting water adequately, 30% of private wells contaminated by ecoli hse report vtec (ecoli) highest rates of infection in europe and patients 4 times more likely to have consumed water from private well.

And thats the monitored treated water....!! exactly my point.
As for wells, depends on how much they have been maintained or checked (I know a lot who don't ..yikes)

My better half is also a water microbiologist, and no I'm really not making this up. We discussed this topic at home really and after going through the various options of UV lamps and the filtration systems necessary to make rain water safe to brush your teeth and shower with we concluded that the only viable option was to use it for flushing toilets and no more.

Agreed!

Calahonda52

dazed+confused wrote: »

My better half is also a water microbiologist, and no I'm really not making this up. We discussed this topic at home really and after going through the various options of UV lamps and the filtration systems necessary to make rain water safe to brush your teeth and shower with we concluded that the only viable option was to use it for flushing toilets and no more.

Living 1/2 a mile from the sea has a definite impact in my opinion and that's the higher than average number amout of seagulls crapping on your roof and therefore into your mouth every time you brush your teeth. No thanks!

what does the boss think of the rw for hot water being heated to 65/70 c and then mixed with town water?

DGOBS

Heat isn't enough to kill all bacteria.

dazed+confused

No and it would have to be at least 78degrees (same temp as pasteurisation) to do any real good. At 121degrees you're into sterilising temperatures but I wouldn't recommend that in a domestic cylinder unless you want to take the roof off the house Mythbusters style.

https://youtu.be/rGWmONHipVo

hatchman

Would the normal healthy immune system not deal with most of these bacteria's ? ( sorry should that be bacterium ? ) I grew up in a house with a rain water supply to house and I'm still going. No fancy filters and as far as I can remember none of my family were seriously ill. With no medical knowledge I would say a few bacteria actually help maintain a healthy immune system. Everything in modern life is too sterile these days and IMHO is the cause of the massive increase in allergies !

dazed+confused

hatchman wrote: »

Would the normal healthy immune system not deal with most of these bacteria's ? ( sorry should that be bacterium ? ) I grew up in a house with a rain water supply to house and I'm still going. No fancy filters and as far as I can remember none of my family were seriously ill. With no medical knowledge I would say a few bacteria actually help maintain a healthy immune system. Everything in modern life is too sterile these days and IMHO is the cause of the massive increase in allergies !

Agreed, but there's a huge difference between letting your son have a dog to improve his immune system and letting him brush his teeth with avian fecal matter.