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Old 10-06-2020, 04:59 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Bill Davy Bill Davy is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Feb 2019
Posts: 33
Default Rain/Grey Water System

On 10/06/2020 09:35, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 10/06/20 08:55, Bill Davy wrote:
I installed one ten years ago (or so).Â* Went under some building
work.Â* Used
tables, (I think) from government.Â* Useless.Â* At the time, Owen Patterson
was the minister.Â* I wonder if they are trying to pretend our weather
is not
changing.Â* Anyway, if you are thinking of doing this, much larger
capacity
is required.Â* Please do not ask me how much, but I do know that my
system is
of very limited help and that annoys me as when I had the digger out I
could
easily have put in larger tanks at negligible marginal cost.Â* Grrr.

Just wanted to get that off my chest, not least because I feel guilty
about
using mains water to water my garden.


I've often thought about doing that, but reckoned the 30000 litre
(minimum) size was rather a lot of spoil to get rid off. I also didn't
want it near the house as we are on clay and there had already been a
subsidence problem. And now we don't have access other than for a mini
digger, it would be a much longer job. Large plastic surface tanks are
available, but they are big and unsightly IMHO. And, of course, trying
to get something that big into a back garden is not easy!

One thing I didn't think of was what happens if the water goes "off".
I've used water butts to store rainwater for many years. This year, for
the first time ever, I've had three of them go anaerobic, apparently due
to residue washed in from the gutters (leaves, moss, seeds, etc). One in
particular stunk of hydrogen sulphide! A couple of others just didn't
smell right. I've emptied them and cleaned them out. I guess the water
would have been ok if allowed to breathe and the H2S could escape.

How do you clean an underground rain/grey water tank if their is a problem?


Bill Davy

PS What news reader do people recommend for Windows 10 on a laptop?Â* Does
not need to do email.Â* WLM is barely usable.


I've used Thunderbird for years. First on Windows 7, now on Linux Mint.
It does the job for me. Looking at people's posting headers, it seems
many use it under Windows 10.


Water has never gone off but it is only used for washing machine,
toilets, and garden hose, never for personal washing, dishwasher, or
kitchen. There is a coarse sieve on the inlet, and it is designed so
water flows acroos the sieve so that may help keep bad things out.

Just installed Thunderbird so we shall see how this goes. Later I shall
look for a spilling checker.