On 01/04/10 14:05, Martin Brown wrote:
Ed wrote:
On 31/03/10 19:50, shazzbat wrote:

"Ed" ex@directory wrote in message
o.uk...
The first water barrel (A) on my allotment is at the top of a
slight slope and is fed by rain water gathered from the roof of my
shed. I want to put in a second barrel (B) in a direct line (no
bends involved) from the first barrel and down a slight slope. Both
are fitted with taps, but I would always prefer to drain the water
from the lower barrel B as it is a little more accessible. How best
to connect these?

I have options to run a connection pipe from the upper barrel (A)
to the lower barrel (B) as follows:

1. Connect from top of barrel A to top of barrel B
2. Connect from top of barrel A to bottom of barrel B
3. Connect from bottom of barrel A to top of barrel B
4. Connect from bottom of barrel A to bottom of barrel B


Which would be the best option?


It depends whether you can put in a tap/isolator of some kind between
the two, otherwise -

1 or 2 will fill both tanks, but B will not start to fill until A is
full.

3 or 4 will drain A into B and leave A empty.

Assuming the tanks can't be made level then the best way would be a
combination of either 1 or 2 and either 3 or 4, whichever is easiest,
but again a tap between the two will be needed. Then when it rains, A
will fill first, then the overflow will fill B. Then in a dry spell,
you will empty B, then open the tap to let water flow from A to B. If
you only use 3 or 4, you will need to be there to close the tap when
B is full in order to fill A, and that may be difficult in times of
little rainfall.

1 is better than 2 because you won't need to seal against leakage at
B. 3 is better than 4 for the same reason.

Two things: Firstly, both tanks are already fitted with taps at the
bottom. Secondly, the difference in levels between the tops of the
two tanks is only about 1 foot, so I could easily raise the level of
the lower tank by standing on some breeze blocks so that they were
about the same.

Raise B on breeze blocks to match the levels and then use a hose filled
with water in the main tank and dipped right to the bottom of the each
tank. So long as you don't drain every last drop out of the tanks the
water will find its own level through the siphon.

So all I need to do then would be to connect a length of hose between
the two taps and leave then in the open position during rainy times so
that both barrels fill ? Then, when I want to draw off some water, I
would close both taps, pull of the hose from the lower tank , place a
water can under it, and turn the lower top on to fill.

That should be OK , I think?

More complicated than is needed. I just use a hose as a siphon when the
main tank is full to move water to the lower more convenient tanks.

Regards,
Martin Brown


Yer, agreed.

Siphon is the way to go.

Thanks
Ed