[Greenbuilding] Living with a rainwater cistern (was Re:hotwater)

[Douglas E Lamb]

Mr. O'Brien,

Doesn't it get prety chilly up in Canada?
I mean like 20^F below and 50" snows average winter conditions?
Water freezes when it is exposed to sufficient time below the freezing temp.
Makes it kind of difficult to collect water unless you can boil a lot of
ice.
This would require a lot of fuel and time.
Not to meantion that the perma frost in Canada has got to be prety deep.
Digging to palce a storage tank below the perma would be very costly.
What happens when you run into bed rock?
Then you have to keep the undergrond piping heated in winter so to be able
to pump it to where ever you need it the most.  

Regards,
Douglas E Lamb
Design Technics
Sustainable Facilities Specialist
dlamb at designtechnics.net
 

-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at lists.bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of John
O'Brien
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2011 8:03 PM
To: Green Building
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Living with a rainwater cistern (was
Re:hotwater)

How unreasonable is a rainwater system for Canadian winters... Would the
tank size required make it unfeasable?

j

On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 7:56 PM, Nick Pyner <npyner at tig.com.au> wrote:
>> On Tue, 08 Feb 2011 10:52:26 -0500, <bill.allen at verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>> > I'm in the middle of the woods and was thinking about a rainwater 
>> > harvesting system instead of drilling a well.  Can anyone comment 
>> > pro or con on RWH systems, especially for drinking water?
>
>
> I can't comment on wells, I have never known anybody who does it but, 
> if you read anything Carmine Vasile writes, you can be pretty sure you 
> are better off with water from the roof.
>
> Your local government authority and your rural hardware supplier shoud 
> be your first ports of call.
>
> But essentially:
>
> use a metal roof
>
> use screens over the gutters
>
> use a first flsh diverter, or at least check on the local practicality 
> of these.
>
> use 1.2mm mosquito screens at the tank
>
> use a food grade poly tank. They last as long as metal, are more 
> manageable than concrete, and are usually cheaper than both.
>
> always use a round tank if you can.
>
> Having said all that about tanks, I am currently doing a partially 
> buried 36,000 litre concrete tank which is square. It is essentially a 
> swimming pool with a lid. The lid serves as a patio. The patio 
> determines the size, shape, and position of the tank.
>
> Nick Pyner
>
> Dee Why   NSW
>
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