Monday, February 20, 2012

Automated Rainwater Harvesting

Its a great idea to capture some of the rainwater that comes from your roof for watering your plants and flowers.

These barrels automatically fill with a downspout diverter and slowly drain out over the next day via a soaker hose. This is great because usually by the next rainfall the barrels will be empty.

We set up a couple of rain barrels side by side. They were hidden in dead space between a fence and a privacy fence. We built a 2 foot high platform for them to rest on. This will give better water pressure out the soaker hose we installed.

rain barrel ecosolution rainwater management eavestrough toronto

We used a Fiskars rain diverter. This is a great set up because it automatically fills the barrels until full during a rain. No having to go out and flip a diverter switch!  Here is the link to the Fiskars DiverterPro: http://www.fiskars.ca/Products/Yard-and-Garden/Rain-Barrel-Systems/DiverterPro You can buy these at the Home Depot.

We like how it works but getting the hose at the perfect height so the device would get backpressure and sense the barrels were full took many adjustments. So have patience. Another point about this device is that only a small amount of water coming down the pipe gets diverted to the barrels. If you wanted to catch all the water you may want to choose a manual diverter so you can divert 100 percent of the water into the barrels. Using the Fiskars, a short intense downpour may not fill the barrels quick enough for your liking.

downspout Fiskars diverter rain barrel Toronto Scabrorough


Fiskars rainwater diverter and rainbarrel closer view in Scarborough

Connect the two barrels at the bottom using some simple pipe fittings and hose. They will both fill up at the same time this way.

Fiskars diverter and rain barrel an watersaving solution

We used a soaker hose specifically designed for a low pressure application like rain barrels. The green hose shown comes with the barrels and is used to fill buckets etc. The soaker hose was connected to this. This way the soaker hose will receive water if there is any in the barrels. The soaker hose was called Mr Soaker Hose:  http://www.rainbarrelsoakerhose.com/index.htm 

Rain Barrel soaker hose connection in Scarbrorough

It comes with simple connections that go together easily. It transitions from solid pipe to the soaker hose just as it meets the mulch.

Rain barrel hose going to soaker hose and into mulch

There is a small filter that comes with the soaker hose. It ensures that no debris will make its way into the soaker hose and plug it up. Make sure this is easily accesible as it has to be washed out frequently.

Soaker hose filter for rainwater management

The downspout extension was fastened to the fence and given a slight slope which deposited the water from the downspout about 50 feet into the backyard due to the slope of the yard. Any closer and the water would run back to the house.

Downspout extension runnign alogn near Scarborough home


Rain barrel on platform in backyard

The cedars were perfect for hiding the downspout we attached to the fence.

Rainwater Downspout running out near cedar hedge

Here is a video from our YouTube channel. The Fiskars DiverterPro was in the test phase at this point. Once it was sealed with caulking it did not leak like in the video.



A quick video showing the amount of water coming out the extention pipe near the end of the cedars.


We get plenty of rain in Toronto. If you are interested in rain barrels to harvest your rain water, visit our website www.eavestrough.ca

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 15, 2012

    Hi,

    I had bought several of the Fiskars barrels and diverters but have just realized that my drainpipes are 3X3. Fiskars only makes diverters for 2X3 and 3X4. Can't seem to find any 3X3 diverters out there.

    Any suggestions how I can modify my downspouts/fit on the diverters without having to somehow replace my 3X3 downspouts? (downspouts are 2 storeys high, so not an easy job for me!)

    thanks

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    Replies
    1. It may be best to just use the 3 by 4 option with the diverter and caulk the gaps at the sides as this will save having to do new downpipes if they are still good. Thanks for checking out our blog!

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