Resilience: A Bisbonian-Inspired Gray & Rain Water Reclamation Project
Six years after we left our inventive hero,
the system was on the verge of complete collapse. If you look closely at the third barrel from the left, you'll notice the bulging side. Time and weather led to cracks and "loss of utility." First it went from four barrels to three. Then even those developed leaks. All in all, not bad for $120 bucks worth of parts.
Luckily, by sharing the original essay contraption with the Resilience group, Bisbonian also shared his version. And what a godsend that was. It was just in time.
Bisbonian's Brilliant Idea
And so from the Never-Reinvent-the-Wheel-When-Monkey-See-Monkey-Do-Will-Suffice Department, I present...
100 Gallons. The lid is 3/4" plywood, epoxied and painted. Unlike Bisbo's version, it has no trapdoor. I can access my water from the spigot on deck, or from the hose below.
This updated version incorporates some features I realized were missing from the original. I gave the base more attention. The platform is a single piece of 1/2" plywood, coated with epoxy. The milk crates are re-enforced inside to carry and spread out the load with 3/4" plywood vertical panels.
Since the tub is a single piece, there's no need to "mix" the water like above in the original version.
Now the downspout can come straight down. It's neat, and even more importantly to me, it's pretty. And it allows me to put a couple of planters filled with shade-loving green stuff. (I tend to forget plant names unless they're hammered into my brainbox.)
Notice the ring around the downspout at the entrance to the tub. It's two legs from a pair of tights, one inside the other neatly rolled up, SWPUWM donated to the cause.
Fill Gauge Installed
There's a band clamp at the bottom, but there isn't one at the top for two reasons: 1, I lost my floater and haven't conjured a new one, and 2, there won't ever be enough water pressure at the top to spring a leak. And 3, the tube grew algae last time around, so it'll need periodic cleaning.
Credit Where Credit Is Due
I peeled off the label that came affixed to the tub and, with Bisbo's choice of font (Helldorado), printed up an appropriate acknowledgement.
~~~~~~
The 100gal. tub came from Tractor Supply Co.
The plywood cost ~$30.
The fittings were recycled from v.1.0
The epoxy and paint were on hand.
Resil On, Hippies!
(or something like that)
Comments
Wow, cool
You seem like a problem-solver type of person!
Excellent design.
Do you have to put anything in the water to prevent algae growth? We were talking the other day about a rain barrel at our house. However, I do have power over the elements: I can make it rain just by washing my car, and I can make it not rain if I take my umbrella with me. If we got a rain barrel, we would probably be flooded out in a week (and we've had an abnormal amount of rain here lately).
Anyway, good work. The key to happiness in life, I'm convinced, is building things and helping people.
No additives, darkmatter. Jusy hippy soap.
And I'm not really bothered by the algae. Just means the water supports life (as far as I'm concerned.) Cleaning the tube is a once-a-year deal. And mostly just for show.
The key to happiness in life is accepting what you can't change and changing what you can't accept. (IMO)
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Elegant!
It looks like your trough is in the shade all the time, preventing heating up of the water? Looking at Bisbonian's there in the sun makes me nervous for his plants. While my conventional rain barrel keeps the water inside quite temperate, I have to watch it with the first spurt of water through the hose, if it's been in the sun, to make sure I don't scald anything.
"Elegant" Yes, that's the word that escaped me.
Thank you, dam.
I thought the original was elegant enough at the time. This one's so pretty it gives me the tinglies. Elevating something beyond mere utility gives it a glimmer of art. And art, such as I see it, is in my blood.
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Beautiful
Thanks for the cool label, too. Hope your new system lasts and lasts.
Our water hasn't gotten very warm, really. Water in a hose heats up fast...only 3/4 inch in diameter. But water in a large tank stays closer to the average day/night cycle temperature, and since our desert cools off dramatically at night, no problem.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Thermal mass. When full, 100 gallons has a serious
amount of stored heat or coolth as the case may be. Depending upon where it is situated and the seasonal and diurnal temperature cycles, it could do double duty as a reservoir for a heat pump or sterling cycle engine.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I had an idea for combining rainwater harvest with energy
collection. If the rainwater were stored in tanks closer to the roof, you could run the water through a little turbine to generate some power. Even without that, you could at least spare whatever power you would have needed to pump the water through a sprinkler or whatever. That could also form the basis for pumped-water storage of intermittent renewable sources.
These heat pump and generation ideas are great
but way beyond the scope of the Chateau Bidet enterprise. I'm just glad I managed to put the ensemble together for the same moulah as the original.
You're right, it's always in the shade. And unlike Bisbo's torrid clime and the problem of overheated water in the hose, my hose is also shaded under the deck.
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