Quote:
Originally Posted by MadDocker
Hi Brendon,
Our house currently has retic that runs off mains. Is it possible to get a rainwater tank put down the side of the house and run the retic off that instead? What is involved and anything you can recommend me looking at? Also, is there some kind of back up so if the tank is empty, the plants can still get a drink?
We wouldn't be in a position to make a move and get it done before Xmas but trying to research and then save the $$ to get it done.
Cheers.
|
Short answer is it is pretty easy to sort out.
1)You put a tank in (there are all sorts of options here) and plumb the gutters into the tank.
2) Plumb an overflow from the tank into the existing soakwells. Nothing is under pressure so all cheap pipe.
3)You will need a pressure pump between the pump and the retic. You will also need to wire this into the retic controller. If you only have a basic domestic controller it wont have a pump start module. New controllers are pretty cheap. What that does is at 2:01 when your retic comes on it sends a signal to the pump to turn on. at 3:40 when the last station has finished it sends a signal to turn the pump off. You will also need to plumb the pump into the tank and also in the retic mainline. This will dictate where you put the tank.
4) You can easily put a float switch on the tank so that if it drops below a certain point the mains will fill it up. They are gravity activated so there is no wiring involved.
When you are ready to look at it let me know and I can price up all the bits for you. It is a fair amount of digging involved but nothing too involved.
Having said all of that I would be more tempted to install a bore. Go halves in the cost with a neighbour or similar. Less mucking around, less plumbing, more watering days and more reliable. My 2c
Hope this helps
Brendon