Setting up a rainwater harvesting system has been at the top of our list for some time, with our ultimate aim to put a large tank in the barn which collects the rain water off the large barn roof.
However in the meantime this recent spell of wet weather that we have been having in the south west has prompted us to think on a smaller scale and to utilise in the interim the tanks we initially bought for the aquaponics.
In addition to the barn there are several other opportunities for the collection of water, which include the main polytunnel and shade house. Not only is this an opportunity for free water it also means that we are able to reduce the amount of lying water on the ground caused by run off.
To set this in motion, Melv installed a system of guttering along the length of the polytunnel, which captured the water off one half of the plastic and which is also able to receive the water off the adjacent shade tunnel roof.
The guttering feeds into a blue barrel, which houses a pump operated on a float switch.
When the water reaches a certain height in the barrel, causing the float to rise, the pump is automatically turned on which then transfers the water into the 3 main tanks.
A very simple system, utilising all the equipment we already had, in just 5 days we have already managed to harvest in the region of 7,000 litres / 7 cubic meters of rainwater.
So although we have had to put up with some inclement weather of late, it doesn't feel half as bad when you are putting the wet stuff to good use - as they say every cloud does have a silver lining!!
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