Rain water harvesting and slow sand water filters

I have part one of the video on the diverter up on YouTube. It is here:

Some questions included how does the pipe seal if there is only glue on one part? How long are the pieces? The friction fit is enough to seal the parts that are not glued. Some pvc pipe does not fit exactly like the ones here so be aware of that. The od and id dimensions of all pvc are not identical. The video should give a good idea of how long to make the pieces. The inch and a quarter pipe (the one with the bevel is 2 inches long and the inch and a half pipe (the one on the bottom that will get holes drilled in it) is 10 inches long.

The new diverter is finished and installed. A video will be out when I get time to edit all the files. In the mean time here are some screen shots of a few of the videos and some photos of the complete diverter. Sorry about the duplicates, I don’t have time to edit them now.

It is now March 8 and the flow rate test has been done. I am feeling much better, and physical work is getting easier. The 4 litre container is used now instead of the 12 litre. It is a “gallon” jug, but the 4 liter mark is right at the very top where the lid goes on, so accuracy can now be down to tenths of a second and the results are more indicative of instantaneous rate of flow. I guess I could generate the formula and then take the derivative, but it is more fun watching the water flow and using a stopwatch to time it!! All the filters have slowed down. The interesting thing is that the two filters with float valves controlling the flow essentially decide how much water will flow through based on the condition of the schmutzdecke. These filters are self-regulating and do change from month to month. I am wondering if the barometric pressure has anything to do with the change? I imagine it does because the water has to push up in the output pipe to flow out of the filter. The variation does not seem to be enough to significantly influence the water quality, although this would be something to check out . . . . when I get lots more time and lots more money!!

It is now March 1 2011, and we are nearing the end of the 4th winter for filter 1, the third winter for filters 2, and 3 and the first winter for the pond filter experiment. February, here was one of the coldest on record. The pond filter and filter 1 froze and ceased operation as of Feb 22. Even though the temperature has been above freezing for several days now, there is still ice in most of the containers. No major damage is obvious – yet. All the filters are functional as of today. Filter 2 and 3 did not freeze during this cold spell. The temperature got down to 19 degrees F here for two consecutive nights and stayed below 32 degrees F at night until the 27th of February. The average temp for the month of February here was below 40 degrees F ( 39 in Seattle ). We had about 6 inches of snow total for the month of February at this location. Driving was EXTREMELY hazardous and it is by the grace of God that we are still unhurt after attempting to drive to work in the hoard of unprepared drivers. Some places less than 20 miles from here at lower elevations got over a foot of snow in one day. Despite all this, very little damage has occurred to any of the filters. Note, however that the below freezing temperatures here do not last very long compared to other places.

In addition to the effects of weather, the filters were basically inactive for 2 weeks while we were in Las Vegas Nevada – where incidentally, water IS a big issue. They get about 4 inches of rain a year there in the valley. I’m not sure rainwater harvesting would even be a viable option without specialized equipment. I did notice lots of water flowing in the huge dry wash near the freeway – 15 I think it is. A visit to the Bureau of Land Management interpretive center at Red Rock Canyon (not too far from Vegas), was interesting and they did have a display about water there. I asked them about rainwater harvesting and they seemed amused at my ignorance. “This is the desert” they said. I should have known – but coming from an area that gets lots of rain I guess I sort of take it for granted – hmmmm; after all my rants about people who take water for granted. . . . If anyone has any information on how to capture rain water in arid environments please feel free to post it here. On the bright side, there was a very large PV array at the interpretive center, and that was encouraging.

The pond filter has been running for about 7 months now. It has frozen solid twice, however it did thaw out both times and it is still working. The most recent test showed less than 2 coliform bacteria per 100 ml of filtered water taken from the output of the filter. The most recent occurrence at the pond was a swimming event enjoyed (I presume) by raccoons. The water was full of mud, and the pond looked like a mud puddle with the water mostly opaque brownish-green. This type of event happens regularly. The leaves and other decayed organic material had clogged the pump and the water was just barely circulating. The raccoon event resulted in the loss of the fish that were in the pond. After cleaning the little pump and testing the flow, the filter was running again. Within less than 24 hours the water in the pond was clear.

The sand has settled on the bottom and the rest of the nasty stuff in the water has been removed by the filter.

Now, why is this significant? Why am I even bothering with this? Well, this is actually an experiment to determine if it is possible to put together a working slow sand filter with very, very coarse sand (.45 mm effective size) and only a flat rock inside as a baffle. The answer is yes. Now, I would not recommend drinking this water, but it would be acceptable to use it to water a vegetable garden, or to do laundry with, or just about any use except drinking – but this filter is cleaning water that is extremely contaminated – far more than any source a person might use for drinking water such as roof water or water from a shallow well which would not contain mud, nor have critters wallowing around in it. So the next step will be trying a similar set up with water that is reasonably non turbid to start with and only moderately biologically contaminated, such as roof water. . . more later.

To clear up misconceptions about the legality of rain barrels, rain water collection and harvesting rainwater in Washington state check these links to the Washington state department of ecology:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2011/016.html
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/hq/rwh.html
Please, PLEASE check the Wa. state D.O.E. website links above for the CORRECT information – I have seen too many articles, and interpretations that, In my humble opinion, grossly misrepresent the D.O.E.’s policy. . . but don’t take my word for it. If you read all of the information on the Washington state department of ecology’s website regarding rain water harvesting, it should become evident that in Washington state, it is now NOT against state law to catch rainwater runoff from the roof of your house in rain barrels, and a water right is not needed to do so. This topic is a precariously steep and slippery political slope – so I will try to avoid a lengthy rant about an individual’s right to unencumbered access to enough clean water and air to stay alive . . . .

On this blog, questions and comments relevant to roofwater harvesting / rainwater harvesting, biological sand water filters, and sustainable water filtration practices are encouraged. Also questions regarding the content of slowsandfilter.org, roofwaterharvesting.org, and shared-source-initiative.com/biosand_filter/biosand.html will be answered here. Comments are moderated and may not be posted if they are too far off topic.

Thirty eight years ago we had a narrow deep hole dug in the ground to get at the water down there. When we hooked up the pump, and the water ran clear we drank from the well – we trusted the well driller, the water testing facility at the county, and the fact that other people in the area also had wells and were drinking the water and did not get sick. Thirty eight years later we are not sick, but because of technology we have discovered that there is too much iron in the water for older people ( mostly from the iron casing used in the well pipe), and that there is bacteria in the ground (naturally occurring) that will consume ( and is consuming in our case) iron, and they produce hydrogen sulfide in the process; and that there are trace elements in all water including the water in our well, plus the lead used in the seal on the sand screen has been supplying us with minute amounts of lead all these years. Experience, collaboration, belief, trust, science and technology all combined. Soon we will be hooking up a slow sand filter to our main well to take out the lead, the bacteria, and the trace amounts of iron. I know ( believe, trust) it will work because of science, experience, and observation. The knowledge of the operation and the belief that it will work is based on experience, science, technology, and observations not just faith, or belief or any kind of “warm fuzzy” feelings.

Science can be described as observations of designed experiments carried out and shown to be repeatable with the same results each time. We observe with our five senses aided by devices that can show us stuff we cannot detect with our 5 senses. This is, essentially, science. It is collaborative. Good research is peer reviewed or at least documented to have been repeated by others many times. Science has told us that bacteria, chemicals, and viruses in water can make us sick, very quickly, or over many years. Technology has allowed people to figure out ways to remove lots of the nasty stuff from water; unfortunately, in the process more poisons have been added in the process of cleaning water. Science has told us that biological sand water filters work. It has also told us that sand in a container about 1 metre deep with water slowly flowing through makes water very safe. There is, however, a huge problem with science, and it has been getting worse and worse. That is motive for profit. There are thousands of situations where scientific research is used for profit – and then it becomes very tempting to arrange the results of experiments to make it easy to sell stuff. Be very careful of water filters for sale. Also be very careful of slow sand water filters. Have your water tested. If you are depending on some other kind of filter to remove biological, and chemical toxins from your water, have the water tested and know precisely how your filter works, don’t just believe it works. Slow sand filters do NOT need replacement cartridges, ever. They are as sustainable as any natural process on earth. This has been confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt by over 100 years of experience and research using the tools of science. The same science that tells us that super- expensive complex, non-sustainable water filters provide safe water, tells us that biological sand water filters also supply safe water. But don’t take my word for it – build one, have it tested and you will see.

From your high school days; remember Philosophy 101? How do we ‘know” anything? Are we all born with all of the knowledge we need already in our minds? How each person answers these questions will probably be different, based on their “beliefs”. It is important to note that beliefs show nothing beyond a reasonable doubt – they are a state of mind based on faith and trust. Also note that science does not “prove” anything nor do observations, they merely show likelihood of a certain physical occurrence beyond reasonable doubt. For example I see water falling over a cliff, and I believe that it actually is falling because I have seen the evidence that shows beyond a reasonable doubt that water falls over a cliff. I trust that my observation is correct. This experience supplies some knowledge based on observation. Knowledge involves thinking and observing, and we trust that what we observe in our physical world is real and is actually what it appears to be. Technology allows us to “observe” things we cannot see with our unaided eyes and we trust that stuff under the microscope is real. Now, how do we “know” the water we drink is safe? We note that others are drinking the water that has been made safe by technology and they are not getting sick (observation), and we trust what we are told about the equipment supplying the water (belief). So part of this is belief, or more accurately; trust, and part is technology actually working. Now, what about this “science” and “technology” that help us maintain clean water? Do we only accept the part we understand based on our life experience or “education”, or only the part that does not challenge our religious “beliefs”? The line between “belief” and “observation” often gets nearly invisible. If we do not trust the source of information, we will probably not “believe” anything regarding the observations made.

This blog is associated with three other websites listed below. The focus of each site is different. Those websites and portions of this blog are all authored by the same person.
The three websites/pages are:
http://www.roofwaterharvesting.org
http://www,slowsandfilter.org
http://www.shared-source-initiative.com/biosand_filter/biosand.html
These websites along with the posts on this blog are all authored by me, Dave T; unless otherwise noted.

One of the recent comments on the last post, got me thinking:

After reading this article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride

and this article: www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/d/dioxins.htm

and this article: www.pvc.org/FAQ/Do-products-made-of-PVC-contain-dioxins

And this article about water (water dissolves more substances than any other liquid) ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html
and applying common knowledge from secondary school science class, It becomes quite apparent that any plastic exposed to water in addition to heat will leach very nasty stuff into the water. Letting a plastic bottle of water sit in your car, in the summer when the temperature outside is above 20 degrees C and the sun is shining on the car, will most definitely provide you with lots of very dangerous chemicals to drink. Putting plastic in the microwave is also a very bad idea, as would be using pvc pipes to run hot water for the plumbing in a potable water situation. Now, that said, running cold water through pvc piping is a very different thing . . . although there could be very small amounts of polyvinyl chloride compounds in the water. According to the articles and scholarly references, dioxins are not present unless the plastic is burned. I might add that the studies point out that dioxins are present in our environment because they occur naturally.
Read about dioxins here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychlorinated_dibenzodioxins (this article has 68 references – most of them scholarly). Another point, probably the most important of all, is the pollution caused by, and the energy used in, the manufacture, recycling and/or lack of recycling of pvc pipe; and, any other types of pipe used in place of pvc.

When pvc is burned, as in this scenario: “hey we live way out in the country, we can burn our garbage instead of paying for recycling pick up”; (this happens all the time in this remote part of Washington state), horrifying amounts of dioxins are produced along with any other poisons from any toxic materials people have in their “trash”. The toxins produced by this practice are by far, worse than any small amounts of polyvinyl chlorides leached into cold water from piping. My point here is that by focusing on the minute amounts of toxins in cold water from pvc pipes, it is possible to miss the overarching situation of pollution in general. I tried to make this point with the stainless steel pipe comment. Pollutants are all around us in this day and age. Most people are not about to change their living patterns just because, from their point of view, some “greenie” tells them they are polluting.

The next time there is condensation in the morning, go out and take a white cloth and let it absorb the “fresh dew drops”. If you live anywhere near “civilization” that white cloth will have dark stains from the pollution in the condensation. You are breathing that every minute of every day; and that junk is flowing into the reservoir that supplies your water every day. The toxins from pvc pipe, although they undoubtedly do exist, are a minor problem compared to the junk we breathe. If you drive a car (hopefully a hybrid) take that white cloth and clean off the windshield in the morning when there is condensation on the windows. It will be black with soot and all kinds of nasty stuff. Yep, your’re breathing that stuff every day.

What I am saying here is that it is very important to be aware of the “big picture” of polluting, green living and the environment in general. If a person thinks that by not using pvc pipe they are assured of “pure” drinking water, they are only fooling themselves. Of all the toxins that can be in water, trace amounts of polyvinyl chlorides from pipe are only a very small part of the picture.