Rainwater storage

[Fridge]

Hi there,

I got myself two 2500 liter jojo tanks. Want to store the rainwater till summer when it's needed. Can I just keep the water untreated till I need it or is there anything I need to do to keep the quality of the water maintained?

(I'll do an organic grow, so chemicals won't be an option.)

[Bos]

Our outdoor grows only recieves rainwater, collected from the roof.
Have a pressure pump rigged up on a manifold system to send it where we need it, including the circulation line for aeration.

Rain water is usually collected from rooftops etc... and will include some dodgy bits, hadeda/hammerkop poop and gecko carcasses, which will contain bacteria.
If you collect from the roof think about installing some pre filtration to keep the solids(leaves twigs) out and a sediment filter for the dust and sand.
You will need to seal it properly because it will attract mosquitos.
Circulation is good to keep the water aerated. A maintenance dose of hydrogen peroxide will also help keep the bacteria in check.
Have a look on google and decide what will work best for your setup.

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[West Coast Vaper]

Hi there,
I got myself two 2500 liter jojo tanks. Want to store the rainwater till summer when it's needed. Can I just keep the water untreated till I need it or is there anything I need to do to keep the quality of the water maintained?
(I'll do an organic grow, so chemicals won't be an option.)

Hey bud.
If the tanks are SABS approved and of the colour variety, ie: green, you good to go.
5000l will keep you going for a long time. It is a good idea to rotate the water from one tank to the other if you can. After about 2 week's water goes flat so this process aerates the water.
Or find yourself one of those fish tank air thingy majiky's and drop that in your tank, switch on every now and again and you'll be ok.
If you have a pump, hook the hose pipe up and circulate the water back into top of tank.

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[afternoon blazer]

11 minutes ago, Fridgedoor said:

Hi bro,

just checked and it is 600l/min. I don't know if it'll do the trick. I took a picture (this thing needs a good clean). 

600L per hour bro.

So 10L per min.

Should be ok. As long as its not pumping too high. If u hear the pump struggling for 10 seconds or so as its pushing. Switch off

 

I see it says max height 1m. So thats ur limit there. Unless u raise the pump to minimize the height it has to pump

Edited July 12, 2020 by afternoon blazer

[Fridge]

Morning bro, thanks man that helped a lot! I've got the green ones. I have a very small pump I got myself for an ebb and flow system years ago. Never really got into hydroponics so finally I found a good purpose for it. Or do you think it might be too small (not sure how much it can pump in an hour but can find out).

[West Coast Vaper]

To be honest, I wouldn't know.
At one stage I used a water feature pump, tiny one, and 20mm pipe for a different reason at the nursery and I was pleasently surprised.
Give it a go.

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[Fridge]

@Bospatrollie2 thanks man, that's some valuable information. I'll check out what I can get with regards to filter systems.

@DamDave cool I'll give it a go.

Thanks again guys you've helped a lot.

P.s.: I'm new here, is there a way to give rep points? Like what are the little arrows for in the left upper corner of the replies?

Edited July 12, 2020 by Fridgedoor

[afternoon blazer]

1 hour ago, Fridgedoor said:

Morning bro, thanks man that helped a lot! I've got the green ones. I have a very small pump I got myself for an ebb and flow system years ago. Never really got into hydroponics so finally I found a good purpose for it. Or do you think it might be too small (not sure how much it can pump in an hour but can find out).

Howzit bro. 

Do you know how many cc  or liters per minuite ur pump is?

And possible pressure it works at.

 

Keep that pressure head as low as possible. If the pump is small.

 

 

[Fridge]

1 hour ago, afternoon blazer said:

Howzit bro. 

Do you know how many cc  or liters per minuite ur pump is?

And possible pressure it works at.

 

Keep that pressure head as low as possible. If the pump is small.

 

 

Hi bro,

just checked and it is 600l/min. I don't know if it'll do the trick. I took a picture (this thing needs a good clean). 

[Chris Jay]

@Bospatrollie2 Nice info. We been using bleach as a way to keep the bacteria in check, would you suggest peroxide rather? Something else that helps us is a settling tank. We pump borehole to the settling resiviour with a small filter ( homemade LECA and charcoal )  about knee deep. I clean out the muck about once a year. It then pumped to main tanks, one is a settling tank again and the other is the main pumping tank. The settling tanks really have helped, helped with the basic filters ( string and charcoal ) coming into the house.

[The_StonedTrooper]

31 minutes ago, Chris Jay said:

@Bospatrollie2 Nice info. We been using bleach as a way to keep the bacteria in check, would you suggest peroxide rather? 

Hey Chris,

If I may, I believe that the peroxide is better as its H202 and basically water, with another O2 molecule, so after the peroxide has scrubbed the water clean, it will become water essentially. 

Still not sure which is better for cleaning, but imagine the peroxide would be safer for the plants or personal use after treatment has been done.

[The_StonedTrooper]

10 hours ago, Fridgedoor said:

P.s.: I'm new here, is there a way to give rep points? Like what are the little arrows for in the left upper corner of the replies?

To give credit due or thanks, hit the lower heart and select an option.

The arrows, they are for voting the comment up or down, I imagine. 

Like if 5 agree, he gets 5 up votes, or disagree and 5 down.

[Bos]

@Bospatrollie2 Nice info. We been using bleach as a way to keep the bacteria in check, would you suggest peroxide rather? Something else that helps us is a settling tank. We pump borehole to the settling resiviour with a small filter ( homemade LECA and charcoal )  about knee deep. I clean out the muck about once a year. It then pumped to main tanks, one is a settling tank again and the other is the main pumping tank. The settling tanks really have helped, helped with the basic filters ( string and charcoal ) coming into the house.

@Chris Jay,
Water quality requirements for human consumption are much more stringent, for obvious reasons. Chlorine is preferred because it kills most, if not all of the pathogems that are dangerous to humans.(Choliforms, E.Coli, Bacillus, Legionaires)
And if the chlorine is not exposed to direct sunlight it stays in the water for a long time doing its job. Peroxide has a short metabolic path and is quickly reduced to H2 and O2

But as an organic grower I don't want to water my plants with chlorinated water as it will kill all my good microbes.
Our rainwater is used exclusively for the garden hence the use of peroxide, which is slightly more cost effective and assists to oxygenate the water.

1.Treatments for borehole water vary depending on quality, but usually involve a large primary reservoir for settling out sediment.
2. Secondary stage with sand and activated charcoal filtering.
3. Third stage for ph correction and either chlorine addition or membrane filtration before consumption, depending on which is preferred. UV radiation treatment is also a good final treatment for added peace of mind.



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[Bos]

Hydrogen Peroxide can be used for larger volume water purification. The dosages need to be spot on or it will oxidize too quickly and not ''clean'' the water properly. The dosage volumes also make it impractical. Adding half a cup of chlorine or Jik is much easier than lugging litres of peroxide.
Testing for free chlorine in water is also much more convenient.

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[Chris Jay]

Excellent information and thank you for sharing. Bottomline is I am going to stick to what I am doing. My plants are only watered from a separate rain water tank, no additives. Used to be very proud of my drinking water, mainly rain water and spring water from a few kms away. Sad reality is today, I said aloud to my partner, my entire water system needs an update. Its 10 years old already, drips, leaks, rusted connectors. Gulp, money money money but going to make something better.  Thank you again.

[Fridge]

Yes, thanks everyone for all that information and help ☺. This forum seems to be one of the few places online where people really try to help. I like that.

@Bospatrollie2 in case I would want to use hydrogen peroxide, how much should I use for 5000 liter?

[Bos]

Yes, thanks everyone for all that information and help . This forum seems to be one of the few places online where people really try to help. I like that.
@Bospatrollie2 in case I would want to use hydrogen peroxide, how much should I use for 5000 liter?

Usually rainwater is pretty clean, depending on how its collected. You just need to keep it that way. If I don't circulate my tank for 2 weeks, it starts to smell (anearobic)
I started just with circulation
(750w 2500lt/h pump) and then added a 250ml 50% strength maintenance dose once a month.

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[The_StonedTrooper]

Brother @Bospatrollie2

Your knowledge on water is impressive and I'm learning here too with regards to all this as I concentrated mostly on growing and not the water storage or what to clean it with and so on, blessed for the information. 

Funny enough, yesterday started watching a new series on Netflix, called Down to Earth, and the second episode tonight, is all about water, how is that for coincidence. They actually mentioned that pure or RO water was bad for humans, as it would being clean of minerals, search and suck them from our bodies, being bad.

Also they visited a place in France, and the one plant has a oxygenating cylinder or tub and blast air, and they recon it's even better than chlorine or anything out there, but that is a major setup and could never do a small growers budget unfortunately. 

Again thank you for your knowledge. 

[Bos]

There are many ways to clean water and technology is advancing in that field.
We need to find what works for us in our applications.

Clean water is a resource that will become invaluable in the near future.
Everyone should learn how to collect, clean and manage clean water.



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[GGG]

Correct me if I'm wrong, if option is limited one of the basic things to do is to agitate the water, I used a small pump and hanged it on a floater so the pump was 30cm under the surface, then my outlet was fix on the side and a few cm above water and with a angle. That helped to create some oxygenation and a current, no smells or anything. Hope my 2cents helps

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[zolrooker]

Just an idea to keep water circulating inside a drum.. You could use one of these, instead of a normal pump. Lots of different models and sizes you could go for

Low power consumption and higher flow rate then a normal pump at a cheaper price.