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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Rainwater catchment system
  • Date: Mon, 03 Jul 2006 10:33:46 -0500


What kinds of screens do people use for rainwater
catchment? We don't seem to get the balance of stopping leaves and not
promoting blocked lines.

I haven't done it but I was planning to do it some years ago so I did the research. What you want is not a screen; you want a diverter. The first rain that falls on a roof must go into a wash barrel with a small drain hole in the bottom. Rain fills that barrel with the dirty stuff that washes off the roof and then the water lifts a float that opens a valve that allows the now-clean water to go into your fully enclosed water container via a pipe between the two barrels. The wash barrel resets itself after the rain by slowly emptying through the little drain hole, carrying the crud with it. There are various rain gutter deflectors that will keep out leaves but allow the runoff to fill the barrel.






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