Rainwater toilet- don't laugh ( too much)

[pontiff]

Good teachers, as I’m sure you’re all aware, spend their meagre holidays marking and planning lessons in preparation for the term ahead.

I, on the other hand, spent my week devaluing the house by  building a rainwater toilet out of bits left over from other, abandoned or unfinished projects. Although experimental, it seems to work so will probably be there for the next twenty years, needing numerous replacement parts and costing a small fortune.

750 litre black water tank ( leftover from unfinished irrigation project), cunningly disguised as a bush. 2 inch bsp thread needing numerous reducers.

[pontiff]

Fitted a 3M rainwater diverter/filter, leading  into a homemade first flush tube made from various bits of 68mm and 50mm fittings.  A rubber ball (apologies to my 2 year old son) rises up the tube as it fills and blocks the top, diverting the rest of the water into a homemade filter on top of the tank.

[pontiff]

first flush

[pontiff]

This is a central heating loft tank, inside there is a bucket ( sorry again son) with a very fine wire mesh then a plant pot with a 5 micron filter bag ( used for filtering biodiesel, will probably go mouldy fairly quickly). The copper tube makes it look more complex but really just supports the filter.

[pontiff]

peek inside

[pontiff]

Water piped to gubbins box nearby containing 105Ah leisure battery (abandoned lighting project) ,box with 10A fuse, floking 10l/min marine pump/pressure switch ( left over from canal boat project) and a tiny accumulator tank thingy to smooth out the flow.

[pontiff]

Piped under front path through 22mm copper, insulated with that grey tube stuff and packed into 68mm downpipe tube in a (probably vain) attempt to stop it freezing, then into downstairs toilet. I replaced the float valve in the cistern with a Fluidmaster compact which turned out to be a great choice as it shuts of instantly so the pump doesn’t  keep switching on and off rapidly.
And all this to supply one toilet. Amazingly it all seems to work perfectly. Just need to paint pipes, tidy up wiring, fit 60w solar panel (spare from canal boat ), insulate pump box properly and Bob’s yer uncle.
You can stop laughing now... 

[noelsquibb]

Its got everything -

Storage tanks, pipes ( mixed ) wires, gauges, pumps, float valves, first flush ......

So why did it need a toilet  ?

Splendid project old chap. Bask in some enhanced karma 

See if you can further devalue your home with more of this thinking. 

[Rhea View]

Innovation as it should be! 

Do you have a Plan B for dry spells?   

[pontiff]

Thanks Noel,

I was inspired by the "Retro encabulator" link on another thread. I'm sure I was just about to come up with another equally house devaluing project but unfortunately got distracted by this incredible episode of rainbow, and that was me finished for the day.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kclq2zGQy4w  :- rainbow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJKdh1KZ0w  :- retro encabulator

[pontiff]

Do you have a Plan B for dry spells?   

Yes, it's called the upstairs toilet. 

Seriously though, I can reconnect the mains with a flexible hose connection in a matter of minutes, or top up the tank from the mains using a hosepipe into the side fitting on the top filter box.(They seem to have missed the garage water supply when the house was metered. Found that out today. )

I couldn't come up with a way of having both mains and rain connected at the same time that satisfied water regs so went for a complete disconnection, with a couple of spanners nearby in case I need to reconnect quickly. 

I will also connect the front roof at some point and maybe feed the other toilet.

[pontiff]

....and just as I typed that the heavens opened. Off to see if it works!!

[petertc]

Looks good.

Might pay to put some insulation inside the box where the pump is to try and keep the temp up but you may need to have some air movement for the battery gassing ?

I have found that fine filters block quite quickly ( if you are filtering the rain water before getting to the tank.

I have a 5 micon filter after the pump i change that about every 6 months otherwise it starts taking a long time to fill up the cistern not so good during the winter.

I also run 2 toilets and washing machine and have used 294 amp hour since 1 st jan

[pontiff]

Looks good.

Might pay to put some insulation inside the box where the pump is to try and keep the temp up but you may need to have some air movement for the battery gassing ?

Cheers Peter,

I knew i'd forgotten something off my to do list. Insulation is ready to go in (sheet of celotex from another unfinished project  )
I don't think gassing will be too much of an issue with just the one battery, and very slow charging, and I doubt it will be that well insulated.

p.s. As it's near the front door, the postman thought it was a box to put parcels in when we're out, found an ipod in there this morning!  

[hawkie]

Fitted a 3M rainwater diverter/filter, leading  into a homemade first flush tube made from various bits of 68mm and 50mm fittings.  A rubber ball (apologies to my 2 year old son) rises up the tube as it fills and blocks the top, diverting the rest of the water into a homemade filter on top of the tank.

I started a rainwater harvesting system a couple of years ago but have not got round to filter the water yet.

How well does the 3M filter work?

I used a canister filter (spun type) just before the flowjet pump, but found that it blocked very quickly.

Anyway the frost broke the filter when we had -15 last backend


Hawkie