Water Tanks and Rainwater Filtering

With winter upon us here in Cape Town many of our customers are asking us to provide quotations for water tanks.  A rainwater tank comes in a variety of sizes and colours and with Water Rhapsody’s award winning water saving technology we are now able to position your rain tank in a remote location from your house.  In other words your water tank does not have to stand directly underneath your down pipe and block the much needed sun from your home!  Our rainwater filter also prevents any solids from entering your tank thereby enabling you to store the water for…..as long as you like.

While all water tanks need to be sealed, to screen out mosquitoes, the lack of proper filtering or closed loop systems will create breeding grounds for mosquito larvae. A great example of the screening process is the Water Rhapsody Rain Runnerwhich filters harvested rainwater near the gutter, and this water may then enter an underground pipe to reach a remote rainwater tank.
If  rainwater is used for drinking, it should be filtered first. Filtration (such as reverse osmosis or ultra-filtration) will remove all pathogens. (Reverse osmosis is energy hungry) Other filtration consists of ozone and UV (ultra violet) treatment. Reports of illness associated with rainwater tanks are very infrequent, and public health studies anywhere have not identified a correlation. Rainwater is generally considered fit to drink if it smells, tastes and looks fine.
Certain paints and roofing materials may cause contamination. In particular, lead-based paints should never be used even as a primer onto metal surfaces. Tar-based coatings may affect the taste of the water. Chemically treated timbers and lead flashing should be excluded from roof catchments.
Maintenance of rainwater catchment areas includes regular removal of vegetation and debris from rain gutters. So long as a rainwater tank is kept closed to preclude light from entering, no algae will grow, so the only maintenance that needs to be done is perhaps removal of the sediment on the floor of the tank once a year.
Another imperative is that rainwater tanks should have a pre-filter under the eaves like the Water Rhapsody Rain Runner to prevent debris from entering the water tank/s and also to prevent any possibility of the feed pipe from a downpipe leading to the water tank (the ring main) from blocking. This pre-filter also prevents the ingress of mosquitos.
Apart from rooftops, tanks may also be set up to collect rainwater from concrete patios, driveways and other impervious surfaces. This water though may only be used for irrigation and toilet flushing, as it may be soiled from pedestrian and other animal use.