Rain water collection

[nstreet]

I am about to embark on a project that will allow me to flush to toilet with rainwater. I plan to collect the rain water from the roof, in an 600 ltr IBC container. This will then be pumped up to a small holding tank on top of the porch what will be used to refill the cistern, all solar powered. This will cost approx £120.00 but will save oodles of cash on the water bill.

I know its a sin to ask 'where can i get?' but I have have google'd and yell'd but I am struggling to find anyone in Norfolk/Suffolk who can supply a used IBC. Does anyone know of anyone who may be able to help please? If I have one shipped it bumps the costs right up and doesn't make the project worthwhile as I wont get a return for at least three years.

 

[breezer]

whats IBC?

Industrial Big Cup?

I would also like to know what pump / solar panel you are going to use as i want this for something else, i was in a well known "electronics shop" yesterday and solar panels were well over £100

 

[nstreet]

IBC = industrial bulk cotainer, big plastic container on a pallet, surrounded by wire cage, used for transporting fruit juice, cooking oils, some chemicals etc.

I was planning to use a cheap submersible pump in the IBC powered via an inverter. 12v battery, trickle charged by a cheap solar panel, maplin have some for £9.99 at he moment. The header tank will hold about 60 ltrs (10 flushes). this will mean it will only need filling very couple of days as we both work. The pump will only be on for a short duration. If my sums are correct it will take less than a minute to full from empty with an 800gal p.h pump. Even if the panel isn't man enough in the winter an overnight charge on the battery charger is going to be far cheaper than buying the water.

 

[breezer]

Please let me know how it goes, i dont think it will work though.

The solar panel you mention is only 1.5w (Max), it is meant to keep the battery fully charged, not charge the battery.
The pump you will require will not be cheap, since it will need to have a head height of a couple of metres (the distance from the top of your IBC to the top of the header tank) lets say around £100.

Then you have power consumption of said pump, say 30w, you will be expecting your 1.5 w solar panel to charge a battery back in less han 12 hours (no daylight at night) I dont think it will work with a solar panel so small.

Also may i suggest you paint the IBC black to prevent algae

oh unless you have an inverter maplin do have one at £29.99

good luck but ireally would like to know how it goes

 

[Thermo]

nstreet, have a look on ebay, im sure theres a couple of companies that do them on there. i was looking into something similar in the summer

 

[breezer]

good point thermo, ebay, but why did you give it up?

oh and for a amusement value , the 1 watt solar panels maplin sell, cost more on ebay

 

[prod]

intermediate bulk container

 

[masona]

I know its a sin to ask 'where can i get?' but I have have google'd and yell'd but I am struggling to find anyone in Norfolk/Suffolk who can supply a used IBC. Does anyone know of anyone who may be able to help please?

You could try this company which supply IBC, here Scroll down to "Supply you can depend on" for a special request.

We got 4 of these IBC in our compound doing nothing for the last 18 mths because the suppliers can't be bothered to pick it up

 

[Thermo]

good point thermo, ebay, but why did you give it up?

oh and for a amusement value , the 1 watt solar panels maplin sell, cost more on ebay

i was looking for it for water storage on my allotment, but never progressed it any further