Starting with the knowledge that it has become imperative to capture rain water is not necessarily the right way to go about things. However that is how this cookie crumbled.
So perhaps I should just focus on the actual installation. Took a while to gather all the things necessary to make this a do-able project.
As a proper average joe tackling this DIY project, commons sense dictated that I should ascertain the difference between clinically knowing what needs to be done and knowing what it is that I can physically do. Only then could I research the hell out of the sections or parts that I had no clue about.
First thing I focussed on is installing a gutter on to roof that measures 16 x 7 metres. So 112 square meters of roof to capture. The roof is corrugated iron and I chose galvanised 100 mm square guttering, mainly because it is cost effective and secondly because this roof didn’t have any gutters and only needed one gutter at the lower side. Thirdly, the only way too attach the gutter was to the square corrugated metal roof itself. The plastic options need facia boards quite close to the edge of the roofing.
The building is at the back of the property and the roof slopes away and to the boundry of the property. The property behind me - well lets just say that their back meets with my back.
One thing I didn’t realise when hanging guttering, is that water always flows downhill even if the gradient is very slight, so the gutter has to slope towards the rain water collection area, otherwise you have to collect at both sides of the building, which ultimately would be double the water tanks, double the costs.
Another reason I chose galvanised gutters, is that it is possible to get stays or connectors that attach across the top of the gutter which helps sturdy as a whole and found I was able to get water to flow in one direction towards the down pipe. Not sure if I just got lucky with that one. But I'll take it.
Two more things I learnt as I was going and probably common sense or logical: Where the gutter lengths meet, the next length need to under your first length or in other words - if your water flow in the gutter is from left to right, starting from left to right your joints/lengths need to be on top of the lengths to the right.
The other thing is that copious amounts of silicone at the joints is recommended.
So gutter went up, I put a gutter stop end on the one end and at the other end - it is sticking out passed the building because this where I am going to have the collection tanks.
You'll see from the picture - I have got a steel cable grid work that has been rawl bolted in position and used to have a vine of some sort growing on it, unfortunately we don't even know what the vine was, because it was dead when we purchased the property. But the cable grid is going to have to come down in order to put the tanks up.
This pic shows the three tanks and piping that I have organised and the little area I am going to install it in.
I have also got the lumber in the garage that will use for a stand of sorts.
At the moment I am still designing the stand as I want to do something a little different with one of the tanks. So have a couple of drawings that I am working on.
Big thanks to @jacobpeacock for the resources links. Thank you sir!
Watch this space ... am making progress... steady as she goes.
As always, plans/designs changes as you progress through a project. Sometime go back a few steps when you realise this portion can be improved. (Work in Progress) WIP - nice!
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