Some Rainwater Tank Accessories That Offer Reliability and Control

A rainwater tank needs some accessories for it to function with minimal supervision and maintenance. These accessories also ensure that the quality of the collected water remains high. Having high quality rainwater collection systems ensures that the extra water does not compromise the quality of the mains water supply.Some of the extra accessories that people need to purchase alongside the tank installation include the first flush diverter, leaf eaters, pump controllers and the pump itself.

The first flush diverter

The first amount of water that races down the roof to the gutters after a long period of no rain is usually filthy water. This water carries with it bird droppings, dust, leaves and feather-like material from animals. The first flush diverter ensures that the first 10 or 20 litres doesn’t end up in the tank. They are made of PVC tees that have removable caps to let out the water once they are full.

The drop pipes each have a ball float so that once the diverter has trapped the first lot of rain, it does not contaminate the rest of the flowing water. This is important because a lot of the unwanted bacteria can be flushed off the pipe without it ever making contact with the stored water. Pollutants and chemical residue in the atmosphere become less of a threat in modern day rainwater harvesting.

A good system needs a pump and a pump controller

Pumps will offer the correct amount of water pressure to get the rainwater circulating in the house or compound. Pumps use electricity in order to function and that is the reason people also have pump controllers to reduce the pump cycling.

The pump cover for extra protection

To give the pump the utmost protection from interference, it is worthwhile to have a pump cover. The pump cover is usually a universal-fit case that is meant to shelter a pump from rain or animal intrusion. A good quality pump cover has vents to allow emergency draining when the pipe fails and these vents also keep the pump motor cool. They are UV resistant and allow proper anchoring the pump base.

Reasons to have a leaf eater

The leaf eater ensures that small to medium sized debris is screened out at the gutter outlets before it joins up with the piping system that feeds water into the tank. It is usually a stainless steel screen with a small aperture size meant to prevent vermin and mosquitoes from making their way into the water storage tank. It is important to have this guard because there is little control over the kind of debris that lands on the roof.