Rainwater Harvesting

Silverbull

We are looking into a rainwater harvesting set up. We want the biggest tank we can fit in our garden.

Can anyone help with a few questions?

If we get the water metre fitted and end up using very very little incoming mains water, will the water company still charge for outgoing waste water?

Our nieghbour doesnt have a water metre and is quite happy if we sometimes need to top up our tank from his hosepipe if we dont get much rain. Is that illegal?

I would love to chat to someone on here who has experience with how long the filters last and the cheapest place to replace them.

Cardew

Firstly you only get charged for sewerage on the water you have supplied via the meter; thgey assume either 5% or 10% for evaporation, garden etc.

Don't forget you need to harvest 1,000 litres to save between £2 and £4 depending where you live.

I suspect is not legal to use your neighbours supply - punishment is transportation to Australia.

Silverbull

Ha its ok I like it down under.

Im not sure where those figures come from. But at the moment we are paying about £20 per month for unmetered water.

Im going to spend a couple of grand on the tank, filters and extra pipes and a lot of work because doing it DIY.

I am happy to save £20 per month for the rest of my life, and that is only going to go up.

We will have a meter fitted but I dont expect to use any, its only there as a plan B.

Will they not like it when they realise Im not using any mains water but all my outgoings are going out and Im not paying them a penny?

deanos

Silverbull wrote: »

Will they not like it when they realise Im not using any mains water but all my outgoings are going out and Im not paying them a penny?

They wont give too hoots if you don't use the water, you will still need to pay the standing charge so they will be making some money from you

Cardew

Silverbull wrote: »

Ha its ok I like it down under.

Im not sure where those figures come from. But at the moment we are paying about £20 per month for unmetered water.

Im going to spend a couple of grand on the tank, filters and extra pipes and a lot of work because doing it DIY.

I am happy to save £20 per month for the rest of my life, and that is only going to go up.

We will have a meter fitted but I dont expect to use any, its only there as a plan B.

Will they not like it when they realise Im not using any mains water but all my outgoings are going out and Im not paying them a penny?

I assumed you were just 'harvesting' rain water for the garden and toilets etc.

You obviously will not 'harvest' enough water for all your needs - approx 60,000 litres per person per year; and if you intend to use your neighbours supply to fill your tank, then I really do think that you would be in big trouble if it was discovered - both of you are guilty of conspiracy to defraud.

I wouldn't like to take the responsibility, on health grounds, of using water from a tank for my family.

Psykicpup

Silverbull wrote: »

Ha its ok I like it down under.

Im not sure where those figures come from. But at the moment we are paying about £20 per month for unmetered water.

Im going to spend a couple of grand on the tank, filters and extra pipes and a lot of work because doing it DIY.

I am happy to save £20 per month for the rest of my life, and that is only going to go up.

We will have a meter fitted but I dont expect to use any, its only there as a plan B.

Will they not like it when they realise Im not using any mains water but all my outgoings are going out and Im not paying them a penny?

Please check up on this - harvested water is NOT safe to drink! (& what you spend on sterizing tabs will be MUCH more than double water prices!)

Silverbull

deanos wrote: »

They wont give too hoots if you don't use the water, you will still need to pay the standing charge so they will be making some money from you

You can have a meter on low user option where there is no standing charge. But you pay a little more for per cubic metre of water.

I really think we wont use any, the meter will be on 0.0.

Silverbull

Psykicpup wrote: »

Please check up on this - harvested water is NOT safe to drink! (& what you spend on sterizing tabs will be MUCH more than double water prices!)

Without boasting I am an modest silver expert.

I know for a fact that filtered rain water that has been boiled can be safe to drink.

If you place a pure silver bullion bar in the water container it purifies it even more.

This has been done for thousands of years.

I also plan to place a few 5KG fine silver bars in my header tank in the loft. This is where I hand pump to after the filters. Then gravity feed to the rest of the house.

deanos

Silverbull wrote: »

You can have a meter on low user option where there is no standing charge. But you pay a little more for per cubic metre of water.

I really think we wont use any, the meter will be on 0.0.

Yes you are correct , i forgot about the so low tarrifs

Silverbull

deanos wrote: »

Yes you are correct , i forgot about the so low tarrifs

Will they realise Im not paying them a penny but using them for my outgoing waste?

Im happy to turn on the mains a few times a year, and maybe pay a little water bill every year just to keep them happy.

But if I didnt use any water for years would they insist on me having my own waste water solution?

deanos

I know of 3 people that use zero consumption on there water meter, 2 of them use water buts for all there water the other i don't know what they use, if you don't use any then they cant do anything.