In ‘Rainwater collection’ Category
Earthwise goes greener
From overhanging trees to the wrong LEDs, there was plenty to learn retrofitting this Perth community centre, write Graeme Worth and Lucy Simnett.
Earthwise Community Association is located on the site of an old church in the inner-city suburb of Subiaco in Perth. The site, leased from the Uniting Church, is home to an op shop, food centre, community lunches and music sessions, with much of the focus on the extensive permaculture gardens established over many years.
READ MORE »The team at the volunteer-run organisation decided to install equipment and infrastructure for better water and energy use, and with a prime city location, show visitors what is possible in retrofitting an existing building. Educational activities and resources have been developed around the environmental installations including an open day, workshops, information fliers, signage and tours.
The grant application
The project would be expensive and initially time consuming, so the only viable option was to apply for a grant. The grant was submitted to Lotterywest WA and, somewhat to our surprise, funded in its entirety.
We received funding for:
- Two 1.5kW grid-connect solar arrays for electricity generation
- A 38,000 litre rainwater tank for sub-surface reticulation in the garden and toilet flushing
- A heat pump hot water system
- An education package including signage and funding to run workshops
- A part-time education officer for 12 months
A number of smaller activities were also funded such as window insulation, an energy efficient fridge and freezer, PowerMate energy meters and LED lighting.
The first step was to employ the Education Officer, whose initial responsibilities were to liaise with and oversee installation contractors and manage the grant finances. We had allowed two days a week, however, for phase two, which involved signage and preparation of educational and workshop material, we should have increased the time to at least three days a week. You live and learn!
The nitty-gritty of equipment installation, performance and problems can be conveniently divided into water and energy, and tie in well with existing efficient waste management.
Water smart tank
There are a lot of options when it comes to rainwater tanks, so do your homework before you buy. The tank we selected has the following features:
- 38,572L Highline steel tank with plastic bladder
- 2.56m high, 4.38m diameter, area 15m²
- Collects off 148.5m² of roof
- Wet system (buried pipes) with over 118 metres of stormwater pipe, 40 metres of blueline and seven metres of copper pipe used.
The tank cost $14,680 ($13,000 installed, plus $500 for paving, $600 for gutter cleaning, $300 for first-flush system, $200 for the sand base, $80 aggregate).
The rainwater tank comes with a 70 litre first-flush diverter. We were originally going to collect water from half the roof area, but when installation commenced we figured we’d be mugs not to use the whole roof. This was a great idea, except the first-flush diverter was too small and we had to spend an extra $300 installing three downpipe diverters. While it was obvious to use the collected water on the gardens, we decided to also connect the tank water to the toilets for flushing, thus reducing our mains water use during winter when the tank would fill but the water not used. This, of course, necessitated a lot of additional plumbing. We were caught by imperfect quotations; in this case the quotation was not from a plumber so make sure you are aware of the expertise of people submitting quotes. The original plan to run the plumbing connections beneath the building turned out to be impossible and we had to find at least another $500 to remove and replace 45 metres of brick paving, as well as additional piping.
The subsurface reticulation includes five stations covering approximately 90m² of garden on the west side of the building. Last summer the system was set to run twice a week for 30 minutes on each station, or five hours a week. With these settings water use is 3612 litres per week. One tank of water could run the reticulation for 10 weeks or if rainfall is good, for 26 weeks. Whenever the tank is empty, water supply automatically switches back to mains water.
Retrofitting an old church raised extra complications as it was difficult to access high gutters, there was no floor trapdoor to access the parts of the building that were raised and few detailed building plans could be found.
The final component was a diverter—supplied at cost by the manufacturer Redwater Australia together with a second unit donated and raffled—to send cold water back to the rainwater tank instead of down the sink when the hot water taps are turned on. This unit has worked really well, with just one small hitch when the tank installer accidentally connected the water back to the first-flush system, and not the tank.
What stops green rentals?
It’s often a slow slog making investment properties more water and energy efficient. The team at AHURI interviewed over 50 landlords to find out why.
What holds us back when it comes to making rental houses greener? A team of researchers from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute have gone some way to answering this question in a report about the sustainability of Australia’s rental houses. The Environmental Sustainabilty of Australia’s Private Rental Housing Stock interviews landlords, tenants and agents, giving a rare view of what prompts change and what doesn’t when it comes to environmentally-efficient rental properties.
READ MORE »The authors share their findings with ReNew about what stops action when it comes to rental houses. In this article we focus on comments from investment property owners, while the entire report contains a broader prespective, covering tenants’attitudes, the impact of government and NGO programs and the all important real estate agents.
What stops change
The report found that many private rental investors were receptive to the idea of making minor improvements to their rental dwellings, but recognised that there were currently barriers to undertaking this work. The most common concern was the cost of taking measures to improve the energy and water efficiency of their property. Other barriers included lack of financial incentive, potential for property damage, disinterested tenants, problems with accessing property to undertake audit and installations, problems associated with gaining permission to act in a strata-titled, multi-unit dwelling, the condition of the building, the investor’s personal situation, a lack of awareness of the significance of sustainability issues in rental housing and obstructive local planning regulations.
Cost
“To get anybody to do anything at all you’re looking at $70 an hour,” said one participant when discussing the costs involved with making substantial differences to energy and water use. Others said they simply did not have enough money and were unable to take on additional loans.
Another said: “I would like information but if it involves me outlaying money I wouldn’t do it. My circumstances have changed and I can’t spend money on those properties. And anyway, why would I? [It] Doesn’t benefit me…I know that doing nothing is not congruent with my beliefs but it’s my economic reality.”
Investors also expressed concern that the costs of managing a rental property were already high and that they felt that any additional outlay would make this form of investment less attractive.
Read the full article in ReNew 115
The natural pool cleaners
Using tadpoles to keep your pool clean can provide huge savings on chemical and power use, writes John Hermans.
For the last year our family pool has been home to hundreds of tadpoles, which has benefitted our household and the local environment. Having tadpoles has helped to eliminate energy and chemical use and propagates a multitude of indigenous frogs. An article in ReNew 110 (Easy Swimming Pool Filtration p37) suggests alternative ways to clean your pool with a solar Floatron, resulting in significant energy savings, but consider turning your pool into a frog pond swimming pool and you can also save lots of electricity.
READ MORE »Before the taddies, I used to place a large sheet of black plastic over the surface of the pool each winter to stop any light from entering the water, which then minimised algal growth. This means I don’t need to use chemicals or electricity to pump and filter water. Last spring, when the plastic was removed for the start of the hot season, there were already dozens of tadpoles in the water.
Keep the taddies
When I asked my two children whether or not I should run the filter and add chlorine, the answer was defiantly ‘no’, as they knew this would kill all of the highly desirable tadpoles and the potential to have our own frog breeding pond. As algal growth is most prolific in the summer months, I wasn’t sure what the outcome would be, but I knew from previous years that as summer warmth and light increases, the concentration of chlorine diminishes and the algal growth soon starts appearing on the pool walls.
Last summer, with lots of taddies chewing away on whatever algae they could find, the water stayed crystal clear and algal growth was not easily visible. We were on an experimental adventure, using native wildlife to reduce our pool chemical and power use to zero and, as a bonus, boost the local frog population to a new high.
As each frog or tadpole species has a different food niche, finding the most suitable frog species to keep your pool clean could be hit and miss. In our case it was Litoria Ewingi (Southern Brown Tree Frog) that found our pool and since that first hatching of a few dozen taddies, their number has grown considerably. At times there were over 100, which is quite sustainable for a water volume of 20 cubic metres receiving filtered sunlight. This species of tree frog is the only one listed in my field guide that breeds all year round, so this is why I have had tadpoles in my pool right through the winter. In a confined vessel such as a pool, there is little to no predation of the taddies, so a high percentage end up metamorphosing into frogs. Once the frogs have formed they hop off to a new life, under leafage, singing and snapping up mosquitoes!
Instead of mechanically filtering the pool water, the taddies filter it and then drop the nutrients to the bottom. So there is still pool cleaning to do, such as vacuuming or siphoning off the organic build-up from the bottom, preferably into your garden, as we do.
When I did use chlorine (before the taddies) I only ever used a minimal amount, but chemical use is always a concern. My first swim preference is the dynamic ocean, then our local river, with its own aquatic life and compost bottom, and last of all a chlorinated pool, no matter how artificially clean it is. But now we are happy to swim with the taddies in our naturally filtered pool.
This article is from ReNew 114.
Rainwater tank buyers guide
Find out which rainwater tank works best for your household.
There is a rainwater tank for every purpose these days, with a variety of materials, sizes and designs. So what should you look for when buying a tank?
READ MORE »The first decision you have to make is where the tank will be located. Where you place the tank will determine its size and shape, and possibly even its colour if it needs to blend into the surrounding vegetation or dwelling walls. A large yard offers a number of options. You could place it next to the house or shed, or even under the house.
Tank materials
The six most common rainwater tank materials are concrete, fibreglass, plastic (usually polyethylene), Aquaplate Colorbond, galvanised iron and stainless steel. Each of these materials has advantages and disadvantages, so let’s look at a few of those.
Durability
A water tank can be a considerable expense, even after a rebate, so you want it to last as long as possible. The expected lifetime of any tank should be at least 20 years, and indeed, many tanks come with a 20 or even 25 year warranty. However, a number of factors will determine just how long the tank actually lasts, and that includes water quality, maintenance, and positioning of the tank.
For example, plastic tanks are relatively immune to damage from salty water, so if your tank is regularly topped up from a bore or dam, then a plastic tank might be the best solution. However, if your tank only needs to hold rainwater, then any tank material should be suitable.
The tank’s location can effect the lifetime of the materials. Ideally, the tank should be located in shade if possible, not just to keep the water temperature low and reduce evaporation, but also because some materials are damaged by direct sunlight.
Most poly tanks will slowly degrade over time with exposure to the sun, despite having UV inhibitors added to the plastic. Because the plastic is being used to hold water, there are limits to how much UV inhibitor and other chemicals can be added to the polyethylene, so eventually the tanks will suffer some degradation.
Read the full article in ReNew 109