David Kumhyr's rainwater collection page

Original System - Well Water

The original water supply for the ranch is
housed partly in this building off of
the patio, and part behind it. It is a
very deep well combined with a storage
tank and a softener system.

Behind the building is the well head. The
well is 650 feet deep with a submersible
pump that pushes the water up into the
holding tank of 1050 gallons (at the left).
Its a typical Texas Hill Country setup and
the water contains a lot of minerals from
limestone underground.

Inside there is another pump to draw water
from the storage tank and a pressure vessel
to supply the house. At the top of the
picture is the clorine bleach tank. A
incremental pump puts bleach into the
water going to the storage tank to keep
algae growth down.

The last step is the softener and filters
the water is softened using salt and filtered
in these two big tanks. The softening doesn't
make a whole lot of difference!

The golf course nearby got a 'piggy' permit
allowing them to draw over 500,000 gallons
per day out of the local aquifer. My neighbors
began to run dry. Since I have metal roofs
with a lot of surface area I figured I'd
supplement with rainwater. I planned to put
the system and tanks in a new building near
the well. Here I've cleared the area.

I set up some formers and put gravel in
prior to the rebar. Valentina supervises
construction.

The slab is poured and ready to begin construction.
You can see the huge area that I can collect from
on the house in the background. I'll also
use the garage and the roof of the new building
as collection surfaces.

Stone Water Building

I plan to house all of the old system and
the new rain water collection within the new
building. I'll have a dual system, switchable
at will. Here's a plan view of the layout.

I plan to build the walls out of the stone
from my land. It's abundant, durable,
attractive and free! Here's the tiny start.

Over the next few months the wall's
grown as I collect rocks and cement them
in place.

I've tried to teach Valentina to fetch
rocks but all she's willing to do is supervise.

An aerial view of the building. After its
complete the existing tank will move behind
and I'll remove the old building and in its
place will be a rock waterfall and a pool.

Not much has been done lately, lots of other
projects competing for time. However the recent
cold weather and all of the stop gap measures
that I have to take to keep things from freezing
make me more motivated to complete the work!

www.kumhyr.com

Email me your comments or suggestions.

The System

Finally beginning the transition to well plus
rainwater. First step is freeing up the old tank
for collecting rainwater and cleaning it out.

The other task is removing the crappy snake job

of the old piping and replaceing it all!

new tank
Here's the new setup for the well portion, much

cleaner connections, shorter runs and all of this

will be enclosed in a temporary extension of the

existing old building to protect it from the cold

and the elements (and animals).

The other tank is in the new building. I'm ready to

start building the top half and roof. After that

the serious work of integrating rain collection

with the well and the softening and purifying

starts.