IES20100154A2 - Rain water harvesting system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to the Harvesting of Rain Water. In particular the invention provides a cost effective and environmentally firendly way of Harvesting Rain Water comprising of the following; a Rain water Catcher comprising of several parts depending on size of roof area, a polyeutherene filter (open celled sediment filter), a UV filter of which both comply with regulations for harvesting of rain water, an optional tank for extra rain water storage, an extra ballcock and fittings. The advantage of our Rain Water Harvesting System is taht it collects water by gravity and uses no mechanical device to power water supply. The innovative Rain Catcher is designed to withstand all weather conditions and is colour coded to match existing tiles/slates on roof.

Description

Rain Water Harvesting System Field of Invention £o$£> ?>IPO , /Zb Ι.^ί ηΓΥ^ ! The present invention relates to the harvesting of rainwatei?»^«-®^aatU^^^ Background to the Invention Our Rainwater Harvesting System works by gravity feed. When it rains it feeds directly into the water tank from the roof. It is the most effective way of harvesting rainwater.

A typical rainwater harvesting system can be seen in Figure 6. It typically collects water from the normal chute level, brings it to a storage tank underground from which it has to be pumped back up into the attic. This is an expensive system which can be off-putting for people wanting to save on their water bills.

Our system collects the water above storage level and feeds directly to the storage facility in the attic. There is no need for pumping equipment, underground tanks, etc. making it a more cost efficient system which is easier to install and maintain.

As you know at the moment water is very precious and with everyone going to have to pay for it soon, we need a way to help reduce our costs. So depending on the household, they can have as many storage tanks as they want to store harvested rainwater in their attic.

The harvested water will be treated through an open celled sediment filter to take out all the sediments that is in rainwater and a UV filter to kill bacteria, viruses, molds, algae, yeast, and oocysts like cryptosporidium and giardia before it ever enters the harvest tank.

Using these proper filters (open celled sediment and UV) in the system the water will be usable for the following, cistern, shower, washing machines/dishwasher water usage and outdoor usage.

Drinking water will still be supplied by the mains delivery.

The system can be installed either during a new build or post build. Both being done by a qualified plumber/roofer. For installation post build, a specially designed roof ladder (not shown) may be used to aid carrying out the work.

Harvesting rainwater will save the homeowner money on their water costs and help the environment. It will also cut down on the amount of water the councils have to supply to households.

Summary of Invention According to the invention there is provided, as set out in the appended claims, a Rain Water Harvesting System comprising of: 1. A rain water catchment apparatus which is positioned on the external aspect of the roof, above the water tank storage level; 2. A connection pipe from the rain water catchment apparatus leading the rainwater through the roof into the attic space towards the storage tanks; IE 1 0 Ο 1 5 4 3. A series of water filters, in this case an open celled sediment filter and UV filter; 4. An optional water tank to store the harvested water (from hereon in referred to as the “harvest tank”) with ballcock fitted; . A main water tank with overflow prevention mechanism fitted; 6. A connection pipe from the harvest tank to the main water tank; 7. An overflow pipe from the harvest tank to an external outside chute/down pipe; 8. An overflow pipe from the main water tank to an external outside chute/down pipe; Brief Description of the Drawings The Rain Water Harvesting System will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a view of our rainwater catchment apparatus installed on the external aspect of a roof.

Figure 2 is a side view of the Rain Water Harvesting System installed in an attic space showing water storage tanks and their associated workings in situ.

Figure 3 is a stainless steel connector used with the rainwater catchment apparatus.

Figure 3a is a side view of the rainwater catchment apparatus.

Figure 4 is a 3 dimensional view of part of the rainwater catchment apparatus.

Figure 4a is an inverted view of the rainwater catchment apparatus to how it would be installed in practice.

Figure 5 is a internal view of main water tank.

IE 1001 54 Figure 6a is a diagrammatic view of current rain harvesting systems.

Figure 6b shows the current system in use.

Detailed Description of the Drawings Referring now to the drawings and initially Figure 1, there is an illustrated drawing of our rainwater catchment apparatus installed on an 10 external aspect of a roof. It consists of a solid chute (constructed here from fibreglass as this is a common material used in roof gutters and valleys, but alternate materials may be used) of six parts which is connected to the roof by means of stainless steel hangers as can be seen in Figure 3. These hangers are inserted under the roofing slates directly 15 above the rainwater catchment apparatus.

All sections of the rainwater catchment apparatus are connected together by means of a stainless steel connection (not shown).

Referring now to Figure 2, Page 2/5, not to scale, this drawing consists of 8 parts which show an internal view in detail of the internal works of our Rain Catcher.

Part 1, shows the direction of the rain fall onto roof Part 2, shows our Rain Catcher installed on external of roof which in return delivers rain water into Part 3.

Part 3, is an open celled sediment filter and UV filter which complies with regulations governed for Rainwater harvesting.

Part 4, shows an extra water storage tank, (optional), which is positioned 30 slightly above level of original water tank. In part 4 a ball cock is fitted, this is to prevent the ‘Rain Catcher’ from delivering water when tank is IE 10 0 15 4 full. If this occurs the Rain Catcher will overflow and rain water will escape and flow down roof of house and into shute as normal. Overflow water cannot and will not enter house.

Part 5, shows an overflow pipe which will in return take excess rain water if in the event of ballcock malfunctioning in Part 4.

Part 6, shows main water tank. This tank comprises of 2 ballcocks. The original one and an extra one for harvested rain. The higher ballcock in this illustration is connected to the lower side of the tank in Part 4.

Part 7, original water supply with ballcock fitted which will be explained in further detail in Figure 5.

Part 8, original overflow pipe. In the unlikely event of both ballcocks malfunctioning at the same time, an extra overflow pipe will be fitted when installing our Rain Water Harvesting System. This is illustrated in better detail in Figure 5.

Figure 3, Page 3/5 is a side view of a stainless connector, which connects the parts of the Rain Catcher together. Each connector consists of a hanger which is illustrated and explained in detail in Figure 1.

Figure 3a, Page 3/5 is a side view of Rain catcher.

Figure 4, Page 3/5 is a 3D view and under view of one of the parts of the Rain Catcher which sends the rain water into the harvesting tank by means of a flange, Fig 4, (a), which is connected to a %” pipe, which can be seen in Figure 2, Part 2.

Figure 5, Page 4/5 is a view of the main water tank with extra ballcock and extra overflow pipe, (c).

Ballcock 1 (a) - is fitted to stop supply of rain harvested water when tank is full and level line.

IE 1 0 0 1 5 4 6 Ballcock 2 (b)- stops water from main water supply and level line, which in turn allows water supply from the harvest tank to enter and ensures if harvest tank is empty there will be adequate water supply in your tank at all times because water in lower level is supplied by main water supply as illustrated in Figure 5.There is an extra overflow pipe fitted to this tank beside original overflow pipe. In the extraordinarily event of both Ballcock 1 and ballcock 2 malfunctioning at the same time, the two overflow pipes will be more than adequate to take the extra water flow.

Figure 6, Page 5/5 illustrates a drawing of an available Water harvesting system (Part A), and our Rain Water Harvesting System in (Part B). In part A it illustrates that water is collected from existing shutes fed down into a storage tank underground and then by means of an electrical pump (c), it is transferred into a storage tank in the interior of the building.

In Part B it illustrates our Rain Water Harvesting System which harvests rain water and delivers it to the interior tank by means of gravity cutting out the costs of installing an underground tank and the expense of running an electrical pump.

Claims (6)

Claims

1. Our Rain Catcher can be made from the following materials: P.V.C/Fibreglass/Aluminium/Plastic/light bendable sheet material and stainless steel sheeting,

2. The rain Catcher has been specially designed so that it is almost at the same angle as the roof it is fitted to, so as to make it more pleasing to the eye and narrow enough so that tennis balls/hand balls etc. cannot enter our Rain Catcher. We also claim for it to be designed and coloured coinciding with the existing colour of slates/tiles and commercial roofing. Referring now to the drawings and initially Figure 1, there is an illustrated drawing of our ‘Rain Catcher installed on external of a roof. It consists of a fibreglass shute in five parts which is connected to the roof by means of stainless steel hangers in return which are inserted under the slate above ‘Rain Catcher’, Each part of the 5 ‘Rain Catchers’ are connected together by means of a stainless steel connection which will be fitted between each ‘Rain catcher’, Part 2, shows our Patented Rain Catcher installed on external of roof which in return delivers rain water into Part 3,

3. The Flange mentioned in Figure 4 has also been specially designed with an exterior plate and a %” pipe coupling which can be easily fitted to the Rain Catcher by means of two screws, one on each side of said pipe coupling or alternately by using suitable bonding material, Figure 4, is a 3D view of one of the parts of the Rain Catcher which sends the rain water into the harvesting tank by means of a IE 10 0 15 4 flange which is connected to a pipe, which can be seen in Figure 2, Part 2.

4. Our stainless steel connector/hanger as illustrated in Fig. 3 can also be manufactured in the same materials as detailed in Claim 1 and can also be colour co-ordinated as stated in Claim 2.

5. Our hanger/connector has been designed so that the top edge of the said hanger/connector as indicated in Fig. 3 hangs on the tile/slate where Rain Catcher is positioned indicated in Fig. 1, and under the tile/slate immediately above it as also illustrated in Fig. 1.

6. Our Rain Catcher is positioned in such a way that it can deliver rain water by gravity to a storage tank in the interior of the said building as illustrated in Fig.2, Part 1, shows the direction of the rain fall onto roof. Part 2, shows our Patented Rain Catcher installed on external of roof which in return delivers rain water into Part 3.