Rainwater Harvesting Tank Pulau Penang

Rainwater Harvesting Tank

Rainwater Harvesting Tank are installed to make use of rain water for later use, reduce mains water use for economic or environmental reasons, and aid self-sufficiency. Stored water may be used for watering gardens, agriculture, flushing toilets, in washing machines, washing cars, and also for drinking, especially when other water supplies are unavailable, expensive, or of poor quality, and when adequate care is taken that the water is not contaminated and is adequately filtered. Underground rainwater tanks can also be used for retention of stormwater for release at a later time and offer a variety of benefits described in more detail below. In arid climates, rain barrels are often used to store water during the rainy season for use during dryer periods.

Rainwater Harvesting Tank may have a high (perceived) initial cost. However, many homes use small scale rain barrels to harvest minute quantities of water for landscaping/gardening applications rather than as a potable water surrogate. These small rain barrels, often recycled from food storage and transport barrels or, in some cases, whiskey and wine aging barrels, are often inexpensive. There are also many low cost designs that use locally available materials and village level technologies for applications in developing countries where there are limited alternatives for potable drinking water. While most are properly engineered to screen out mosquitoes, the lack of proper filtering or closed loop systems may create breeding grounds for larvae. With tanks used for drinking water, the user runs a health risk if maintenance is not carried out.

Advantages:

1. Easy to Maintain: Utilizing the rainwater harvesting system provides certain advantages to the community. First of all, harvesting rainwater allows us to better utilize an energy resource. It is important to do so since drinking water is not easily renewable and it helps in reducing wastage. Systems for the collection of rainwater are based on simple technology.
The overall cost of their installation and operation is much lesser than that of water purifying or pumping systems. Maintenance requires little time and energy. The result is the collection of water that can be used in substantial ways even without purification.

2. Reducing Water Bills: Water collected in the rainwater harvesting system can be put to use for several non-drinking functions as well. For many families and small businesses, this leads to a large reduction in their utilities bill. On an industrial scale, harvesting rainwater can provide the needed amounts of water for many operations to take place smoothly without having to deplete the nearby water sources.
It also lessens the burden of soil erosion in a number of areas, allowing the land to thrive once again. In fact, it can also be stored in cisterns for use during times when water supplies are at an all time low.

3. Suitable for Irrigation: As such, there is little requirement for building new infrastructure for the rainwater harvesting system. Most rooftops act as a workable catchment area, which can be linked to the harvesting system. This also lessens the impact on the environment by reducing use of fuel based machines.
Rainwater is free from many chemicals found in ground water, making it suitable for irrigation and watering gardens. In fact, storing large reservoirs of harvested water is a great idea for areas where forest fires and bush fires are common during summer months.

4. Reduces Demand on Ground Water: With increase in population, the demand for water is also continuously increasing. The end result is that many residential colonies and industries are extracting ground water to fulfill their daily demands. This has led to depletion of ground water which has gone to significant low level in some areas where there is huge water scarcity.

5. Reduces Floods and Soil Erosion: During rainy season, rainwater is collected in large storage tanks which also helps in reducing floods in some low lying areas. Apart from this, it also helps in reducing soil erosion and contamination of surface water with pesticides and fertilizers from rainwater run-off which results in cleaner lakes and ponds.

6. Can be Used for Several Non-drinking Purposes: Rainwater when collected can be used for several non-drinking functions including flushing toilets, washing clothes, watering the garden, washing cars etc. It is unnecessary to use pure drinking water if all we need to use it for some other purpose rather than drinking.

What types of Rainwater Harvesting Tanks are available?

Concrete :

Concrete tanks used for rainwater harvesting are heavy and mostly installed underground. This means they are extremely expensive to install as it often requires a lot of excavation and lifting to get them to the right spot. The lime from the concrete can also leach into the water in the tank which makes it dangerous to use for drinking.

Metal :

Metal tanks have always been a good alternative to concrete tanks as they are lighter, cheaper and easier to install. However, because of the material, they are extremely dangerous if you are using them for drinking. This is because over time the steel will corrode and rust which will pollute the purity of the water.

Plastic :

Plastic or polyethylene tanks used for rainwater harvesting are definitely the most common. These are extremely popular because of their cost and quality. However, you need to be careful you don't purchase a plastic water storage tank that will grow algae.

Fiberglass :

Fiberglass tanks are stronger than metal and concrete. However, they tend to be a lot more expensive because of the manufacturing process. Fiberglass tanks are very labor intensive to build. When it comes to tanks larger than 10,000 gallons, these are the best option.