With potable water supplies from municipalities becoming ever more unreliable, sensible home owners invested in backup water tanks.
However, backup water cannot simply be stored indefinitely and the best way to keep the water fresh, is to use a live tank.
This simply means that the tank is filled from a source, but it is also the main supply to the premises so there will be a constant water exchange through the days of use.
The disadvantage is that if the tank cannot be elevated for gravity feed, one has to install a pressure pump for acceptable use.
Rainwater harvesting is a great way to collect some water for daily use, although not all parts of South Africa can benefit from this all year round.
Due to the seasonality of rainfall, it becomes difficult to manage a tank year around unless you have a device that can help with it.
The most common way of "managing" harvesting of rain water, is by having the inlet to the tank on say a 50% level and the rest on top is open volume foe collection. This arrangement is not good for dry seasons, where one would then prefer to have the entire tank for backup.
Take note that rainwater could be contaminated if gutters and roofs are not kept clean. Filtering and disinfection is required.
For this, I have developed two tank management controllers where the end user can select on which level he wants the tank to be controlled.
Level probes are simple 4mm stainless steel cap screws that can be installed even with a tank full of water, by simply drilling a small hole through the side and screwing it in. Connect the wires and you are ready to go.
Version 1 - Naiades Suzaan:
- For a tank with a single main water supply.
- 5 tank levels can be selected.
- Booster Pump Control is Integrated, with dryrun protection.
Version 2 - Naiades Celeste:
- For a tank with two water supplies, of which one is a bore hole or a well.
- 2 Tanks levels can be selected.
- Borehole has level control in case water delivery is low.
- Booster Pump Control is Integrated with dryrun protection.
- User can select which supply has priority as mains.
- It also has an emergency should which ever selected main supply, fail.