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Judy G. Russell
March 28th, 2010, 09:15 PM
From the NWS:
HEAVY RAIN WILL BE LIKELY FROM LATER TONIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. ... TOTAL PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO AVERAGE 3 TO 4 INCHES... BUT LOCAL AMOUNTS UP TO 6 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. AT THIS TIME THE GREATEST PRECIPITATION SHOULD OCCUR OVER EASTERN PARTS OF THE WATCH AREA IN NEW JERSEY. THE COMBINATION OF THE HEAVY RAINS... ALREADY HIGH STREAMS AND RIVERS... AND SATURATED SOIL WOULD LEAD TO RENEWED FLOODING ... WITH MAJOR FLOODING POSSIBLE ALONG SOME WATERWAYS IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN NEW JERSEY. THESE INCLUDE THE ... RARITAN ... RIVER...
Guess what river I live near...

ndebord
March 28th, 2010, 10:36 PM
From the NWS:
HEAVY RAIN WILL BE LIKELY FROM LATER TONIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. ... TOTAL PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO AVERAGE 3 TO 4 INCHES... BUT LOCAL AMOUNTS UP TO 6 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. AT THIS TIME THE GREATEST PRECIPITATION SHOULD OCCUR OVER EASTERN PARTS OF THE WATCH AREA IN NEW JERSEY. THE COMBINATION OF THE HEAVY RAINS... ALREADY HIGH STREAMS AND RIVERS... AND SATURATED SOIL WOULD LEAD TO RENEWED FLOODING ... WITH MAJOR FLOODING POSSIBLE ALONG SOME WATERWAYS IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN NEW JERSEY. THESE INCLUDE THE ... RARITAN ... RIVER...
Guess what river I live near...

Judy,

Did you get that heavy duty pump? And long enough extension to pump the water to whichever way is downhill from your house?

ktinkel
March 29th, 2010, 10:02 AM
I thought of you when we heard the weather this weekend. How do you defend against this? Is it possible that pumping could keep up?

The Housatonic has problems too, but we are protected. Have been so far, anyway. We have seen the water rise above our pier on a couple of occasions; maybe this will be another.

Judy G. Russell
March 29th, 2010, 10:39 PM
I thought of you when we heard the weather this weekend. How do you defend against this? Is it possible that pumping could keep up? The Housatonic has problems too, but we are protected. Have been so far, anyway. We have seen the water rise above our pier on a couple of occasions; maybe this will be another.Literally all I'm doing is crossing fingers and toes, Kathleen. If the water starts coming in, I call the water company to come out and see if they need to replace some of the underground piping (storm and sanitary sewers). If it doesn't, well, that's a Very Good Thing.

sidney
March 30th, 2010, 06:50 AM
Can you send just a little bit this way just for this week? We are crossing our fingers that our water supply, which is from rain water collected off the roof, holds out until the winter rains start, which should be any day now. It won't be a disaster if we have to order a delivery from a water truck, but it will seem like a waste of a few hundred dollars when we are so close to getting much more than we need for free from the sky. This week we completed hooking up the downpipes, doubling our water collection from what it had been. That only works if it rains, though.

ktinkel
March 30th, 2010, 10:12 AM
Literally all I'm doing is crossing fingers and toes, Kathleen. If the water starts coming in, I call the water company to come out and see if they need to replace some of the underground piping (storm and sanitary sewers). If it doesn't, well, that's a Very Good Thing.Ah. Hope it works. I’ll cross some digits too.

Judy G. Russell
March 30th, 2010, 07:31 PM
Can you send just a little bit this way just for this week? We are crossing our fingers that our water supply, which is from rain water collected off the roof, holds out until the winter rains start, which should be any day now. It won't be a disaster if we have to order a delivery from a water truck, but it will seem like a waste of a few hundred dollars when we are so close to getting much more than we need for free from the sky. This week we completed hooking up the downpipes, doubling our water collection from what it had been. That only works if it rains, though.I'd be happy to send some your way, Sidney, but I haven't figured out how to get the Weather Gods to do what I want them to do. I'm workin' on it, though! (And good luck!)

Judy G. Russell
March 30th, 2010, 07:33 PM
Ah. Hope it works. I’ll cross some digits too.Thanks. Got home tonight to find some minor seepage but nothing that I think needs major work. There are some areas of the walls and floor that probably should be resealed, but then when the ground is THIS wet and there's THAT much rain, I'm not sure any 90-year-old basement would be 100% waterproof.

ktinkel
March 30th, 2010, 07:40 PM
Thanks. Got home tonight to find some minor seepage but nothing that I think needs major work. There are some areas of the walls and floor that probably should be resealed, but then when the ground is THIS wet and there's THAT much rain, I'm not sure any 90-year-old basement would be 100% waterproof.I think the worst is over, or nearly over.

You can map the potential trouble areas and take care of them at leisure. Or at least one hopes.

ndebord
March 30th, 2010, 11:48 PM
Thanks. Got home tonight to find some minor seepage but nothing that I think needs major work. There are some areas of the walls and floor that probably should be resealed, but then when the ground is THIS wet and there's THAT much rain, I'm not sure any 90-year-old basement would be 100% waterproof.

Judy,

That's good news as is the clearing trend for the next week. (Guess I don't need to send that old Arc over now.)

Judy G. Russell
April 1st, 2010, 08:07 PM
I think the worst is over, or nearly over.If we really do get a solid week of dry weather, it will be Nirvana.

You can map the potential trouble areas and take care of them at leisure. Or at least one hopes.Exactly. There are two areas that need immediate attention... if the walls ever dry out enough to take the patch!!

Judy G. Russell
April 1st, 2010, 08:08 PM
That's good news as is the clearing trend for the next week.If we could just have a few more days like today...

sidney
April 3rd, 2010, 08:16 PM
If we could just have a few more days like today...

It looks like you were successful at sending it over here. New Zealand celebrates Good Friday and Easter Monday as statutory holidays to make it a four day weekend. Naturally the weather deities have chosen it for a downpour that started a little bit last night and got serious today. I think I'll wash a load of clothes and take a shower to celebrate :)

Judy G. Russell
April 5th, 2010, 09:14 AM
It looks like you were successful at sending it over here. New Zealand celebrates Good Friday and Easter Monday as statutory holidays to make it a four day weekend. Naturally the weather deities have chosen it for a downpour that started a little bit last night and got serious today. I think I'll wash a load of clothes and take a shower to celebrate :)I'm glad you got the water you needed but sorry it washed out your weekend. Here, the weather was just spectacular all weekend and my nose is sunburned!

sidney
April 5th, 2010, 01:14 PM
I'm glad you got the water you needed but sorry it washed out your weekend.

We ended up with beautiful sunny weather most of Monday, with showers Sunday night into Monday morning ending right after we woke up, and resuming late Monday afternoon after we got home for the day. Just right!

Judy G. Russell
April 5th, 2010, 11:19 PM
We ended up with beautiful sunny weather most of Monday, with showers Sunday night into Monday morning ending right after we woke up, and resuming late Monday afternoon after we got home for the day. Just right!Excellent! Sure wouldn't want your summers, you and the Aussies (those fires are SCARY!!).

sidney
April 6th, 2010, 05:08 AM
Excellent! Sure wouldn't want your summers, you and the Aussies (those fires are SCARY!!).

Oh, don't confuse New Zealand with Australia ... That's like thinking Canada is part of the US! The temperature range here in this part of the North Island is even narrower than I experienced in Santa Cruz, rarely getting as high as 80F in the summer or as low as 60F in the winter. And while it is drier in the summer than in the winter it is not like California where it basically only rains during the three months of of winter downpours and never rains in the other nine months. There are rainy and fine days here in all the seasons. Until now we did have to worry about running out of water at the end of the summer when it is driest, but now that we have doubled our collection capacity that shouldn't be a problem again.

Judy G. Russell
April 6th, 2010, 10:14 PM
while it is drier in the summer than in the winter it is not like California where it basically only rains during the three months of of winter downpours and never rains in the other nine months. There are rainy and fine days here in all the seasons.That's where I was making my mistake. Thought your summers were much drier.

sidney
April 7th, 2010, 02:00 AM
Thought your summers were much drier.

This is a drought year, but not so much as to cause bush fires. What it does mean is that the dairy farmers are having a very tough time due to reduced yields of grazing grass reducing their milk production plus requiring them to spend on the order of $100,000 in s typical size family farm for feed corn just to keep their herds alive. Beef and sheep farmers get to sell off some of their animals for meat and will have to make it up later when they buy new animals, but it isn't as hard on them over all. From what I've read it isn't much of a problem for most crop farmers except for cannabis growers. There was an article about how arrests were down because production is down, but the arrests are easier because growers have had to put the plants closer to their homes so they could water them more often :). The wine growers say that they are getting some better results because of the drought, somewhat fewer grapes but better intensity of flavour.

The weather people say that the rains will start in earnest at the end of this month. After the last few days I think with the sporadic showers we are now getting we'll have no problem lasting until then.

Judy G. Russell
April 7th, 2010, 05:48 PM
The weather people say that the rains will start in earnest at the end of this month. After the last few days I think with the sporadic showers we are now getting we'll have no problem lasting until then.I sure wouldn't have minded sending you some of the rain we had. Good luck in getting through until the rains start there in earnest.

davidh
April 8th, 2010, 06:01 PM
$100,000 in s typical size family farm for feed corn just to keep their herds alive.I hope the folks that grow that corn keep away from the droughts and floods, incl. the farmers here in the USA. We can't eat cruise missiles :rolleyes:

I wonder how long it'll be until a tanker full of fresh water fetches as much as one full of oil? But if this year's weather is a sign of the future, at least New Jersey might have a low water bill for a while.

sidney
April 8th, 2010, 09:25 PM
if this year's weather is a sign of the future

I heard on the radio today an official from the national weather service saying that a farmer should expect to experience only one drought of this magnitude in his or her lifetime.

I hope he didn't mean that the farmers can expect to die of thirst before it's over!

Judy G. Russell
April 9th, 2010, 10:16 PM
I heard on the radio today an official from the national weather service saying that a farmer should expect to experience only one drought of this magnitude in his or her lifetime. I hope he didn't mean that the farmers can expect to die of thirst before it's over!YIKES!!!!!!!

sidney
April 24th, 2010, 08:26 PM
Well, we almost made it.

We were carefully monitoring the water level in the tank and our usage and thought we might just make it as we saw it drop from 300mm down to 250mm depth.

To our surprise the water stopped flowing on Monday. Murphy's law was in full swing - We had just opened the filter trap on the water pump to clean out gunk that we thought might be getting there from the bottom of the tank, put it all back together, and ... no water. Naturally that led to lots of fiddling around trying to figure out what we put back together wrong or what we broke.

Finally we checked the water level in the tank and realized that the outlet pipe is 200mm above the bottom. That's almost 8 inches and represents almost 2,000 litres of water in our 25,000 litre capacity tank. I guess it makes sense so we don't get the last bit of accumulated leaves and such at the end. The timing with regard to the filter cleaning was pure coincidence.

We shipped the kids out to have a sleepover at their friends' houses, got some buckets of water from the neighbour to use in our toilets, and called for a water delivery. The truck was able to come up here the next afternoon, delivering 11,000 litres for a bit under $200. The primary cost is for the trip, of course, with 11,000 litres being what the truck holds.

The weather report calls for heavy rain this Tuesday and a huge downpour starting Thursday. I hope our tank's overflow system is working :)

[update] The weather forecast has changed. No deluge predicted. I guess when one is dealing with drinking [water] issues, it is best to take it one day at a time.

Judy G. Russell
April 25th, 2010, 11:10 AM
[update] The weather forecast has changed. No deluge predicted. I guess when one is dealing with drinking [water] issues, it is best to take it one day at a time.Oh man, Sidney. That is sure a difficult situation. Hope you get some rain, and soon, and curses on the water tank designer who built the outflow pipe so high!!!

ktinkel
April 25th, 2010, 02:44 PM
That is terrible. Sure hope you get a deluge soon.

sidney
April 25th, 2010, 03:48 PM
That is terrible. Sure hope you get a deluge soon.

Oh, there's nothing to worry about any more. The 11,000 litres is several months worth, and the only question about the rainy season is whether it will start this week or the next or even the next after that. I suppose the longer it holds off the less I have to feel bad about having to pay for water so close to the rains coming.

Judy G. Russell
April 26th, 2010, 07:32 PM
I suppose the longer it holds off the less I have to feel bad about having to pay for water so close to the rains coming.LOL! Yeah, there is that!

sidney
April 27th, 2010, 03:13 AM
LOL! Yeah, there is that!

Well, so much for that idea. Between last night and today we got about 30mm of rain according to a cup we left out on the deck, and the tank appears to be 3/4 full. I guess the extra roof area and drainpipes are working.

Judy G. Russell
April 27th, 2010, 11:24 PM
I guess the extra roof area and drainpipes are working.That's nice...

Mike
May 7th, 2010, 02:40 AM
I guess the extra roof area and drainpipes are working.
Does the water get treated before it's used?

sidney
May 10th, 2010, 03:35 AM
Does the water get treated before it's used?

Every so often I put some concentrated hydrogen peroxide (50% solution) in the tank, stir it around, and let it sit for a couple of hours before we use any water. It's supposed to be done weekly, but I often don't think of it until I notice some musty taste in the water.

I like to believe that rain water is clean and I don't think about what birds might be doing on my roof :)

There are treatment systems I could get that dose or UV irradiate the water as it leaves the tank, but I don't see enough need for it to justify the expense right now.

Mike
May 14th, 2010, 02:26 AM
I like to believe that rain water is clean and I don't think about what birds might be doing on my roof :)
Yeah, I, too, figure rainwater should be clean. Beyond the birds, however, there's the dust, leaves, and other stuff that accumulates on a roof over time.

I even run our municipal tap water through a Brita filter before drinking it!

sidney
May 14th, 2010, 06:21 AM
Yeah, I, too, figure rainwater should be clean. Beyond the birds, however, there's the dust, leaves, and other stuff that accumulates on a roof over time.

Our drainpipes have a "first flush" thing that traps and diverts the first so many liters of water when the pipes are empty. I don't recall the details of how it works, but I know it is totally mechanical in operation. I seem to recall doesn't even have any moving parts, just a trap that we have to empty every so often to make sure it doesn't fill up with leaves. After a period with no rain, the first water that washes off the roof ends up in the trap, then the rest of the rainstorm goes in our tank.

Our house is at the top of a local hill with no trees taller than the roof near enough for us to get leaves on the roof. The birds seem to prefer the trees to the roof. So it does work out well for the most part.

earler
May 14th, 2010, 07:14 AM
What is used for roofing? Tiles, slate, thatch?

ndebord
May 14th, 2010, 07:15 AM
What is used for roofing? Tiles, slate, thatch?

Earle,

Thatch?? <VBG>

sidney
May 14th, 2010, 07:57 AM
What is used for roofing? Tiles, slate, thatch?

Corrugated powder-coated steel on most of the roof. One small section that has too small a slope for steel is covered with butyl rubber membrane.

earler
May 16th, 2010, 04:17 PM
Thatched roofs are lovely.

earler
May 16th, 2010, 04:18 PM
Ours is pantiles in the country and slate in the city.

sidney
May 16th, 2010, 10:38 PM
Ours is pantiles in the country and slate in the city.

Pantiles are common in the Auckland suburb where we used live. I haven't seen any slate roofs in New Zealand, but I have seen roofers touting it. From the advertisements I gather that all the slate is imported, and I guess quite expensive.

The corrugated steel roofs are by far the most common in rural New Zealand where people rely on their rain water tanks. I'm sure pantiles would work well for rain water collection, so I'm not really sure why they are only found in the city.

Mike
May 17th, 2010, 02:11 AM
So it does work out well for the most part.
Sounds like most of the risks aren't there and there is sufficient protection for the rest!

Heh, and people were suspicious of drinking the water at my parents' house, because it had a well for water!

earler
May 17th, 2010, 03:31 AM
Roofs in bermuda are traditionally stucco covered slate made from limestone, though in recent years, the latter is often replaced by concrete. Rain is collected during the rainy season and stored in tanks by each house. Since ground water is brackish it has to be treated before use.