Warm water on tap post soft

[Bonnox]

Just thought I'd share an idea from my allotment, that I made last weekend, its something that could be used anywhere I guess, I have put a radiator in my green house painted black, this is filled with rain water from my greenhouse run off, with an overflow into my water butt, the rain water input goes into the top of the radiator fills it up and as its black is warmed by the sun, the tap is fitted at the bottom where you would normally have a thermostat valve, and I have put a small sink below which again feeds into the water but outside hey presto nice warm water, now I'm not saying its hot enough to make a nice brew but nicely warm to wash hands after gardening, and obviously the bigger the radiator or the more of them, the more water you can have, as mine is inside my green house it shouldn't freeze during the winter, but will obviously be a lot cooler, but time will tell, I will update you all if anyone is interested come winter time

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(11 September 2013, 22:44)Bonnox Wrote: Just thought I'd share an idea from my allotment, that I made last weekend, its something that could be used anywhere I guess, I have put a radiator in my green house painted black, this is filled with rain water from my greenhouse run off, with an overflow into my water butt, the rain water input goes into the top of the radiator fills it up and as its black is warmed by the sun, the tap is fitted at the bottom where you would normally have a thermostat valve, and I have put a small sink below which again feeds into the water but outside hey presto nice warm water, now I'm not saying its hot enough to make a nice brew but nicely warm to wash hands after gardening, and obviously the bigger the radiator or the more of them, the more water you can have, as mine is inside my green house it shouldn't freeze during the winter, but will obviously be a lot cooler, but time will tell, I will update you all if anyone is interested come winter time

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Oops I meant post shtf not soft, don't know what I done now

[Mortblanc]

I once had a friend that coiled water hose in loops on his barn roof and let the sun do its work. 200 feet of hot water hose was enough for him to shower.

[Lightspeed]

we have just ripped out an over large insulated hot water cylinder, which I am keeping with the plan to reuse it as the reservoir of a thermo-syphoned solar water heater.

Rge collector will be like Mortblanc's frirnd's: Coiled garden hose mounted on stout roofing board and painted mat black. For improved efficiency, the board id backed with Kingspan type roofing insulation, and polycarbonate clear glaxing is mounted over the collector coil. The plan is for the collector(s) will be mounted at near-ground level, aligned for most reliable strong sun exposure.

Our objective for the system is for a low visual profile, non seasonal installation that will collect enough hot water for a few times each week throughout the warm side of the equinoxl

has anyone on here already done this?

[Binnie]

you've got to be seriously careful with lukewarm water that isn't chlorinated. especially if you leave the radiator full of water.

Leigonella breeds like a mofo at lukewarm temps, and is fed by iron oxide (rust) which most radiators experience at some point in time.

great idea, but just be careful, it should be safe for hand washing, but i'd advise against showering as there is a high likelyhood this would create aerosols, which you would then breathe in and put you in real danger of contracting leigonaires disease.

if you have a decent supply of water purification tablets, or bleach, you could chlorinate the water with that and almost eliminate the risk completely

[Lightspeed]

(12 September 2013, 07:02)Binnie Wrote: you've got to be seriously careful with lukewarm water that isn't chlorinated. especially if you leave the radiator full of water.

Leigonella breeds like a mofo at lukewarm temps, and is fed by iron oxide (rust) which most radiators experience at some point in time.

great idea, but just be careful, it should be safe for hand washing, but i'd advise against showering as there is a high likelyhood this would create aerosols, which you would then breathe in and put you in real danger of contracting leigonaires disease.

if you have a decent supply of water purification tablets, or bleach, you could chlorinate the water with that and almost eliminate the risk completely

Good catch Binnie,

Appreeciate the advice. I hadn't thought of that.

Soo... it looks like I'll be better off with greater collecting capacity and a smaller reservoir to bring fresh water up to heat quickly on sunny days for immediate use. This is still viable.

I will research the legionella fed by iron oxide issue you highlighted.
All house plumbing now replaced with PP-R piping so no contamination from the pipework itself, but we have high iron content in our non-chlorinated mains water supply. Our strategy for using stored water may need adjusting.

Thanks for the feedback

[Binnie]

If the water is kept cool its a lot less of an issue, it'd just be your radiator that is the risk. also leigonella is anaerobic, so shutting the valves can actually make the problem worse.

I don't know if you could use a clear peice of hose/glass tubing and UV sterilise the water as it's being fed round the loop? i think it would work, but i've never seen it in the flesh.

Unfortunately i'm responsible for legionella control at my work (among my many other duties) and i'm sorry if i'm boring you, it's quite a boring subject tbh.

Raising the water above 50c would eliminate any leigonella present btw.

[Lightspeed]

(12 September 2013, 10:57)Binnie Wrote: If the water is kept cool its a lot less of an issue, it'd just be your radiator that is the risk. also leigonella is anaerobic, so shutting the valves can actually make the problem worse.

I don't know if you could use a clear peice of hose/glass tubing and UV sterilise the water as it's being fed round the loop? i think it would work, but i've never seen it in the flesh.

Unfortunately i'm responsible for legionella control at my work (among my many other duties) and i'm sorry if i'm boring you, it's quite a boring subject tbh.

Raising the water above 50c would eliminate any leigonella present btw.

I have used UV sterilisation of water in my old fish pond filter arrangement. It works very well especially at slow flow rates.

My water heater project is to find out if themo syphoning works, as a zero energy input heating mechanism. So UV filters are out, as is +50cwater heating.

Cheers n beers

[Bonnox]

(12 September 2013, 07:02)Binnie Wrote: you've got to be seriously careful with lukewarm water that isn't chlorinated. especially if you leave the radiator full of water.

Leigonella breeds like a mofo at lukewarm temps, and is fed by iron oxide (rust) which most radiators experience at some point in time.

great idea, but just be careful, it should be safe for hand washing, but i'd advise against showering as there is a high likelyhood this would create aerosols, which you would then breathe in and put you in real danger of contracting leigonaires disease.

if you have a decent supply of water purification tablets, or bleach, you could chlorinate the water with that and almost eliminate the risk completely

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No i just use it for washing my hands, getting the muck and dirt off my hands so it doesn't go all over my car, guess it would be easy enough to fit a filter, but don't see the point, when its just to wash hands n maybe armpits and other sweaty bits post shtf

[Highlander]

Add a few drops of un perfumed bleach to each liter of water to kill off any bugs,... every prepper should store bleach

[Skean Dhude]

My only concern would be that eventually the bleach would disappate and that would allow LG to appear. Even if it didn't straight away it would eventually and then it would kill you. No point putting in a system that has that capability imo