Rain Water Collection, Tofino, BC
The water flows from the steel roof into the gutters. One down gutter is selected to be the collection point. That gutter is cut and placed into a sediment filter which catches leaves, needles and bigger sediment. It has a steel wool like filter that can be removed and cleaned as required. The gutter is placed into this filter and a pipe comes out of the filter and runs down through the deck floor.

The pipe carrying the rainwater from the gutter and the first sediment filter goes through the deck floor and then joins a pipe that goes 90° left and slightly uphill. By making the water in this pipe flow slightly uphill it allows this pipe to act as another filter. Clean-outs at each end of the pipe allow for it to be opened and for the sediment collected to be brushed out.

After traveling a bit uphill in the horizontal pipe the water flows straight down the first flush diverter pipe. this allows for the filtering of water containing dirt, pollen and bird droppings. The size of the pipe is dependent on the size of the roof area. The water flows down and collects in this first flush diverter pipe until it fills up. Once it is full then the water begins to flow toward the rainwater collection tank. The first flush diverter pipe has a clean-out at the bottom of it that can be removed. This clean-out also has a small hole in it so that after the rain has stopped the pipe will drain by itself so you do not have to open it manually to drain it.

In order to have very clean water in our rainwater collection tank we opted to have 2 filters on the pipe that runs directly into the tank. After the first flush diverter has filled and water begins to flow into the tank it runs through a coarse filter and a fine mesh filter. And overflow pipe, just in case and the outlet spout were the last additions. The overflow pipe and the spout have screens to prevent insects from entering the tank.

If you would like to view our rainwater collection system and learn more about it please contact us at GoTofino.

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