WINNING TIP FILTER OUT DEBRIS

I live in an area where water harvesting is a necessity and am forever experimenting with the different mechanics of the catching and storing of water. Several ways to keep mosquitoes, leaves and other debris from being washed into the downpipe down to the tank have been tried. I have tried the commercially available one as well as the obvious one of cementing a piece of nylon gauze over the entrance of the downpipe. After years of experimenting, I think I have now come up with the cheapest and most ingenious way of ensuring that no debris gets washed into my storage tank.

Cut a plastic bottle of the right size (to fit snugly on the inside of the downpipe) in half. Place the funnel side nose-first down the downpipe, taking care that it does not fit too loosely and falls right in. Fill it with a few pebbles large enough not to fall through the funnel end. Then fill it up further with finer gravel or grit (the size of the grit determines how fine you want the water filtered).

You can also experiment with how much of the bottle sticks out in the gutter. If it is flush with the bottom of the gutter, tie a piece of rope or wire to the top of the bottle so that you can pull it out once a month or so to check whether it needs cleaning. You can also drill 1 mm holes in the bottle so that the water runs into the bottle from the sides. the kits that do multiple tests. Unfortunately, as with anything pet-related, they’re not cheap (up to R550 for 25 strips!). This is one of those tips that left me thinking ‘duh, why didn’t I think of that’ when I first heard it: Cut the strips down the middle vertically.

Two for the price of one, for next to no effort!