The automated ‘Direct Feed’ Rainwater Harvesting Kit is designed to demonstrate these aspects within the system. 

It demonstrates how to harvest rainwater from a roof and store it in a tank for non-potable domestic use, thereby reducing mains water demand. The pump in the storage tank sends rainwater directly to the point of use e.g. toilet flushing, garden watering etc. If the stored rainwater runs out, mains water is automatically brought to the system to meet the demand.
The photo shows the set-up we have installed in the warehouse. Water enters the rainwater storage tank via downpipe and calmed inlet. To simulate this process mains water could be gravity fed from a header tank (not included). Water from the storage tank can be pumped up to feed, for example, one or two WC’s. The control system provided with the automated rainwater harvesting kit enables:

• Supply to automatically switch between harvested and mains supply.
• Pump to be switched on and off with demand.

The automated system utilises a float switch and solenoid valve; the float switch detects when the rainwater storage tank is empty and opens the electrically-actuated solenoid
valve so that mains water flows into the bottom of the tank. When the float switch floats off the bottom of the tank it turns the solenoid valve off. The bulk of the storage tank remains empty ready to admit the water from the next ‘rain shower’.