Downspout today

Today after my third trip to pick up parts I finished the importing of the water from the downspout to the sunken sump pump basin. Now I just have to pipe it out and plug it in. The tricky part was devising a way to turn off the flow and have it go back down the drain at such times. So far so good.

Rain Water Harvesting

Here is my next project. I am in the middle of it now. It is basically a lot of plumbing . The object of the game is to get the rain water which is currently going down the drain to the storm drain which ends up in the Wissahickon creek . Its not a great set up. It pollutes the creek and overloads the sewage system.

So I buried this Sump basin below ground and will pipe the water from the drains to the basin. From there the water will be pumped over 150 feet to two 75 gallon rain barrels in the garden. Its a little tricky to do it properly. So I have been taking my time. However I should have an image up shortly of the working system.

Passive Solar Benefit

So this is our shed used primarily to store garden tools ect.. I cleaned it out and reorganised the tools. I installed a makeshift window on the east side and painted the east and south side flat black. When the sun is out the temperature is raised 10-15 degrees inside just by virtue of the black paint. Thereby making the shed a lot more use able during the winter months.