In February 2016 I posted about using a 2 Litre mineral bottle to top up our above-ground pool. It has continued to do so to date. At the moment, the level is a bit low and we are eagerly awaiting the next rainstorm due in a day or so. The original bottle is still in service. The only modifications added were using Pratley Putty to fasten the hose coupler to the neck, and a clamp to go round the downpipe. The spares I made are still languishing in a cupboard.
Refinements added are that the hose is now buried and permanently attached, and that another hose has been fitted running to a drain at a lower level. I ‘plug this in’ as soon as I see the pool overflowing so that ground around the pool does not become undermined.
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- Fitting firmly attached to neck with Pratley Putty
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- U clamp ready to be applied
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- Fastened in place
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- Coupling for overflow
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- Coupling from inside pool
Even now that the major panic regarding drought and dam levels has abated, it makes sense to save resources and money in this way. I have calculated that if we were lucky enough to have a fair-sized swimming pool the amount collected would have kept that filled in the same way. In fact, for a while I helped top up the very large pool of the next-door neighbours using our system.
Colonialist's Blog 
This is so impressive! Some of us see very little (to almost no) rain. We sure do need to conserve every drop possible!
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You’re not just a pretty face are you Col? 😈
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Beauty of form, feature, and facilitating!
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. . . you seem to have a relationship with the bottle . . .
. . . in time of need, you rely on the bottle . . .
. . . you believe some problems can be solved with the bottle . . .
Don’t put any of that in your resume or bio.
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Yo ho ho an’ a . . .
Works quite well where I come frum!
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Ingenious
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Thanks! I’m surprised more people haven’t gone for it.
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Very clever!
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Simple enough — but it works!
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This is an excellent DIY job. Thought so when you first presented it. Have you an estimate of how much water your system collects?
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I think that in a good rainy spell over a few days it must collect 3000 litres or more. And that is using only half the available roof space. I need about 1500 – 2000 litres to fill it up at present.
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Wow, that is seriously impressive! And all that from channeling rain water into one bottle?
I may well have a go at this and try and rig a similar apparatus before the rainy season gets here.
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One drainpipe; one bottle; and often the downpipe fills up completely and the gutter overflows. I really need to replace the hose with a pipe of the same diameter as the downpipe, and may still do that!
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I was wondering about the overflow. When the Highveld storms hit some gutters at our spot always overflow. The ones around the patio for example. It gets like a waterfall on occasion!
We do have a borehole that gives an excellent yield/rate but I’d still like to have a go at your design, just to see if I could get it to work.
I have some P & D work coming up – Ems is in gleeful anticipation of me going up a ladder again, as anything might happen , and the gutters will need a thorough clean before summer really kicks in, so even if I run just pipe through to a barrel as a try out.
We’ll see …
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I think you need to plan for the sheer volume that gets chucked at you in that part of the world. I know to my cost that unplugging the system because of overflow is not a pleasant task — for some reason the rain is always pelting down just then! 🙂
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For a creative person, you are also very practical. A rare beast indeed.
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My wife would say practically bonkers . . .
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Very ingenious.
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Thank you for the compliment. Keeping grandkids happy is a powerful incentive!
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