# Forum Home Renovation Water Saving Garden Ideas  Rainwater Filters

## Armers

Anyone recommend a decent filter for my rain water tank?  
I use a Wet system which collects to a 5kltr poly tank, this then filters through a generic inline mesh filter and then pumps via a davey pump to the dunny and the washing machine. Since the dunny is scumming up in the cistern, i would hate to think about whats its doing to the filters on my washing machine.  
Do people recommend going the hard core triple filter with UV light zappy thing, or does a simple single fine filter do just as good work? 
Cheers

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## John2b

> Anyone recommend a decent filter for my rain water tank?  
> I use a Wet system which collects to a 5kltr poly tank, this then filters through a generic inline mesh filter and then pumps via a davey pump to the dunny and the washing machine. Since the dunny is scumming up in the cistern, i would hate to think about whats its doing to the filters on my washing machine.  
> Do people recommend going the hard core triple filter with UV light zappy thing, or does a simple single fine filter do just as good work? 
> Cheers

  Rainwater filters are a PITA. I have gutters covered with 4mm mesh, "self cleaning" rainheads with 1mm mesh, first flush diverters, post flush filters with 0.5mm mesh and finally finally tank inlet filters with 0.25 mesh. Everything needs cleaning often. I don't have filters on the inlet to the pump and run the whole house on rainwater when we can, which is most of the time except a couple of months over summer if it is dry. A scum ring does form in the dunny faster on rainwater than with mains water, but the washing machine works much better, uses less detergent and bathtowels and clothes are nicer to use, and of course showers are much nicer with soft rainwater. The dishwasher works better as well - less detergent and a lost less rinse aid (1/6 instead of 5/6). For drinking water I have a pleated fabric (washable) filter that is supposed to be 1 micron, but the main reason for that is to take out visible crap for the benefit of guests. I was brought up on unfiltered rainwater with no gutter guard or first flush diverters LOL.

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## woodbe

Agree with that. 
We've got a leafguard on the gutters, a coarse mesh on the downpipes with a (sort of) first flush device before the tank. Any time I look at it they all need cleaning, and we're under a few gums so the water has a very light tea colour that is almost unnoticeable unless you fill a jug or bucket.  
Between the house and the tank we have a 5 micron pleated filter and an activated charcoal filter with replaceable carbon. We run the whole house on it and the water tastes good. Dunnies do skum up quicker than normal, I think that is because of the lack of chlorine.  
woodbe.

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## Random Username

I've got the standard 'you must have a rainwater tank for your plans to be approved' tank connected to the toilets and washing machine. 
Sadly, the pump that supplies the rainwater to those appliances is switched off, and I can't quite reach it to switch it over to the 'rainwater' setting.  That seems to keep the washing machine and toilets clean enough...

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## johnc

I use just the rainhead filters, they seem to need regular cleaning, ours is for garden use only so it doesn't matter. Having grown up on tank water that was unfiltered you just got used to it, rather than a filter I'd just get something reasonably caustic to clean the toilet with, much cheaper and less mucking about.

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## SilentButDeadly

> Between the house and the tank we have a 5 micron pleated filter and an activated charcoal filter with replaceable carbon.

  This is what we use and it's our drinking water.  Rest of the house operates on river water that goes through a sand filter (so scum in the dunny is a given but it does hide the skid marks).   

> I've got the standard 'you must have a rainwater tank for your plans to be approved' tank connected to the toilets and washing machine. 
> Sadly, the pump that supplies the rainwater to those appliances is switched off, and I can't quite reach it to switch it over to the 'rainwater' setting. That seems to keep the washing machine and toilets clean enough...

  ...but if we had access to filtered town water of acceptable quality then this is probably what we'd do.  Save the rainwater for the garden and the livestock.

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## Armers

maybe i need more screens on the incoming and just a general filter on on the out going, or maybe i am just worrying too much? In saying that i am more worried about the washing machine dieing due to stuff clogging up.  
My folks have a double filter on there rainwater to which it just goes to the dunnys at the moment.. It was included in the install so don't know what it is nor how much it cost.

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## woodbe

> It was included in the install so don't know what it is nor how much it cost.

  When we installed our tank, we did the same thing. A suitable filter was suggested and supplied as part of the whole catastrophe. We really never got a look at the actual cost until the shocking bill arrived. Local filter suppliers in our area have amazing markups, and they sent out a cartridge replacement reminder after 6 months, which was another wheelbarrow load of loot. So I hunted around and found a mob in Tasmania that deals basically wholesale with the public and have bought refils from them ever since. It's still not dirt cheap, but it doesn't take your breath away like the locals. I'm sure there are others around and also on ebay, but here is the mob we use: Water Filters Australia - Reverse Osmosis Water Filters - PSI Water Filters Australia - Water Filters Australia 
HTH 
woodbe.

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## JB1

Hi Armers, just wondering if you found a solution? 
I have plumbed my tank to only the toilets and have issues with white stuff growing in my cistern (following getting empty over summer). 
I have bleached it and now throw in a toilet bleach tablet to keep the issue under control.  
Without the bleach tablet stuff grows again. 
FYI, I live on near Cnr Stud and Boronia Rd and you came over and gave me advice on the Telstra connection to the back house. 
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

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## Armers

just using the bleach tablets... I ended up draining out the cistern and cleaning it out now just use the bleach tablets and it seems to be going well for now. As for the washing machine just been cleaning the filters and they're not too bad, the inlet pipe has a fine filter on it which was clean too! 
Cheers

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