# Forum Home Renovation Water Saving Garden Ideas  Water Tank Installation

## Frankmc

Hi Guys 
Thought some might be interested in sone pics of my Water Tank Installation....  http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z38/frankmc_2007/ 
Here is a copy of my post to a Home Automation Forum describing my install........  
Hi Guys 
Have just completed my Water tank installation which has taken up all my free 
time over the last 6 weekends....I have a zoned water irrigation system 
sitting idle for the past 12 months or more due to water restrictions here 
in Oz...So at long last i can now put it back into action....  http://www.hobby.armaghelectrical.com.au/page89.html 
When contemplating installing a water tank i initially thought i would 
design my own pic based controller for it, i then decided to purchase a 
Splatt Controller for it but ended up using an old TSX17 Telemecanique plc 
since i had a handheld programmer for it and the plcs can be picked up on 
ebay for approx 50 Euros....Even got some spare units and another programmer 
cheap.. 
I didnt want the water tank located near the house so decided to put a pit 
in near the stormwater drain located at the rear of my property....While 
doing a google for a suitable in ground pit i came across another solution 
which i thought was better ....what i liked about it was that no pit was 
required.... Have a look here.....  http://www.everydropwaterharvester.itaustr...rg/webpage.html 
I contacted Phil the designer and ordered one of his systems..........I used 
his controller to initially fill my water tank, as i was building my own plc 
based controller.... I had some issues with his drain plug and ended up 
using a homebrew one (plunger based see pics)...... 
My eldest lad Dan got me a 6000L  water tank at a good price which he and i 
installed on the first weekend...Phils controller was also installed at this 
point and with a couple of good days of rain the tank was full..... 
Meanwhile i built the plc based controller and valve stand......
I have programmed the plc for two main modes
Harvesting Mode...
A float switch in the drain triggers this mode and causes the 2 harvesting 
valves to energise followed by the pump...The harvesting valves direct the 
water from the drain into the tank...This mode is exited if the drain water 
drops below the drain float low level or the water tank full floatswitch is 
activated....... 
Irrigation Mode
This mode is activated by a plc input which is connected to a relay 
connected to one of my HV I/O Expanders....So when Homevision is ready to 
irrigate it turns on the required zone and sets this "start irrigation 
relay"....The 2 irrigation valves on the "valve stand" are turned on by the 
Water tank plc followed by the pump....This mode is exited by Homevision 
turning of the "start irrigation relay"... 
Theres actually a third mode which i call "Forced Irrigation"
Forced Irrigation
If the Water tank is full and theres water in the drain to be Harvested the 
water tank plc operates a relay which is connected to Homevision PortB 1 
...This is a request "forced irrigation" input....Homevision will then 
operate my irrigation zone 3 valve (this zone is mostly under cover) and 
then Homevision will turn on a relay (Forced Irrigation Ack) which is 
connected to the Water tank plc allowing it to start Forced 
Irrigation....This mode directs the water from the drain to the irrigation 
system (using 1 harvesting valve and 1 irrigation valve) and  runs until 
either the drain float indicates low level or Homevision zone 3 timer 
expires (approx 5 minutes)....The idea is to make use of the access water 
rather than letting it go down the drain......Theres also a timer in the plc 
to stop this mode from continually being  triggered.......... 
I also wanted some visual indication of how much water i had in the tank and 
depending on how much water was left i could make decisions on wether the 
garden beds get watered or just the vegie garden or both  (vegie garden 
irrigation yet to be done)....I designed a pcb around a microchip based 
controller sold by an Oz company here in Melbourne... http://www.coolon.com.au/download/DS_CL4L.pdf 
I made a mistake with the pcb...i forgot the relay coil was polarity 
sensitive and got the connection wrong....But instead of cutting tracks i 
mounted the relays under the board  and all was well...The relay contacts 
are connected to the Water tank plc inputs so its easy for me to modify the 
program to suit my needs... I made up my water level probe using plastic 
conduit and coupling with some jubilee clips (see pics).......... 
Have got the system working quite well now and i can control everything 
using an x10 rf remote (using xPL) or via scheduled events in Homevision 
....So hopefully this summer my wifes garden beds wont be as dry as last 
year...... 
Things yet to do
Theres a spare water board mounted in the waterboard panel and im 
considering using two of its inputs as backup for the drain floatswitch 
....The other 2 inputs on the spare board im thinking of connecting one to 
the main drain point and the other to the water tank overflow inspection 
point (see pics)...with these two inputs i can assume the following........ 
If i sense water on the main drain sensor and also water on the overflow 
inspection point this means my full float switch has failed.... 
If i sense water only on the main drain but not the tank overflow inspection 
point this means my Plunger (drain plug) is leaking so requires 
checking......... 
I also need to put guttering on my pergola and connect it to the stormwater 
drain....Im getting enough water now of the roof but during summer we need 
to catch every possible drop....... 
Frank

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