six-point socket's tidbits of Home Improvement, small projects and other stuff.

[tjbnwi]

Everywhere I look I see [member=10147]jobsworth[/member] avatar ... Heidi ... And I constantly have to think about Tool Time since it was brought up here, and I've watched the DVD Set I have again ...

So random picture today ... Just because ... TOOL TIME !!!!

Without looking——who was the original Binford Tool girl and what was her name on Tool Time? (she returned for one episode towards the end of the series).

Tom

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi Tom,

Lisa - Pamela Anderson

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[tjbnwi]

[thumbs up] [thumbs up]

Tom

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

I'm happy to announce Snap-On finally named a product after me.  [eek] [blink] [scared] [eek]

[big grin] [big grin] [big grin] [big grin] Just kidding, of course ...  [big grin] [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

On the more serious side: I've been watering the backyard after dusk during the last couple of weeks, and two days ago my sprinkler/nozzle behaved strangely. So I opened it up to find quite a bit of sediments/residue in it's filter.

I collect rain water for watering the backyard in two large underground tanks/reservoirs, during the drought these were obviously empty, so I guess when the rain came, more sediments than usual got carried from tank/reservoir 1 into tank/reservoir 2 where the pump is connected. Might need to check the pumps filter, too.

And yeah, life is sloooooowww here, currently Not my kind of weather.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[HarveyWildes]

I collect rain water for watering the backyard in two large underground tanks/reservoirs, during the drought these were obviously empty, so I guess when the rain came, more sediments than usual got carried from tank/reservoir 1 into tank/reservoir 2 where the pump is connected. Might need to check the pumps filter, too.

Awesome that you can capture water and use it!

When will people here get it?  I would love to store rainwater for lawn & garden use, but it's illegal here due to water law.  There is a move afoot to make it legal to store water that falls on roofs in one 55 gallon drum, but otherwise all I can do is direct the rainwater from my downspouts to the places I want it most.

The downstream states (California, Kansas, are you listening?) are so jealous of the water rights that they have from water that falls in Colorado that we aren't allowed to capture water that falls from the sky, even for residential use where the alternative is using treated water from the public utility.  Silly.

I would gladly clean out a hose filter occasionally for the privilege of catching the water and using it .

 

[six-point socket II]

That sounds interesting Harvey. So basically your rain water from the roof, spreads "freely" around the property - it's just an opening on the downspouts?

Here, most downspouts are connected to the public utilities sewerage/sewer system. We pay for this: Every bit of fresh water I take from the public utility I pay for. And for every drop I take out, I pay an additional waste water fee. I also pay a waste water fee for rain water from my roof. (This is calculated based on roof size). With me setting up the reservoirs, I only pay waste water for half of the roof's size. So it even saves me money to do this. Tapping water costs next to nothing, but the waste water fee ....

There was a time where this was frowned upon because people believed this would hurt the sewerage/sewer system by being to dry then - if everyone did it. But that rumor was gone after some time.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

Here are 3 pictures I'm willing to share on the "setup".

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[six-point socket II]

So, today a family member asked me if I could look after something in her car, the AC's outlet selector (head/feet/windshield ...) was stuck.

I said I can take a look ... I sat down, tried it - stuck. Since this car still uses a manual selector (bowden cable) and I'm not an expert I popped open the hood, to see if I could get access with my inspection camera. While looking for access I found a loose bolt that had nothing to do with the problem itself, but I guess it's better when properly tightened.

Obviously I had no chance to access anything from there. So, I just closed the hood, and tried one of the outlets. Obviously that still doesn't allow you to see the actual mechanic behind the dashboard ... But I tried.

I got the inspection camera back out. Tried the selector, and it worked flawless ...

I think that poor Renault Kangoo was so afraid of me and what I might come up next with, it simply gave in and let the selector loose ...  [big grin] [big grin] [big grin] [big grin]

I still had to reassure the family member that the selector was really stuck on my first try ...

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Michael Kellough]

[member=61231]HarveyWildes[/member] that’s a crazy water policy! Here in NYC they had a limited supply program giving away rain collection barrels for citizens to use. The idea was to reduce the load on the storm drains, which when overloaded during a heavy downpour discharge into the bays.

 

[Tinker]

My Brother in law in Germany  (departed last fall) captured his roof water and saved it for his gardens. His vegetable garden was nearly a half mil from his house. During dry weather, every day he would back pack water to that garden. At the base of the mountain close by, he captured water from his tiny cabin roof (The  Vacation House) and would walk to that plot in the evening to water his fruit trees. He and his wife, my wife's sister, would can the vegetables not used in the growing season. The fruit from his trees made the best refreshments all winter long. Schnapps, Brandy, Wine. Many a cold nite I spent with him as we argued good naturally over many glasses of the results from all that watering.
Tinker

 

[Tinker]

quote>>>I think that poor Renault Kangoo was so afraid of me and what I might come up next with, it simply gave in and let the selector loose

 

[HarveyWildes]

[member=61231]HarveyWildes[/member] that’s a crazy water policy! Here in NYC they had a limited supply program giving away rain collection barrels for citizens to use. The idea was to reduce the load on the storm drains, which when overloaded during a heavy downpour discharge into the bays.

Yeah - it's a result of the fact that we are semi-arid (~ 14" of precip a year) and the way that water was contractually distributed in the west back when the original distributions were negotiated.

 

[HarveyWildes]

Here are 3 pictures I'm willing to share on the "setup".

Nice - maybe one day here...

 

[six-point socket II]

quote>>>I think that poor Renault Kangoo was so afraid of me and what I might come up next with, it simply gave in and let the selector loose

 

[RKA]

Oliver, I'm curious, do you know why they put the runoff from your roof into the sewer system?  Is there not enough undeveloped soil around to absorb the run off from the roofs?  Is this very specific to your town or geography?  Over here it's verboten to dump any kind of runoff from your roof or sump pumps into the sewer lines.  The underlying theory is the sewer water has to be treated and processed first and the runoff water can bypass the treatment and go back into the ground, reservoir, lake, etc.

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi Raj,

I'm not an expert, but I doubt there is enough undeveloped soil around to absorb all that water. There are places that certainly can/could do it, but I dare to say that in most places the run off from the roofs is connected to the sewer system. There is so much concrete, asphalt/tarmac and buildings everywhere ...

I tried to look up some numbers, what seems to be fact for 2010 is that: 78.1 million people in Germany were connected to the public sewer system leading waste water to treatment plants/sewage plants. At the same time there were 81.8 million people living in Germany. Of course that doesn't mean that all of the 78.1 million people live in places that lead run off water into the sewer system, but again, I dare to say it would be the majority - and especially in and around all types of cities.

There was a time when people argued about wether to mix rain water with waste water in the sewer system or not. So some places still have two different sewer systems. One for rain water, one for waste water. But todays consensus is that most rain water, once it hit the streets, roofs ... is polluted and should be treated as well as/ like waste water. Originally the idea was - like you say - that rain water didn't need any treatment.

Personally I think using rain water for watering the backyard was a good choice, as was putting in these underground reservoirs. If you'd ask me today, I'd still do it different though. More accessible, more repairable more maintenance friendly.

Our situation is even a little more "painful" because the connections for both downspouts are lead back "into the house" and connected behind the the official hand over point. No one would do that in todays world, totally crazy to bring water from the outside back inside and leading it outside again. But that's how it was done back then.

But generally installing the reservoirs lead to less pressure on the sewer system which certainly saved us and others from flooded basements over time. But then again, when it's as bad as it was 2 months ago, all bets are off.

I guess, you and also others will be surprised when I document the repair of what was the real issue two months ago and where the water came from.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[RKA]

Interesting.  Yeah, with all the concrete and nowhere else to put the water, it has to be managed somehow.  But excessive rains and your sewer line don’t sound like a good combo.  If the sewer line can’t accomodate the flow due to blockage or insufficient capacity, that water will find another path, otherwise known as your basement.  [mad]

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi,

About every two years I install a new, flexible side cover to the patio's roofing. Today was the day.

Back in the day I wanted to use the same quality-material that was used for the roof, while cutting it to spec. isn't a problem - there are no fixtures/hardware readily available to mount these horizontally. So I decided to go with a milky plastic foil, but that of course only lasts two winters before it needs replacing.

Kind regards,
Oliver

Hi,

So this time it only lasted 13 months, no wonder with the heavy rain and storm 2 months ago. I went looking for greenhouse foil as suggested by [member=1674]Peter Halle[/member] and [member=44099]Cheese[/member] 13 months ago, but I didn't really like the look of what I've found locally - mostly also with webbing inside. So I went with an extremely strong, high-quality clear foil - let's see how that goes. I also changed the support a bit. The clear-foil was also chosen because the tree is an apricot tree - we had some delicious fruits - and I want them to get as much sun as possible.

(Old set-up, pre storm, apricot tree with fruits ...)

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Cheese]

Hey Oliver, FWIW...you'll probably have to purchase the greenhouse liner over the internet. I tried to find some locally and it never came to fruition. I just pulled up my old receipt and I installed the poly in October of 2011. I also expect it to make it through this winter and hold out until spring. So come spring, it will have lasted 8 winters.  [big grin] [cool] [big grin]

 

[six-point socket II]

Today marks exactly 4 months after I had that wee-bit of water in my basement.

Finally, today my pro started working on it, after I told him to go for it  and that I will take care of the rest. (The insurance company is still undecided on this [censored] [bite tongue] [popcorn] )

Kind regards,
Oliver