Rainwater tank overflow pipe

 



I have two, interconnected, 250 gallon IBC tanks in my basement. The gutters on my house all drain into those tanks.

Ever since installation, overflow during rains has been a problem. Fortunately, the basement is an earthen, unfinished, basement.

Up till now, I close the pipes that feed the tanks when the tanks are full. Sometimes I don’t make it. If I’m in bed asleep and a hard rain comes, I don’t monitor the level, being asleep, of course. 

The overflow eventually evaporates or sinks into the ground. A nuisance but not dangerous or damaging.

I recently came up with a solution. I will run a PVC pipe from the side of one of the tanks to, and through, a terra cotta foundation block, hence, outside and into the grass.

This would not seem a problem at first but availability of , and location, and price of such tools has been difficult.

A diamond hole saw with the same or slightly larger diameter of the PVS pipe (1-1/4”) works but has to have a hexagonal shank to fit a standard drill. A pilot drill bit as part of the saw is also needed. Not found.

Alternative: A long drill bit for ceramic and porcelain cuts would help. 

The terra cotta block has an internal wall making three walls to drill through. Alignment becomes an issue. That’s where the long drill bit helps. Also not found.

I have ordered a 2” diamond hole saw. Such saws have triangular shafts common in heavy duty tools.

I already have a hole saw with a smaller diameter. I used that bit to experiment.

I took a sandpaper disc on a drill to grind down the triangular shaft to approximate a hexagonal shaft with great success. I also used a conical stone grinding bit about 1.5” long.

I bought a set of drill bit extenders. They use the same sliding latch mechanism as pneumatic tools.

As mentioned, alignment will be the major issue.

Once the first hole is cut, the extender can be used. The extender shaft will be centered in the hole and a two inch string level on the extender, or the drill, head will level up the next cut, and so on.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Siding for the rear side of the house

Image
 Yesterday, I began the process of adding siding to the long bare back wall of the house. Several years ago, I ordered some custom cut wood plank siding for the house. The style is 10" Dolly Varden and copies the original 1947 siding except for thickness. The original siding was cut from old growth wood while the newer sidin is cu from wood genetically engineered for fast growth and is weaker. I began by searching for transport sources. Two emerged: Home Depot 'Load n Go' trucks or U-Haul trucks. The Home Depot truck would not start because of battery issues, so I rented a 10' U-Haul truck. After bringing the scaffolding home, I headed back and lost the passenger side mirrors due to a utility pole placed too close to the roadside. Fortunately, the agent informed me that I had insurance and there would likely be only a deductable of around $150 or so. Confusion reigned at the rental store. Even after corrections, I drove away with more than I needed. The scaffold build ...
Read more

The rear gutter.

Image
I decided to make some improvements in the rear gutter downspout. The downspout attchment to the 2" pipe 'funnel' needs to be changed. A strong wind blew the downspout off the house. Reattchment was easy enough but a stronger more secure method is needed. A flexible pipe for the upper connection to the gutter is an improvement and will allow the gutter downspout to be attached to the house instead of floating in air. Some images of the back gutter downspout:  
Read more

Overflow pipe done, finally

  The pipe, as it turns out, was inclined just enough to prevent water flowing. Unfortunately a hard rain came and the tank overflowed into the basement's dirt floor. I had to lower the resting position of the pipe by carving out a bigger hole for the pipe through the block The material on the bottom had to be removed leaving only the mortor. For this I used a couple of legitimatte chisels and several impromptu chisels inluding a railrpoad spike. When done, the mortor was exposed from inside to outside and the water now flows freely. The gaping hole needs to be filled to prevent small critters and bees form entering and cold from freeing the water. I filled the hole with fiberglas insulation from both inside and outside.
Read more