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Water storage in cold weather

ste wilford

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westhoughton
Daft to be asking this yet as still canvasing round so to speak, but once up and running enough to be doing water fed pole work, going to poss need to store water over night to get a decent start time i'd imagine. Got a garage at end of garden that i can use to put a tank in but no heating there, so question is, is there any way to keep the water from freezing over night in the coldest months and if so what is the best methods without spending stupid amounts of money, ie 10's of k's??

 
Daft to be asking this yet as still canvasing round so to speak, but once up and running enough to be doing water fed pole work, going to poss need to store water over night to get a decent start time i'd imagine. Got a garage at end of garden that i can use to put a tank in but no heating there, so question is, is there any way to keep the water from freezing over night in the coldest months and if so what is the best methods without spending stupid amounts of money, ie 10's of k's??
It's never too early to start studying, planning and preparing.?

It shouldn't be too difficult to sort. First thing ; You haven't said whether you will be producing as well as storing water. You really need to give us as much information as possible on your plans so we know where we are with giving advice. Ie, for starters : will you be using an IBC tank? Have you got an electricity supply in the garage? Have you got a water supply? Will you be able to pump from the garage to the van?

Once we have this information we'll have a better chance of helping you.

 
It's never too early to start studying, planning and preparing.?

It shouldn't be too difficult to sort. First thing ; You haven't said whether you will be producing as well as storing water. You really need to give us as much information as possible on your plans so we know where we are with giving advice. Ie, for starters : will you be using an IBC tank? Have you got an electricity supply in the garage? Have you got a water supply? Will you be able to pump from the garage to the van?

Once we have this information we'll have a better chance of helping you.
ok sorry you right, ok at the moment i only have a car but looking to upgrade to a van over next few weeks as only canvasing bungalows and doing trad at mo untill i have money to get all gear for wtf,  once I have that and start wtf then for first few weeks while I build up equipment and amount of customers Im  looking at filling up van tank from a place i found in manchester, but once I have the money to buy another large tank and filters to produce my own, then looking to do that, I have an outside tap outside the kitchen which is nearest wall to garage (about 15-20 feet from garage door), and will be looking at using maybe a hosepipe or any none expensive but good way to take water from there to tank, obviously through filters (inc pre filters), and then pump from that into the van as would be thinking can have that filling up while on morning part of round incase i need to fill up again once i have enough customers to need to do that, (pre emptying possibly needing to do that, not knowing if will have that many customers or not but hears hoping),

 
Right! The water supply should be fairly easy to sort. I'd remove the outside tap put a Tee-piece in, replace the tap so you can still use it, and put a supply for the garage on the other branch with a John Guest stop valve at the Tee-piece. I'd continue the line to the garage for the processing with sleeve insulated JG pipe. I can't remember the exact size I used, 1/2 inch or the metric equivalent, I think it was. Mine is mostly underground. I'd be planning around processing into a 1000 litre IBC tank. That tank is unlikely to freeze. The processing equipment will be the vulnerable part of the system. This is easily protected by fitting it in a compact area (possibly boxed in) that can be easily covered and by putting a small 60 watt thermostatically controlled tube heater with it, if you have an electrical supply. Depending on your mains water pressure you might need a pressure booster pump as part of your processing system.

 
Right! The water supply should be fairly easy to sort. I'd remove the outside tap put a Tee-piece in, replace the tap so you can still use it, and put a supply for the garage on the other branch with a John Guest stop valve at the Tee-piece. I'd continue the line to the garage for the processing with sleeve insulated JG pipe. I can't remember the exact size I used, 1/2 inch or the metric equivalent, I think it was. Mine is mostly underground. I'd be planning around processing into a 1000 litre IBC tank. That tank is unlikely to freeze. The processing equipment will be the vulnerable part of the system. This is easily protected by fitting it in a compact area (possibly boxed in) that can be easily covered and by putting a small 60 watt thermostatically controlled tube heater with it, if you have an electrical supply. Depending on your mains water pressure you might need a pressure booster pump as part of your processing system.
Cheers for that mate, and forgot to mention the power supply, yes I have one, as have a light fitted in the garage when I moved into the place last month, only moved 300 meters from old house but not relivent lol, but yes have power in there. although coming to think of it havnt checked about plug socket yet DOOO!!! but even if no plug socket there is electric and should be straight forward to put sockets in etc as father was a sparkie before his long rest.

Cheers mate will be on look out for setting that up as and when time comes sooner or hopefully sooner

 
You'll need to make absolutely sure that you have two separate, safe supplies within the garage. One for the lights and the other for the plug sockets. Probably worth taking an armoured cable to the garage and fitting a consumer unit inside it, if this hasn't been done already. With the appropriate wiring and trip protection. You probably already know this, especially as Dad was a sparky. Sorry to hear he's no longer with us.

The costs soon mount up, I know but if you do the job right from the beginning, you only have to do it once.

 
Cheers man, Will get right on that and get it checked out and sorted.  Yeh can cost, but thats why asking now so can budget for it and get what I can do done now rather then need it and be caught short. thanks man

 
At our old house, we simply spurred off the light switch for the garage light, so basically wired cable into the the light switch ran cable along the wall the desired place did 2 double sockets like this and worked without issue for over 8 years whilst we lived there. 

 
At our old house, we simply spurred off the light switch for the garage light, so basically wired cable into the the light switch ran cable along the wall the desired place did 2 double sockets like this and worked without issue for over 8 years whilst we lived there. 
It's definitely a no no to add sockets to a lighting line. The cable is only half the thickness it should be, for one thing. If that's what you did you were lucky not to set fire to the place. I'm no sparky but I know some of the most important basics.

 
It's definitely a no no to add sockets to a lighting line. The cable is only half the thickness it should be, for one thing. If that's what you did you were lucky not to set fire to the place. I'm no sparky but I know some of the most important basics.
Very valid point. Most domestic lighting rings are normally 6 amps as opposed to a socket ring main of 32 amps.

 
It's definitely a no no to add sockets to a lighting line. The cable is only half the thickness it should be, for one thing. If that's what you did you were lucky not to set fire to the place. I'm no sparky but I know some of the most important basics.
It was 3 core cable from the fuse box to the light switch in the garage, then used 3 core cable to sockets, any issues in the garage it would have tripped as it had a newly fitted consumer unit the same day 

Sister in laws former partner did the work he was a sparky amongst other things in the Army. 

 
It was 3 core cable from the fuse box to the light switch in the garage, then used 3 core cable to sockets, any issues in the garage it would have tripped as it had a newly fitted consumer unit the same day 

Sister in laws former partner did the work he was a sparky amongst other things in the Army. 
"amongst other things"

Gardener, painter, plumber, gate guard??

Sorry @Iron Giant. Couldn't resist. Had images of Norman Wisdom in The Square Peg. ?

 
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"amongst other things"

Gardener, painter, plumber, gate guard??

Sorry @Iron Giant. Couldn't resist. Had images of Norman Wisdom in The Square Peg. ?
? He started off as a sparky and kept his hand throughout his army service as he worked his way up doing various roles, then they would maintain installations on tour in Afghanistan whilst doing other little jobs for GCHQ the things that aren't allowed to be talked about. 

He has also built 2 houses and did almost everything himself and got jobs signed off that needed to be, so a very a competent person. 

 
I've had new circuit breakers installed  into consumer unit running to outside sockets for immersion and battery charging in van its own dedicated circuit 

 
I've had new circuit breakers installed  into consumer unit running to outside sockets for immersion and battery charging in van its own dedicated circuit 
That's part of my plan moving forward, our house needs a total rewire I also need multiple sockets for other things in the garage. 

 
I know every job is different but what sort of cost did the electrician charge to install and certify?
We had a lot of electrical work done very recently... two projects :

A heavy duty (6mm I think) armoured cable underground to the garage, about 6 metres cable length with routing from the house consumer unit under the stairs, through the wall and 1 meter down the outside wall, across under the path and then up the garage wall to a new larger consumer unit.

Second project was a separate HD armoured cable from the house CU, about 10 meters of routing to a newly assembled log cabin garden office with its own CU.

I don't know the final price yet. The electrician supplied the heavy cables and the two CUs. I ran the armoured cable and supplied and fitted the internal wiring, sockets and lighting in the office. The garage already had these.

 I'll have the final total cost when he comes back in the new year to do the final checks and sign off the certification. For sure I will have saved a fair bit of money by doing the grunt work of burying the cables and wiring the garden office. I think he charges £250 per day. He was doing an hour or two in the afternoons around other jobs. Whatever we have to pay will be offset on the tax bill.

Anyone thinking of having similar work done, it's worth asking around for a recommended, competent sparky. Most of us have contacts that we can trust.

If you feel up to it, you could offer to do the grunt work you feel capable of. He can always guide and advise and check it over.

 
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Cheers @Davy G and @Scots lad.

My first job after my apprenticeship was site electrician but I never sat the regs.  So I know how it's supposed to be done and could do  most of the work but for connections and cert I would get a qualified sparky.

I'm trying to decide on location. We live on a corner so could get electricity to garage at rear then I would need to get water and a drain there as well. Alternatively I can park at side of house next to tap and drain so just need power to process.

 
I'm trying to decide on location. We live on a corner so could get electricity to garage at rear then I would need to get water and a drain there as well. Alternatively I can park at side of house next to tap and drain so just need power to process.
Are you looking to filter via a van mount or filter and store in garage then pump into tank? It is far quicker and more economical to do it outside of the van

 
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