Rain water harvesting and slow sand water filters

Here is a link to the rainfall records we have kept here in western Washington state since 2005. We are in the process of updating the webpage coding. Google has removed our listing for reasons unknown to us; possibly because the coding is outdated. This isn’t the first time Google has caused us pain.

https://www.enlight-inc.com/total_rainfall_2007.html

And, our WordPress blog that has the above mentioned data:

https://www.slowsandfilter.org/blog/

So far, this year has been mild. Winter was cold but no huge storms.

4 of the filters here are still working. The others need work. The first filter we built in 2007 is still working. The fish pond filter is working fine, and is supporting 3 small fish, and one 5 inch long fish. The watercress plant is growing quite well and is supplying us with lots of watercress we have in salads.

We have had some trouble with the company that provides our web site hosting. There was a problem with https access. That problem has been resolved. This blog and site are now safe and secure.

Filter 1 is still functional; running since 2007. Hopefully we can have some tests done soon. The other filters, all but two, are running, but very slowly.

The first pond filter is still functional. The pond container, and pump was destroyed by raccoons. We have repaired the container, and replaced the pump; and the filter has been running for 4 months. Perfectly clear water now. The fish pond filter is still working. Four fish in the water, and the pond is perfectly clear.

The weather here was hot this summer, and some wild fires were burning. So far, this winter has been cold; about average temps. We have snow on the way, however. There will likely be about 8 to 10 inches, maybe more. We will be snowed in for, hopefully, only about a week. Temps have been slightly below “average”.

The original filter, started in 2007, is functional, as of today. The first and second pond filters are functional also. Watercress is growing in the first pond filter quite nicely. The water is crystal clear in both ponds. The fish pond filter is fully functional, and the water there is also crystal clear.

The weather, so far this year, has been “normal” here. We are headed into some very sunny weather that may last quite some time (weeks). Temperatures have been very near “normal” for this area, so far. Winter was cold and there was about 6 inches of snow. The filters froze. 3 of the filters need minor repair. More later. . . .

The weather has eased up a bit. No freezing for about 10 days now. The filters are starting to flow again. Hopefully we can get some testing done now, after some minor repair work. The snow and ice caused some damage to the downspouts.

We have had more rain this past year than average. December was particularly heavy with over 8 inches total for the month. As soon as the filters have been able to flow for several weeks; we will have more updates. The screens in the standpipes on the diverter barrels have really done a good job of keeping organic material, washed off of the roof surface, out of the system. The screens should be cleaned often, once a month or more often. Here, there are many fir, maple, and hemlock trees and the roof gets covered with significant amounts of fir needles, hemlock needles, and big leaf maple tree leaves. This material decays quickly when it gets wet. We’ll have more info when time permits.

As of July this year, this blog has been on the net for 14 years. The oldest filter here has been running for 15 years.

This winter is starting out to be severe, for this location. It has snowed 8 inches so far and temps have been near or below freezing nearly every night for the past 5 weeks. Currently it is snowing and more snow and temps in the high teens are forecast. We have not been able to get out much; as our 4 wheel drive truck is now gone. Our Prius cars are great, but not in 8 inches of snow.

This summer/fall was very smokey from forest fires, and as a result it was not healthy to do much work outside; so very little was done on the filters.

We have managed to do some repair work on the filter that had a leak at the base where the output pipe is located. We used potable water epoxy glue to cover the leaky output pipe. So, far, it is holding. Hopefully, this spring we can post some videos of the filters functioning. We will be doing some water testing also.

A big thank you to all who have purchased our pdf of this blog info. Every little bit helps.

It is now November 9 in 2022. All but one of the filters are functional. We are now able to start working on the filters again, as we have fully recovered from the back injury. We may be able to have some professional testing done now that Covid has ceased to be a problem here.

There were fires in the Pacific Northwest this year. Very, very bad smoke here for about a month. The smoke was so bad we could not do much work outside. The fish pond filter is cleaning the water perfectly crystal clear. There are still 4 fish in the pond.

It is now June 17, 2022. All of the filters are still in place. Some work needs to be done on several of the filters.

We have just had a major website update/change completed. All our websites and blogs have been migrated to another server. We have corrected a number of issues in the blogs, and in the websites. Our donation/purchase page has been fixed. All is https now.

The weather so far this year, has been much wetter and much cooler than average. Record rainfall in May. Slightly over 6 inches here.

The filter on the fish pond is functioning perfectly. It has a 45 gallon slow sand filter with an overflow into the pond, cleaning the water 24/7. The fish are doing well. The water is crystal clear and odorless. We’ve done nothing to the filter for close to one year now.