It’s now November, 2021. Our filters, with the exception of the one with a leak in the output pipe, are approaching their 14th year of operation. The repaired cistern is still full of filtered water. Covid is still here. No professional tests can be done yet. All the filters, with the exception of one, are still functional. The pond filter, which has been going for 11 years, is still functional, and the water is crystal clear. The sand has not been changed, and no wet harrowing has been done for 9 years. The fish pond filter is still functional and that water is crystal clear. The fish are still there.
We are still recovering from the back injury. No additional work has been done. We expect to be recovered by the end of December. Two of our websites will be gone by next year. The content will be moved to our current website slowsandfilter.org, and/or here to this blog. Costs are going up exponentially and we don’t have ads on any of our websites. YouTube does put ads on our videos, but that’s not our choice, or our doing.
There have been some comments on our videos about the pipes being “too small” in the diverters and filters. Well, yes, for some situations they are. From one of the videos here is my comment:
“The recommended minimum (that is minimum) is 1 gallon per 100 square feet of roof. The maximum can be what you want. Of course, If you divert too much water you will lose a lot more than is needed. Every situation is different. For example, if you have a non-toxic metal roof, and you have virtually no wildlife or trees near the roof; you wont need as much diversion as we do here. We have a composition roof, and massive amounts of toxic substances from birds, leaves, animals, and the shingles. So we use more than the minimum.”
“While I’m at it here, there have been comments that the piping is “too small”. Well, yes for some situations it is. The size just needs to be increased if you live in an area where you get rain only once a year or so and heavy rain at that time. Yes , then these pipes used would be way too small. Just use bigger pipes. A larger plastic ball would be used instead of a ping pong ball. Measure your pipes to match the size of the float ball. The function is the same. The ball floats up and seals the opening when the diversion container is full. The draining then happens slowly after the runoff stops. Its the same theory. For this area, big pipes would be a waste, cost more, and would allow critters to crawl inside and make nests. We get lots of light rain and not torrential downpours. There are many places like this in the world.”