Browse Forums Eco Living 1 Jan 19, 2015 8:28 pm Hi can anyone advise if these pumps are any good? energy efficient? and quiet? We are about to install a 10,000L rainwater tank and connect it to the toilets, garden and washing machine. Any advice is appreciated as I have only been able to find reviews on these pumps that are a few years old. Can anyone recommend a better pump? Thanks. Re: Davey Rainbank pumps for rainwater harvesting 3Jan 19, 2015 9:24 pm The Davey RainBank is not a pump, it is an automatic mains water switching device. It is unfortunate that the less scrupulous dealers out there advertise them as pumps to the unwary. You will find plenty of comments about them in the Whirlpool Forums if you do a do a forum search for Davey Rainbank. Did someone tell you that you needed one? 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Davey Rainbank pumps for rainwater harvesting 5Jan 19, 2015 10:43 pm Crazyk Oh sorry I may have mislead you. Hi Crazyk, My emphasis wasn't directed at your post, sorry if it appeared that way. Large numbers of people are told that they have to have "RainBank pumps" when they need/want to divert harvested rainwater to the house. It is dishonest and a pet hate of mine. Most people are not told their options and just accept what they are told, the OP (dolphinblu) is one of very few who has taken the initiative to make his/her own inquiries. When people do this, they invariably end up with a better system and save money. 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. Re: Davey Rainbank pumps for rainwater harvesting 6Jan 20, 2015 4:49 am Thanks for feedback. I believe it is a Davey pump with rainbank like Crazyk. What should I get? Where I purchased the rainwater tank, sold Grundfos (spelling). Any good? Re: Davey Rainbank pumps for rainwater harvesting 8Jan 20, 2015 8:34 am Hi, similar to you, 13kl RWT, whole house plumbed to rainwater except kitchen and two external taps. My initial discussion with the irrigation shop was the Davey Rainbank KRB 3 but after more research, will be going with the Grundfos CME3-62 variable speed pump and yes was told it can handle a front loader washing machine. http://boostaoakfordsa.wordpress.com Site works: 26/8/14 Trench: 2/9/14 Slab: 8/9/14 Frame: 18/9/14 Bricks: 24/10/14 2nd fix: 24/11/14 Handover: End Feb 2015 Re: Davey Rainbank pumps for rainwater harvesting 9Jan 20, 2015 11:15 am dolphinblu I believe it is a Davey pump with rainbank like Crazyk. Ok, it is the pump and not the RainBank that is the query. dolphinblu Hi can anyone advise if these pumps are any good? Davey make good pumps, I have had one at my own home for about 16 years and there has never been a problem. I also bought the same model for two other properties and they haven't missed a beat either but the Grundfos brand is the ant's pants. dolphinblu Hi can anyone advise if these pumps are ..... quiet? Submersible pumps are located underwater inside the tank and are silent. The only problem is when installers place them on the tank's floor, something that most pump manufacturers instruct not to do. Submersible pumps vacuuming the tank's floor is the prime cause of dirty cisterns and clogged washing machine filters but they do keep the tank clean. The usual (bandaid) solution is to fit filters but a simple way to isolate a submersible pump from the sediment layer is to locate it on a small terracotta saucer with sides a minimum 50 mm high. External pumps should be housed in a well ventilated pump cover and this also reduces noise levels. My (not large) Davey pump can be heard and I had considered sound deadening the inside of the pump cover but fitting a larger pressure tank to supplement the standard (virtually useless 8 litre Davey one) eliminated numerous pump start/stops. Fitting a decent size pressure tank also significantly extends the pump's life and saves energy. dolphinblu Hi can anyone advise if these pumps are any ..... energy efficient?? We are about to install a 10,000L rainwater tank and connect it to the toilets, garden and washing machine. People are most often sold pumps that are too big and big pumps use more energy. The pump must be matched to its intended use and plumbed accordingly. TOILETS: These are short duration, low flow fixtures. A decent sized pump will be strangled when filling a cistern and this is highly energy inefficient. There are large numbers of big pumps wrongly plumbed to cisterns. GARDEN: A standard 12 mm garden hose has high friction losses and the longer the hose, the greater the friction loss. Friction loss = lower flow rates and energy inefficiency. As soon as you say you want to use the pump for outside watering, the chances are that you will have someone trying to sell you a big pump. At 20 litres per minute, a 12 mm hose has about 8 times more friction loss than an 18 mm hose. It makes more sense to buy a smaller quality pump and an 18 mm hose and attach a short 12 mm hose to the end (so you can use standard 12 mm fittings) than buy a big pump and strangle it, particularly if the pump also supplies slow fill fixtures. Plumbers have a habit of plumbing pumps to outside taps by using small diameter pipe/hose. If you have an outside tap supplied by the pump, make sure that the Sasquatch doesn't plumb a small diameter pipe. If garden watering involves a lot of on/off trigger action, the constant pump cycling can burn the motor out plus it is not energy efficient. Unless it is a variable speed drive pump, the pump will draw 3-4 times more energy during the start up than it requires to run. Having a pressure tank will benefit here. WASHING MACHINES: Modern washing machines usually have high pressure solenoids, the pump must be matched to those pressures. Washing machines also have low flow on/off rinse cycles. Pressure tanks and variable speed drive pumps eliminate water hammer and are good to use with washing machines. BIG HINT: Many external pumps are installed with the suction hose (between the tank and the pump) connected to the pump via a 90 degree elbow fitted directly onto the pump. At high flow demands, this can cause cavitation that will destroy the pump. The section of suction hose that connects to the pump should be a straight length that respects 8 diameters. RainBank: You will save a lot of money and have a much better system if you don't have one of these. Put the savings towards a good pump package! The W-P link below discusses a very expensive issue with an automatic switching device and the (short) thread quickly links to a discussion about RainBank problems. http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... ?t=2154752 3in1 Supadiverta. Rainwater Harvesting Best Practice using syphonic drainage. Cleaner Neater Smarter Cheaper Supa Gutter Pumper. A low cost syphonic eaves gutter overflow solution. There is a whole lot more to know than just the answers you seek but they are a good start. Overflow outlets have a mosquito proof mesh. These… 3 8431 DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair But if it is a ground level open pit, then it is not a charged system. No surprises there. The pipes have obviously been altered and there would be a reason for this.… 3 31284 Once you know the basics, the rest is easy. Read my post in the thread linked below. viewtopic.php?p=1919271#p1919271 2 19520 |