Reclaiming water in the street curbs... tips anyone?

M

mikew

New member
I have built a vacuum system to reclaim my water. Many thanks to Alan for his help
and suggestions when building the vacuum. Vacuum is a dual head Nikro / 55 Gallon
Drum and I installed an automatic sump pump to empty the vac.

Problem that I am having is I can't seem to stop all of the water that runs down the
driveway into the street curbs. I haven't figured out a good way to dam ALL of the
water for collection. Anyone have any suggestions?

I'm using a 4' vacuberm for collection as well as several 4"x4' sand berms but water
is getting through. Thinking about trying sand bags next to get more of a seal
to the ground.

Thanks,

Mike
 
I will need to go take a picture of it, but until then, 1 sand bag and this device and you are set.
Beware that many places consider the gutter to be the storm water conveyance system and if the water gets there, then it is to late by their standards.
The original vacu boom is a very versatile tool and will do recovery in gutter's very well when set up correctly. I am not as familiar with the vacuberm though.
 
MR ALAN said:
I will need to go take a picture of it, but until then, 1 sand bag and this device and you are set.
Beware that many places consider the gutter to be the storm water conveyance system and if the water gets there, then it is to late by their standards.
The original vacu boom is a very versatile tool and will do recovery in gutter's very well when set up correctly. I am not as familiar with the vacuberm though.
Click to expand...

Hey Alan,

Thanks for the reply. What is "this device"? Is that what you are taking a picture of?

Thanks again,

Mike
 
Okay, here it is. Works really well. What you can not see in the picture is that the vacuum pipe goes almost to the bottom of the perforated steel plate, about a 1/4' or so. Does not need to much vacuum.
 
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Alan, Is that commercially available or did you have it made?
 
It is a production item, however the plumbing store where I got it is no longer in business. If somebody wants one I can find them somewhere, and my search fee is very fair.
 
MR ALAN said:
Okay, here it is. Works really well. What you can not see in the picture is that the vacuum pipe goes almost to the bottom of the perforated steel plate, about a 1/4' or so. Does not need to much vacuum.
Click to expand...

Thanks Alan. Looks like I'm going on a new search now.

Thanks!

Mike
 
I just did a driveway yesterday. I have a Sirrocco vac system. Here is a pic of how I had it set up before I started washing. I did end up laying a sand snake on top of the boom to get it to pick up well. Once the snake was on the boom nothing went by it.
 

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Here are some pictures of my boom the way it was set up today. A little water got by when I started but another sand bag at the end of the boom fixed it.
 

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You slurping up all the gunk too? Pine needles have got to be a pita!

Celeste
 
CarolinaProWash said:
You slurping up all the gunk too? Pine needles have got to be a pita!

Celeste
Click to expand...

Hey Celeste,

The way the boom is made it really doesn't get pine needles, leaves, etc in it. Under the shell of the boom is a vac hose with holes drilled in it. They aren't large enough for big peices of stuff to get in. It will pick up sediment. The boom is also wrapped in a screen mesh that keeps larger objects out.
 
If you have problems with junk getting in the vaccum, get some drain sleeve at Home Depot. Cut it in a length to fit from the intake hose inside the drum to the drum bottom, clamp it around the intake hose and tie off the other end.

It acts as a filter, just change it every now and then.

http://www.carriff.com/Products/drain-sleeve.htm

I think I got that tip from Alan.
 
With all that stuff there, you might be better off just using 2 sand bags and putting the vacuum hose at the low end. You can use that suction strainer that I described earlier to make it more stable.
That drain sleeve is rated for 600 microns and does a fine job. When John says clamp it, it means real clamps like stainless hose clamps, as zip ties will not hold when it gets heavy and starts pulling. Knots in the other end vs zip ties will also guarantee that it will hold the weight as well.
I have used my Vacu Boom in the gutter, but it only has one hole and it gets positioned at the low end to make it impossible for water to get by. The boom you use has multiple holes and wastes vacuum on the top end, where it is not needed.
Maybe you can block some of those and make it suck better down below.
 
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