How To Install Your Own Emergency Backup Tank

[Music] if you're having frequent water cuts or battle with low water pressure in your home then you may want to consider a water backup system now here i have a tank with a ball valve that fills water at its own pace i then connected a pump to the tank which now sends pressurized water to all my house taps so now even if the water is cut i've got a 750 liter reservoir of water to use that will fill up once the supply returns and at its own speed now i've gone with a 750 litre slimline jojo tank as i don't want the water left standing for too long in the tank this way the water is constantly being circulated and refreshed as the house uses the water now this diy does require some skills in plumbing and for certain aspects of the installation where we tee into the main incoming water supply you may require the services of a plumber but with proper planning and a few hand tools it's relatively simple now it does go without saying that each installation will be different depending on the existing plumbing and the location of your installation the theory however remains the same nine simple terms we t into the main water feed supplying the house this water then fills the tank from which the pump supplies pressurized water back to the main water feed for the house so what you will need a jojo tank and i'm using a 750 liter tank with a float valve kit what i really like about this tank is the black layer within the tank walls now this limits the light exposure and helps prevent algae growth then the pump of your choice and for this installation i'm using a jojo 0.37 kilowatt pump as well as a tank two pump connector kit and a pump cover some lancer piping to match your water pipe size in this case 22 millimeter copper a selection of compression couplers t pieces and 90 degree elbows which will all change according to your installation site two chateau valves and two one-way valves together with some holder batts four six by fifty-five millimeter roll plugs and some plumbers tape the tools i'll be needing are two sets of water pump pliers a hammer action drill with an eight millimeter and a 12 millimeter masonry drill bit together with a 10 millimeter spanner a pipe cutter a hammer spirit level tape measure and a pencil now the first step here is to decide where to install the tank as i want the entire property connected to this backup system i need to tee into the main water line before the first water takeoff point now this site is located very close to my main water supply and i've already installed two additional pipes that run from the main water supply to the installation site now i had to dig for my main water line but if you're lucky yours may be above ground and run along the wall now very importantly a tank needs to be installed on a solid hard surface most tank failures are caused by a poor foundation water is not light in this case 750 liters 750 kilos and if the tank is not sitting level the weight from the water will not be evenly spread within the tank causing stress on certain parts which could lead to a tank failure now here i have a level concrete slab which i threw over a week ago using a three stand three stone and one cement ratio together with reinforcing wire now the minimum dimensions of a slab for the tank needs to be 100 millimeters larger than the base of the tank and 80 to 100 millimeters thick now if you're not sure how to throw a concrete slab check the link in the description below where andrew shows exactly how to do it start by loosely placing the tank and pump working out what their final placements will be i need the water inlet of the tank and the water outlet of the pump to both be perpendicular or parallel to the wall this will make it easier and neater when i do my plumbing also take care to ensure that your pump cover fits snugly over the pump i'm now going to mark where the pump sits on the base and using the 12 millimeter masonry bit drill the holes and secure the pump using the raw bolts now using the pump connector kit with a generous helping of thread tap on all the threaded joints i can connect the pump inlet to the tank outlet now what i like about this pump connector kit is the flexible hose makes it really easy to work with and it comes standard with a shut-off valve and these quick release couplings so much easier to attach these quick connectors to the pump in the tank and i don't have to fight with the pipe as we work just clip it on when you're done pump is secured to the ground connected to the tank next is to install the float valve on the inlet at the top of the tank now this float valve kit is supplied with a variety of different reducing bushes to suit a range of inlet sizes and again i'm using a generous helping of thread tape on all the threaded connections so far so good now comes the part that needs a little bit of planning as i want the ability to either run on the backup system or be able to switch over back onto the mains if there's a power failure the pump's not going to run no water and no power at the same time not my idea of fun so we need to configure some clever plumbing using 90 degree elbows t pieces off valves one wave elves this is what we're going to do now on my incoming line i'm going to start with installing a one-way or a non-return valve this will stop any back feeding into the main supply line then i'll install a t-piece with a shuttle valve on either side the one side will supply the tank while the other the bypass configuration which joins into the return line with a t so depending on which valve is open or closed my water will either be on mains or on backup the pump outlet will then connect to the other side of the tee on the return line and while i'm here i'm adding another t-piece for a garden tap now i'm working with 22 millimeter compression fittings and a handy hint is to cut a few pieces of 22 millimeter copper pipe to 45 millimeters this will give you a close snugger joint when assembling a pipe cutter gives you a neat straight cut which will help eliminate the chance of any leaks now i also find it easier to sub-assemble all the components first so i'll start with the supply line which needs a non-return valve then a t-piece and then a stop valve on either side i'm going to add an elbow on the side before the stop valve which will allow me to run up the wall and to the top of the tank then on the other side of the tee i'm using an elbow which will be for the bypass line so there's my sub assembly now using some thread tap on all the threaded joints i'm going to tighten everything together now i'm going to sub assemble the return side where the pump outlet will connect and as i want to add a garden tap i need two tea pieces the first tea and the second tee now i also need to add a non-return valve to the pump feed line this is to prevent any chance of water back feeding through the pump and filling the tank from the base upward and again using the thread tap i'm going to fasten all my fittings we can now connect our sub assemblies to the supply and the return line i would suggest starting on the supply line working as far down the wall as possible you may need to cut your pipe a bit shorter now before attaching our return line assembly it's imperative to make sure that your bypass configuration lines up before marking and cutting these ratchet type cutters from grip really make it simple when your pipes are attached to the wall that's the hardest part of it done what's left now is to use the short 15 millimeter piece for our garden tap on this t-piece then connect our inlet to the top of the tank and connect the pump outlet onto the one way valve which is on the return line using 22 millimeter copper and standard compression fittings this is really easy mark measure then secure with the holder bath which requires an eight millimeter masonry drill bit and connect now don't forget to apply thread tape to all your threaded joints and we're done now is when i need to call my friendly plumber to come and check out my work and then do the connection into the main water supply where he will cut and use two compression elbows to connect right at the moment of truth our pump is plugged in we can open the supply and you can hear the water filling into the tank now when this valve is open and this one is closed the tank will fill and the pump will supply water now the pump controller will automatically switch on the pump when you open a tap and automatically switch off the pump once you have closed the tap and the pressure has built up in the pipes now when i reverse the configuration the tank will not fill and the house will be back onto the mains water supply last step put on the pump cover to protect it from the elements now i can't wait to have a decent shower this evening and i'll sleep better knowing that if there is a water outage i've got a reservoir of water now remember everything we've used today is available at builders either in-store or online at builders.co.za for more videos like this check out the blog on the website get to builders get it done you

Channel: BuildersSA

Views: 216,143

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Id: 5-Cc9tvfUrE

Length: 9min 11sec (551 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 14 2022