Beating Droughts and Saving Water – Rain Water Harvesting

As landscapers with our own plant growing and retail nursery, we supply the industry and public with top-quality plants, and we also offer expert landscaping services. As such, we’re only too aware of the adverse effects of annual droughts, water outages, and water scarcity and restrictions, as well as the dire need to save and use water wisely.

We encourage our Gauteng clients to collect and utilise what nature supplies for free – rain-water harvesting. We’ve designed and developed highly efficient, effective, and practical rain-water harvesting systems, which we install at our clients’ premises. The systems are exclusive to Windy Willows.

The recent water crisis in the Western Cape has made the rest of the country, including those of us in Gauteng, sit up and take note, teaching us an invaluable lesson and providing a heightened awareness about maximising available water and saving this precious commodity. What is happening in the Cape can also happen to those of us who live in Gauteng. It almost did during 2015/16.

It’s Up to Us

Windy Willows offers three rain-water harvesting/conservation/water-supply back-up systems, each having incrementally more adaptations and functions than the unit that precedes it. Extra modifications to extend water supply options are also available. The installation is not a DIY job, but is performed by Windy Willows, and all systems start with and include the the Basic Unit – a rain-water harvesting/tank.

The Basic Unit

The basic unit includes the following features:

• A level concrete base to hold and raise the tank’s outlet fitting at a sufficient height above ground to allow for the placement of a container in which to decant water.
• A rainwater tank (1 000 or 2 500 litres) connected to a gutter downpipe via a 110-mm tank filling pipe.
• A leaf catcher/debris filter at the top of the filling pipe.
• A ball valve for a non-pressurised water outlet.

The Intermediate Unit

This rain-water harvesting system is supplemented by municipal water when it doesn’t rain. It includes:

• Everything as above, but the system requires the use of a 2 500-ℓ tank.
• Piping from the municipal feed into the tank.
• An adjustable electronic float valve, ensuring that the tank is always full.

Advanced System

Our advanced system provides you with even more comprehensive functions, such as a connection to a garden irrigation or sprinkler system. This system includes:

• The elements of the Intermediate Unit form the basis for this system.
• A pressure pump generating enough pressure to operate an irrigation/sprinkler system in the garden.

Optional Extra Modification

If you want the “Rolls Royce” of rain-water harvesting systems that feeds saved water to your home when there’s a water outage in your area, our Advanced Unit, with the inclusion of this optional modification, ensures that you have your own pressurised water supply, piped directly from your tank – saving water, managing annual drought conditions, and beating water outages.

It’s up to all of us to make the most of saving water and rain-water, and managing how and when we use it – in times of annual drought or outages of municipal water, as a cost saving initiative, or when your garden is parched. Purchase one of our rain-water harvesting systems for your convenience, peace of mind, the environment, and an on-going supply of an essential, life-giving resource.