Off Topic

[Tony Meola]

I've done a lot of calculations on rain fall volumes lately. The B31, with roughly 100 sq ft of cockpit surface stands to collect around 62 gallons of water for every 1" of rain fall. 3" in 30 minutes, or 6" in 1 hour would be in the neighborhood 372 gallons that could find it's way into the bilge. That's around 3,100 lbs of water which would submerge the cockpit scuppers, allowing free flow from the sea/lake, if the bilge pumps and batteries weren't up to snuff...

Ok you better go back to working on boats. You have too much time on your hands.

[CaptPatrick]

Tony,

Quite the contrary... Not enough time. Current major project is a 10,000 gallon rain collection cistern. Been in the plans for over eight years and finally making progress. Should be on line later this year... Today was a 13 hr day.

Sorry for the non-boat hijack!

[LesBrown]

Hey Pat when and where are you going to get that much rain down here? Please spread that ladder out, we would hate to see it slip out from under you coming or going. Les

[Carl]

LOL...after years of trying to keep the water out of things you build, you have flipped sides and now trying to keep the water in them.

[CaptPatrick]

Les,

We're pretty close to yearly average up here... With over 3,500 sq ft of roof surface, around 5" of rain will fill a 10,000 gal system. That's potentially 50,000 gal a year.

Carl,

Yup, funny how what goes around comes around...

[Bruce]

Don't let Pat fool you. That's one of them there Michael Jackson sensory deprivation tanks.

[John Swick]

Capt,
Rip off the roof an you got yourself a nice ceeement pond there :) :)

[IRGuy]

Captain...

I hope you have a lot of rebar connecting the bottom of the walls to the floor slab!

[CaptPatrick]

Lots of rebar and the 5' walls are keyed into the slab... Walls are 8" thick, rebar reinforced on an 8" grid and the slab is 8" with 17" footers and beams. In addition, I'm thinking about a 3' retaining wall, 6' out from the cistern and filled on a 10 degree slope to the 1/2 way mark of the walls, thereby burying the high pressure lower section of the container.

[Bob H.]

Wouldn't expect anything less, nice work Capt. Pat, I've tied a few thousand rebar in my life and can appreciate that effort. Retractable roof option so you can water test your next 31 and verify the water line in the middle of Texas..hope you will use it as a swimming hole..BH

[CaptPatrick]

Thanks Bob,

The usage will be split between irrigation and potable water. The potable will go through multiple sediment filters, a charcoal filter and a UV light filter before reaching the taps... Eventually, in a year or two, the various pumps will be powered by both AC on grid and solar when and if needed. Got a river across the street to swim in if that whim strikes me...

[IRGuy]

Seeing the pics you might consider adding a 10" dia drain to empty the cistern quickly, then use it as a bomb shelter when the zombies attack!

[Pete Fallon]

Cap Pat,
That is one hell of a cement pond/tornado shelter and bomb shelter. You will be a rich man soon, when the drinking water prices hit $10.00 a gallon in the Southwest. Hell the groobeaks will never mess with you in West Texas like they did in Riviera Beach, don't forget to install the underwater lighting for the senorettas, It always amazes me what kind of projects you come up with and always done to perfection. Nice going.
Pete Fallon

[Tony Meola]

Now that is pretty cool. How long do you think that much water would last you?

[Bruce]

I'm thinking about a 3' retaining wall, 6' out from the cistern and filled on a 10 degree slope to the 1/2 way mark of the walls

Just do what us neckers would do here in Florida. Get a whole bunch of wrecked cars and pile em against the sides.

I can hear Pat now at one of the local watering holes.

Wanna come back to my place and watch the submarine races in the dark?

[MarkS]

Patrick have you calculated how many Bama
Supporters you can stack in there? Just sayin.........

[CaptPatrick]

Mark,

Every single one of 'em within a 10 mile radius with room to spare... Only problem is they'd sour the water.... I will however install a little yellow rubber ducky just to monitor water movement from the recirculation pump.