No contractors on-site today; the main build team are due back tomorrow to start working through the ‘snagging’ list.
Having completed the modest area of wall tiling (two 2m2 sections) for the shower the other day, I was able to fit the instantaneous electric shower unit to the tiled wall so the plumber can connect its mains water feed at their next visit.
10.8 kW Mira Sport electric shower fixed to the tiled wall, in preparation for its mains water connection
The short stub of 15mm copper pipe in the photo is just to test the routing of the electrical cables around the pipe – the final feed pipe, which will be visible above the tiles, will be chrome.
In due course, the shower will get a simple folding glass screen facing the shower head.
Good progress on the plumbing today, with the pipework now completed in the Ground Floor Store Room which is the ‘hub’ for the plumbing installation – though it still needs insulating (especially since the store room will remain unheated). With this pipework completed, there is now mains water coming into the Outbuildings (via the blue MDPE pipe in the photo below) and harvested rainwater in both the Outbuildings and the House (coming in from the submersible pump in the underground tank via the flexible hose connection into the black and yellow pump controller, and going out to the House via the black and green MDPE pipe, running into the same duct as the blue pipe).
Mains and Rainwater pipework in the Ground Floor Store Room
The diagram pinned to the wall is a schematic I drew for the plumbers, showing how the components needed to be arranged – reproduced below.
Schematic for rainwater harvesting pipework
I’ll write more about the rainwater harvesting system in a separate technical article, since it’s a relatively unusual thing to incorporate in a domestic property and I’m pleased with how it’s all come together. The Wisy Multimat pump and controller (in the photo with a temporary plastic bag rather than the supplied cover) are impressively very well-engineered. While they weren’t cheap they seem good value. The pump and controller are both critical components of the rainwater supply system and it’s not at all easy to arrange for a mains water backup if one of them fails, due to the regulations about protecting mains water supplies from contamination from “Category 5” liquids (since rainwater is considered as ‘bad’ as raw sewage).
