Over time, silt will build up at the bottom of a rainwater tank. Imagine you have a bucket of mud and water. If you leave it, the mud will settle at the bottom leaving clear water at the top. If you then empty another bucket of water straight in, the pressure of this water stirs up the mud, making the water dirty again.

However, if you were to empty the bucket very gently, or through something that diffuses the water (reducing the pressure), then the water is less likely to become dirty. This is what a gadget called a calmed inlet does, it just reduces the pressure of water going into the tank, therefore minimalising the stirring up of the silt.

It is really only needed with a full domestic rainwater harvesting system supplying toilets, and more importantly, the washing machine (it usually comes as standard with this form of kit). After all the last thing you want is a load of silt going through your white wash!

Photo by @maco

About the author: Barry Nutley is co-founder and director of Viridis Energie Consultants

About the author: Barry Nutley is co-founder and director of Viridis Energie Consultants

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