A Much Needed Invention

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8155, 4 April 1906, Page 6

A Much Needed Invention

Those who depend fcjr their supply of water for domestic use on ta,nks filled with, rain .water from the roof may be interested in a rain rejector " exhibited at Dunedin on Monday (says the Star). It is an invention "patented by Dr J. St. C. Grunn, of Kaikoura, who calls it a self setting apparatus for intercepting and automatically rejecting contaminated rain water. Its purpose is to exclude from admission to the storage tank, the leaves, twigs, dust, and organic matter which collect in the gutters and spouting of house roofs, and to prevent the water which comes into contact with this rubbish from reaching the tank. The apparatus is fixed above the tank. It contains a galvanised iron receptacle hinged so as to swing on a horizontal axis. Itis situated immediately under the downpipe of the spouting. When a shower of rain falls the water from the downpipe pours into the basin, taking with it the dirt, etc., from the roof. The basin holds several gallons, and when nearly full its equilibrium is thereby disturbed, it tilts forward, and discharges its contents over its lip swiftly outside the tank. A little water is retamed in the lip—just enough to prevent the basin swinging back to the horizontal position. As long as the water stays in tbe-lip the basin remains tilted, and the water from the downpipe or spoutine drops behind it into the storage tank.. Thus when rain begins to fall; the first few gallons, plus the roof debris, are diverted from the tank; the rest—the pure rain water—runs into the tank. Should the rain cease, the water in tho basin lip is soon evaporated, and the balance weight attached to the back of fcfte basin swings it horizontal again, ready to intercept the first few gallons of the next shower ad waste them.