NOW we're ready for the rain

The great tank project moved a giant step forward today when 3 men and 2 machines arrived to trench, dig and lay the pipes from the gutters to the tank.

James arrived with his groovy 'toys' - as you can see a trenching attachment on a small digger is a LOT faster than hand digging!

 Needless to say we hit a few water pipes - 6 in all - but not the shed electrics which is a bonus! As the house was a self build we're never quite sure where everything is... we did find one water pipe heading off to the edge of the property where there is no tap so it's a mystery why it was there. All the pipes were easy to fix - thanks Jim!

We added a manual valve so we can flush the roof / gutter water straight into the overflow pipe after long dry spells - you can see the earthworks on the left. The overflow pipe then leads into a small "pond-to-be" (or should that be dog swimming hole?!) - thanks to Colin for the great idea.

Filling in the trenches has left the garden looking a bit like a giant gopher has been for a visit!  And finally there is the connected tank in all it's glory. The bit of short pipe sticking up houses the manual "flush" valve.

There is just a small bit of extra pipe work to do to plumb in the downpipe from the other side of the house, but that should be finished this week, weather depending. However if it rains tonight then half the roof water will go into the tank.

HURRAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!