October 2013.

Its October in Melbourne, time to plant Tomatoes.  

This Ecobin and 3 others grew Tomatoes last summer, so I cleaned them out and repainted them before I planted this year's crop.   The new soil had plenty of compost, composted manure, a little rockdust and some sulphate of potash in it.

I upgraded the overflow system on 2 of them, because the previous design was prone to blockages.

The following shows how it works.

This picture shows a cleaned and sterilised bin freshly painted, and the water distribution system using a second "T"connector to provide better overflow protection.

The connector was set so water in the tank overflows when it is over 200mm deep.  The distribution tube is in the vertical position to allow the overflow pipe to fit through the body of the bin from inside.

I used a hole cutter to cut a hole through the filler pipe.

Water drains through when the Ecobin has been overfilled.

I glued both the "T"connectors in place with clear silicone.

Here is the finished bin with the overflow pipe extending through the bin wall.

An overhead view of the Ecobin with the components back in place.

Scoria has been added, and a layer of shadecloth is then placed over the Scoria to keep soil out of the water tank.

The water tank is then filled using a special fitting which reaches the bottom of the filler pipe and stops water splashing out of the overflow when the tank is being filled.