Gotta agree here—seen plenty of setups without diverters turn nasty after a season or two. Even if your roof looks spotless, airborne junk like pollen and leaves finds its way in eventually. A diverter's cheap insurance compared to cleaning sludge later... just my two cents.
"A diverter's cheap insurance compared to cleaning sludge later... just my two cents."
Couldn't have said it better myself. Learned this the hard way after skipping a diverter on my first setup—thought my roof was clean enough, but ended up with a nasty surprise of algae and muck after just one rainy season. Trust me, spending an afternoon scraping out slimy buildup isn't fun. Diverters aren't just about leaves either; bird droppings, pollen, dust... all that stuff adds up quicker than you'd think. Better safe than sorry.
Curious, did either of you notice a big difference in water clarity or quality after adding the diverter? Mine seemed okay at first without one, but after seeing what collects in my gutters over time... starting to second guess myself now.
Honestly, I think the diverter hype might be a bit overrated. Sure, gutters collect some nasty stuff (leaves, bugs, mystery sludge...), but a decent mesh filter or screen setup can handle most of that before it hits your tank. I've been running mine without a diverter for over a year now—water clarity's been solid, no weird smells or anything. Maybe I'm just lucky, but sometimes simpler is better...and cheaper too.
"Maybe I'm just lucky, but sometimes simpler is better...and cheaper too."
Totally agree on keeping things simple—I've had decent luck with just mesh filters myself. But one thing I've noticed is that during heavy storms, the mesh can clog up pretty fast, causing overflow issues. Have you run into any overflow problems without a diverter? Curious if tank size or gutter setup makes a noticeable difference here...
