Rain Catch System

[whitewolf001]

Something I sumbled upon on Facebook, pretty good design from what I can see. Comments and critiques?

[peejman]

Looks fine I guess.  Is the 2nd trash can just for extra capacity?   A couple purpose made rain barrels do the same thing without all the plumbing work. 

 

On thing to note... I've got a rain barrel connected to the downspout just like that's shown... and it gets nasty inside.  Cleaning it out isn't the easiest thing either.  There's no way I'd use that water for anything other than watering my plants without considerable treatment (boiling & filtering, etc.).

[whitewolf001]

Looks fine I guess.  Is the 2nd trash can just for extra capacity?   A couple purpose made rain barrels do the same thing without all the plumbing work. 

 

On thing to note... I've got a rain barrel connected to the downspout just like that's shown... and it gets nasty inside.  Cleaning it out isn't the easiest thing either.  There's no way I'd use that water for anything other than watering my plants without considerable treatment (boiling & filtering, etc.).

I assume that's what the secondary can is for.

 

Yeah, purification would be needed absolutely before consumption or used for washing/batheing. Several filtration systems can be used in that case, such as a makeshift big berkey or some pool shock.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Rather than trash cans I would use plastic 55 gallon barrels. They are a lot thicker and will last a lot longer. You can generally find them on Craigslist for under $20 a barrel. I know a guy in my area that has 55 gallon and 12 gallon barrels. I have bought about a 1/2 dozen barrels from him so far.

 

I would not be hard to rig up a sand filter either and have the water go directly into the sand filter. That way the water is ready use.

[tnguy]

I have a barrel I intend to use for catching rainwater but I've been puzzling over how to rig it up so it doesn't just spill water when it is full. There are some interesting ideas there but to maintain the integrity of the barrel, I think I'll tip it on the side.

 

I think you can avoid something of the nastiness by having it cycle the water somehow. But with the long dry periods here, there's probably only so much can be done for that.

[tnguy]

FWIW, I don't see much point in capturing rainwater for drinking (at least not that way) but there would be other uses for water besides drinking and that would allow you to conserve your potable supplies. I think things would have to get really desperate before that. But circumstances vary...

 

 

Looking at the above design, here's how I would modify it:

 

Instead of filling from the top where even the screen would allow silt to enter the barrel and the fresh water lands on top of old, stagnant water and flows straight out of the overflow, instead add a funnel and pipe to run the water into the assembly at the bottom. This means that fresh water enters at the bottom, pushing the stagnant water up and to the overflow. If you design it right, you can also integrate an easy-to-clean trap.

 

I also think that the pipe sizes are overkill if you will mostly be running to a hose (and even if not for most circumstances). The overflow is probably the only pipe that needs to be anything like that size.

Edited November 4, 2013 by tnguy

[whitewolf001]

Rather than trash cans I would use plastic 55 gallon barrels. They are a lot thicker and will last a lot longer. You can generally find them on Craigslist for under $20 a barrel. I know a guy in my area that has 55 gallon and 12 gallon barrels. I have bought about a 1/2 dozen barrels from him so far.

 

I would not be hard to rig up a sand filter either and have the water go directly into the sand filter. That way the water is ready use.

Also need to make sure they're food grade. I have about four or five but they were used to transport Vinegar.

[tennessee01tacoma]

I want to build one using 2 of the 330 gallon ibc totes, it would be for non potable water since we have a shingled roof. I will incorporate a first flush system of about 30 gallon capacity. The ibc totes can be purchased for 60 to 90 dollars and take up the same floorspace as 4 55 gallon drums. I'll probably build a small lean to shed to put them under.

[tennessee01tacoma]

Double tap Edited November 7, 2013 by tennessee01tacoma

[Dolomite_supafly]

Where are you finding them for $90?

[tennessee01tacoma]

Saw some on craigslist I think they were in Savannah Georgia

[lunarpowered]

I have since built a handpump for use in our well if we loose power. I can fill a 5 gallon bucket in about 5-6 pumps. I can also use a swing arm to pump even faster if need be. I plan on pumping water as needed but also have barrels available to use as a catchment if the pump fails.

I have been wanting to get a handheld pump for my well for power outages. Do you have any plans or details on how you accomplished it?

[JWC]

A big cooler with a 3/4 screw on drain plus a short length of hose and a valve makes a good shower. Put it up high. Heat a couple buckets of water in metal buckets on propane burners fill cooler, take shower, conserving water. Water will stay hot in cooler for next person. If its cold out fashion an enclosure out of tarps and heat water inside.
"huntin' camp bath"

[Dolomite_supafly]

I have been wanting to get a handheld pump for my well for power outages. Do you have any plans or details on how you accomplished it?

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/topic/42752-how-to-home-made-handpump-for-water-all-parts-at-lowes/

[tennessee01tacoma]

Saw some on craigslist I think they were in Savannah Georgia

Sorry I don't know why I said Savannah Georgia I must have been brain dead I think it was Macon Georgia

[itchytriggerfinger]

I picked up two 275 gallon "caged tanks" for $150 on craigslist. That's $150 for both so $75 each.

[TerryW]

Is there a safe/certain way to find out what was stored in the barrels before we end up with them?  ie label or coded stamp?  The last thing I want any of my water in is an agent orange barrel.

  I bought one 55 gallon barrel that had either Mt Dew, Sprite or 7Up in it.  It smells sooooo good.  :yum:

[tnguy]

The ones I bought were labelled. I looked up what it was and it seems safe enough. I still need to pressure wash them out and make a stand for them. Hopefully the apocalypse will wait a month or two.

[Dirtshooter]

Hey guys I work with chemicals everyday. A warning against any drum or tote is to be perfectly certain that it was used with a  food grade product, I would need to see a label and a MSDS before I used it for water to drink. I asked our supplier the other day how much a bottle that is the plastic container inside the cage cost and it was $95 new however it was not rated as for potable drinking water, the materials are FDA compliant but he said the grease that was used on the valve wasn't so they couldn't be listed as good for potable water. Also plastic HDPE type that drums, pails and totes are made of are porous and if any "bad" stuff has been in them it could leach out for years. Please be careful with used containers. I plan on having some under my gutter I will install on my barn, but use the water for garden if needed. Stay safe!!

[kieefer]

Good stuff mentioned.

 

I use a horse trough for garden water only. I screened the downspout and added an aquarium pump to agitate the water. If your containers aren't sealed insects/mosquitos will harvest and agitating the water will prevent this. It works pretty good but I need to filter the water better and non-metalic containers would be my future choice.

 

I like the design photo above but would add a pump to cycle the water between containers. I would also have the bottom drains screwed on rather than glued so you can take it apart to clean.