My wife and I have decided to look into harvesting rainwater for garden and flower use, only problem is it seems as though every body and his brother has come up with a rain harvesting system and quite frankly we are overwhelmed with these proverbial shade tree raindrop mechanics who has invented “the best system known to mankind”.

So my question is, does anyone here have a diverter system that you would be willing to share information on and are satisfied with?

As always our thanks for your time,

terry

You can buy rain barrel kits , hole saw in spouting and barrel / tote
Buy a tote 275 gal set on blocks , plum valve to garden hose fitting . You can google all of this

If you have gutters on your house
you may be halfway there

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Compact 9mm Just my $0.02

Costco has rain barrels that pickup gutter downspout flow.

Gravity is your friend

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Forum consigliere

No, it's not.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Spewed drink. snort.

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Dum vivo cano

Only if you are over 50. Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

Farm supply stores sell repurposed blue poly pickle barrels that hold 55 gallons - cut a hole near the bottom and add a typical hose bib with a valve; feed it from the gutters and have it up on blocks about 2' high so you have gravity feed

Lots of prepper videos that have some good ideas on getting started collecting rain water.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

Rain Reserve is a good one. They also sell high volume spigots to use with your plastic 55 food barrels regular spigots from Lowes etc. don't produce enough volume to force through a hose. I use a two barrel system and a good thunderstorm will fill them up if empty. You will be amazed. There stuff is on line.

Sometimes the home made ideas are the best.

Automotive dealers often give away steel and plastic 55 gal drums for the asking.
These drums are for windshield wash fluid, no oils.

My neighbor collects rain water for his garden. He puts water from his shop roof into a 1000 gallon above ground cistern. He then pumps that to his garden that has another 100 gallon elevated gravity tank. The water is then moved into a drip irrigation system by gravity.

His roof is probably 60 x 40 and 2" of rain will fill his 1000 gallon cistern. We get several inches of rain here a month except in the summer, which is when he needs the water. Last summer we went 90 days without any rain.

Our water is getting expensive here as the aquifers on this island are being depleted by development. We have no other source of water.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Anyone else noticing it increases a bit each year?

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Certified Curmudgeon

Mine's low tech and inexpensive. At my location, we don't get rain often. My roof has 14 scuppers. Under each scupper, I position a 30 gallon bin (the ones designed for trash), with cover.

When rain's in the forecast, I remove the covers to hopefully fill the bins.

Distribution is another matter. I thought of ways to pump the water out or use gravity. Then I quickly realized that as I devise more ways to make my tasks easier, I get sedentary, old, weak, decrepit, and start to feel the earth's gravity getting stronger. So I use 5 gallon buckets that I fill to about 2/3 (too much and water sloshes out) and carry the water to the plants. Right arm on one trip, left arm the next trip. See if I can get to a plant without lowering the bucket to rest, and using controlled movements such that no water spills. Desert plants do not need frequent watering so I stagger the watering schedule.

Main problem with this system is if a bin is left uncovered and the surrounding area has dried out, I sometimes find a squirrel swimming in it, unable to get out. Darwin was right. As easy as "shooting fish, er, rodent in a barrel" is, I don't do it. The thought of blood-borne pathogens is disgusting, even though it's likely the rodent has contaminated my rainwater with waste. I've tried electrocution but it doesn't work since the GFCI trips. How do they do it in the movies, hair dryer in bathtub?

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NRA Benefactor - Life

I use the rubbermade tough trash cans with lids and 5 gallon bucket method just as described by LennyLames it helps with tne garden +it is great exercise sometimes if I'm in a rush I will use bucket to put 3 or 4 in my wheel barrow and use it to transport water to garden but you have to watch the sloshing and have a fairly level path as if you get it tilted it will turn on side and there goes your water .Dont ask how I know .

Yes, what's up with that?

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That's just somebody talkin.

Be careful some areas tax or fine you for gathering rainwater.

In my town the sewer bill is higher than the water bill so I'd get a double savings. Our water bill runs about $50 a month and sewer bill is about $60. That's for 2 old folks and sewer bill is based on water used. My wife keeps herself pretty and clean but I don't deny being a dirty old man.

I put Costco gutter guards on my gutters and they are recommended for rainwater harvesting.

EasyOn Gutterguard 6” Version – 100'

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God spelled backwards is dog.

Dirty old man lol ,I can hear it now but hon I'm just tryin to conserve lol thanks I needed a laugh this am.

To the top.

terry

You're lucky you're not in Colorado. There, I've heard it's "the people's water" and illegal to "harvest" it for your selfish self.

Oh, brother!

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

Last I read someone was working on a solution,but the water rights to rain and snow runoff belonged to someone(s) downstream
IE you can't collect water from your roof-it ain't yours!

The OP is asking about diverters, not rain barrels. I admit to simple screening and an overflow pipe. If you are using drip irrigation you will need to filter or the drippers will clog. There are videos on the tube, there is no single right way. Keep it simple and affordable.

We have selected a couple of ideas and and put them into practice.
What was somewhat of a surprise to us was once we had actually
captured over 300 gallons and then used half of it we were in a
actual feeling of loss for the use of it, sort of a can't have your cake
and eat it to I guess. Picture to follow.

terry

I was as low tech as possible! On my farm, an old chicken coop became the firewood shed. The roof was 18 fool long. a row od empty 5 gallon reclaimed and cleaned paint buckets on the ground caught the run off. !1 inch of rain had the buckets over flowing. water was bailed out using a one pound coffee can. 1 coffee can of water (about a quart) every other day in normal weather, 1/2 can during a drought. The worst drought was in 1988, my tomato plants stayed 8" tall until August 1st, then the drought broke. By labor day the plants were ready to harvest. Our farm was the only one with a surplus to share.

We then used the rain buckets to hold the harvest. We avoided chemical fertilizers and pest control, so our crop of tomatos was a smaller but denser yield. The tomatoes were processed into sauce. 2 heaping 5 gallon buckets of Roma tomatoes yielded 18-20 quarts of sauce, most years we put up 200 quarts of sauce and gave about 50% of the harvest away! As the kids grew up, I lost my slave labor force! So now, in the condo we have 5 tomato plants, but manage to give almost 25% away!

Ivan

It sound like too many people from Calif. have moved to CO!

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Bill

I wouldn't mind that, if they would quit making everything higher and adding steps.

Nice of the op to come back with his results. Wish more would.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

The easiest would be to catch the rain and put a submersible pump in the tank... if you want to drink it, I can be of a little more help.



Bought all of my stuff from this place: RainHarvest Systems - Rainwater Collection and Stormwater Management

leswad, we have given some thought to piping this water into our reverse osmosis unit and starting to consume it however I have enough projects at present. But sure if you have personal experience I would be interested in reading what you have. Thank you in advance.

Onto another subject, I bought this icb tote as a food grade unit as it previously contained a major brand of Italian olive oil. We are seriously thinking of adding another,,,
As for the patio blocks supporting the unit, I will be removing them and installing a footer. The little pump is a Harbor freight shallow well pump unit that I got for a hundred dollar bill and it will heartily supply 150 feet of 3/4" garden hose.

Thanks to everyone ( I Think ) thus far concerning this project and your comments ( again I Think )

terry

Attached Images

IMG_2828.jpg (129.5 KB, 59 views)

How will your system be protected from freezing during your OH winters? I assume you will drain or dismantle it come winter?

For many areas rain water is illegal to trap and hold for personal use. To me if it hits the building I reside in it is MINE though I don't collect nor have a need to do so. Read up on the Nestle Corp and what they think of owning water in the future!

Correct, we will be be draining down the tank and bringing the pump to the basement for its winter sleep.

terry

When I lived on the farm my rain harvesting system was called a Dam.

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NRA Life 1969
OGCA

You don't want that...google "leptospirosis", not fun.
How about a screen of hardware cloth (galvanized steel)
over the bins?

Those lil Horrible Fright piggy-back pumps work pretty well. Usual pump failure is the start cap, tho the bladders in expansion tank
typically tear earlier. The tank will still work if you mount it vertically.

Do you have a diverter in that "Y", coming from gutter?

On the ROPU, have you considered using the waste water from it, for cultivation? They used to send 4-5 gallons down the drain, for each gallon purified...

Yes it is a diverter the supplied amazon link will take you directly there:


And concerning the waste water from the reverse osmosis unit, I am glad you brought it up because no, I never gave it a thought until now. Thank you so much, I'll start collecting that water immediately and give it to the flowers.

terry

I run 2 70 pint dehumidifiers in my basement and reloading/shop. that is 17.5 gallons free water a day. I can water the garden and the back yard. the garden isn't watered every day but I have the water.

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Carpriver.

Great thread thanks for restarting it as this is a very important issue but most of us don think much about. How about air conditioning systems does anyone catch that as it is " distilled" if done correctly it should be very clean .How much does a central unit in say modeate house put out especially in the more humid areas . Seriously thanks for all you guys who have added low tech and high tech ideas and thanks so much raisdin99 for updating .

What is this "rain" thing of which you speak?

Since I live on a sandbar, the water table is all of 9 feet below the ground. My shallow well pump allows me to harvest the rainwater that falls on my houses and my neighbors houses. The nearest other water well is about 300 yards away, so I have a pretty good reservoir...
We drank it as a kid (60 years ago) but I haven’t tested since I cranked it up again.

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Halfway and one more step

Firesticks
I did as you suggested and it was an eye opener to say the least, the only thing I guess I can say is I'll deal with it when someone knocks on my front door, its a sorry state of affairs when something that is provided to me by my God can be held hostage by a corporation.

terry

We have five 500 gallon "plastic" cisterns in the barn and another 750 gallon capacity just outside the barn. These are fed from about half the barn roof's area. Gravity helps with the main garden 150 feet away and 5' lower. A pump is used for another small garden area and greenhouse uphill from the system. Be sure you filter the rainwater before it enters your storage system. Our system is about 8 years old and we've grown to appreciate it.

We live in what is often referred to as a Mediterranean climate - dry for 2+ months during the summer. Our system really helps out during this time.

Jerry

Good idea on wrapping the tank in black plastic. The tank will quickly turn green inside with sunlight. They make larger tanks made to install underground out of dark colored PVC. I believe there are tank heaters available, although your plan to store inside is more practical. Drip irrigation suppliers have a lot of specialty items for what you are doing. Condensate water is slightly acidic, our public utility won't allow it to be discharged down sewer lines if you bother to ask.

Search "Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting" . It's a downloadable 50+ page let manual with tons of info.

LT

Wish I had seen this thread earlier!! About 1997, I started building my camp in the eastern panhandle of Weat Virginia. I determined at that time to "harvest" (I have never heard of it called this until this thread) rainwater. We are on a limestone shelf about 100' or more thick, and drilling a well was not possible, and we're out in the middle of nowhere, obviously no city water.

One of the few jobs that I contracted was to install a concrete 1000 gallon underground cistern. I pipe all of the roof runoff water through the gutters, into the downspouts, and into buried pipes into the cistern. Homeade filters in the gutters, at the bottom of the downspouts, and as the water passes into the cistern. Overflow piped underground, comes out down the hill from the cistern. Nothing shows above ground. Pump is in the cabin, and we use the water to shower, and flush the toilets, wash dishes, everything but drink. We put in a gallon of Clorox about once a month. (One part Clorox to 1000 parts water).

We have been using this system for just over 20 years now, and it still works just fine.

If you have any questions, I'll be glad to help.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Filtered rainwater makes the best coffee.

I live in an area known as Spring Valley. I have three spring branches (small streams for you flat landers) that flow through my property. They come together behind the house and then flow down to the creek that runs through my land. One of the springs flow into a concrete reservoir. Using gravity feed, this used to supply my home with water up until a severe drought in the early 2000s. The then home owner had a well drilled. The spring did come back about a year later.

In 2007, there was another drought. There were several spots where you could just about walk across the New River without getting your feet wet. However, I had plenty of water. My pasture stayed green, unlike some farmers a few miles down the road.

My garden this year is pretty small, due to too much rain keeping me from getting the ground ready. I may look into getting and storing water from the garage roof. It would be a gravity feed to the garden.

So far, I've been blessed with more than adequate water.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Wanted to show you how my system has been set up for the last 5 years.... never gotten sick


1. Downspout from my 30’x40’ roof, which I believe yields 700 gallons of water for every inch of rain.
2. Once the first flush system (red) is closed off, the 4” PVC will fill, and water will then start to divert to the Cistern.
3. Tank fittings are used to access the tank. They come in all sizes and using pvc adapters, you can make any kind of connection you need.
4. This fitting is where I pull the water out of the cistern. On the inside of the fitting, I have attached this filter, which pulls the most oxygenated water from the top: Stainless Steel Floating Filter, 1' Coarse Screen without NRV - Rainwater Collection and Stormwater Management. On the outside, I convert to PEX (simple and does not break)
5. I did have an issue with the fitting breaking when it froze and have since added heat tape to my insulation, which worked great this year.
6. Enter into the garage.



7. Piped into garage
8. PEX connected to Grundfos pump: Grundfos MQ 3-45 1 HP Pressure Boosting Pump - Rainwater Collection and Stormwater Management
9. Enters into two filters and one ultraviolet chamber and ready for use.

10. Let’s go make some coffee!