Water catchment system - rain collection and filtration

[qsk2pc602]

i could see  the problem with the filter.i love it but it will over flow.here was you idea stepped up a bet.in a big rain it still over flows.forgive me if i did not read back at other post but the waters levels in a short time the reason there not is because the top of each barrels need a vent so air can go out as water comes in. and maybe you did.wanted to thank you for the vid and you are one of the you tubers that gave me ideas.ck out my vid you will see where i used your idea.thank you

[briarsnana]

take a look at old midwest rain water catchment every old house had one

[tribalwind]

nice setup, is that skinny inflow hose really enough to keep up with the volume of rain coming down the downspout during a heavy rain??? it seems way undersized, hows it working out for you? about to build my system as well, 9 barrels for now.

[hoz49]

Have you had or heard of ANY problems with the plastic barrels splitting or leaking because they are stacked on their sides? I'm starting my system and want to lay them on their sides but one video I saw said the barrels split. .

[tonyacehawk]

Male Pipe Thread

[bradkrit]

Where did you get those awesome barrels?

[ABRaingutters]

I appreciate the efforts but in an urban environment people don't want an unsightly system like this. It looks haphazard and dyi.

I've been using 1" spa=flex hose and Bushman tanks on large systems around L.A.

[ABRaingutters]

I appreciate the efforts but in an urban environment people don't want an unsightly system like this. It looks haphazard and dyi.

[kycruisecrazy]

How much rain does it take to fill it up? Who 6" of rain in 4 days would fill it?

[stymye]

a smart man uses hose rather than ridged pvc .. I commend you for having some sense.. pvc will not last in the heat,, it drys out, cracks,and leaks ... hoses can handle movement and expansion/shrinkage of the barrels ... good job !

[mygreenday69]

Sorry, you'll have to read my comments in reverse.

[mygreenday69]

Well I applaud your attempt at making a water harvesting system but there are some major flaws in it. First, your filter system only has a standard garden hose to transport the water. During a heavy rainfall your filter system will easily overflow & you will lose water. 2nd, your barrels from the look of your video are propt up by a barrel with a construction block on it. If that's all there is and those barrles are at a slant they will all row off once they are all half full due to the weight

[mygreenday69]

Maybe you have something else keeping the barrels in place that I couldn't see from the video.  Cosmetically it's not that appealing either. Also your pond system for retaining water; you better consult an expert before doing so. You're going to need liner and if you're in borough most ordinances require a permit if you dig below 2.5 feet. Ponds are nice but I have a feeling that your pond will turn into an algae mosquito infested reservoir since it will be underneath a bunch of trees.

[mygreenday69]

It's stagnant water unless you're going to install a water fountain or pump to circulate it. You're not going to want to use garden hoses for your pond water collection system either. Their diameter will not be big enough to collect the water. In addition you can't bury them underground. The weight of the earth will flatten them. Keep them above ground and you'll have to move them every time you mow grass. Check out Errand Boys water harvesting system on their website ErrandBoys org.

[mygreenday69]

Maybe it will give you some ideas on how to improve your current system. 2" Flex PVC pipe is what you should be using for starters. Don't bury those barrels you have underground either. The pressure of the earth will crush and probably crack them overtime as well.

[russell0805]

where did you get the drums at

[brianwurst1234]

that 3/4 hose cant possibly keep up with a downpour. you have a 3 or 4 inch downspout going into a 3/4 inch line? why not run a 3" pvc line from the catch to the barrels. you will prob have micro solids collecting in the hose where it cant push it uphill anyway. you should have more than enough water though!

[EdibleAcres]

@brianwurst1234 - You're right that it can't keep up with a downpour... The interesting thing is that, at least for my purposes, the system always had more water in it than I needed. I think future designs will include a much larger intake, and a better overflow system to charge a small pond or something of that ilk so it can always be full but be using all incoming rainwater in a useful and thoughtful way, all away from the foundation of the building.

Thanks for the comment!

[brianwurst1234]

@EdibleAcres hey and they make a paint sock/strainer at home depot that will fit in that bucket perfectly and really filters out alot of smaller stuff and you just pull it out every now and then and clean it and reuse it. It works perfectly. you going to do a new video? Im going to do one soon.

[EdibleAcres]

@brianwurst1234 - Would love to see a video from you to see the systems you are developing. I will probably put up a new video of my newer designs this growing season since things have evolved a bit since this video. THanks for the input.

[the1969info]

I love all of your planning, Your ideas seem strong and will pan out for you. i thought you might want to look up global buckets on youtube and check out their siphoning system, it may help with some of your issues.

[SidneyBou]

You know to move low preasure water you need larger lines then with 30 40 lb water preasure.

[FrontCortex]

Sadly, 0bama just made all of this illegal via the insane "Food Safety" bill S.510, better know as the "take over every aspect of your life & treat you like a 3rd-world-terrorist-slave bill"!!! Anyone that tells anyone that they cannot catch and use water that falls on their own property should be arrested immediately! WTF! PS Nice set up, keep up the good work!

[JosKiddin]

@FrontCortex Don't blame Obama blame Congress. Congress members only has the power to sumit the bill for voting. Obama only has the power to sumit the ideas to the congress members and sign or veto the bill.

[1crazyfocker]

@JosKiddin but what about all these things Obama does when he bypasses congress? with all the Zar's? and lets see oh the internet "fix" that he bypasses congress and gave the FCC the power to make laws sorry nots laws, but to "rule" over the internet to "fix it" the thing that was not broken, that was the truest form of freedom? or the whole you can read the healthcare reform bill after you vote on it? or how he always passes laws that the poeple dont like at holiday timeframe, using deadlines?

[1crazyfocker]

@1crazyfocker but your right congress should be the one we blame, but Obama like bush, have been bypassing well freedom to do what he wants, not what the poeple want.

[oiyabastard]

nice chemtrail 47 sec

[denyconfirmation]

Very impressive. I think BECAUSE it is so slow, it is a perfect candidate for a sand filter (where the first barrel is) On my water catchment system my FIRST concern was overflow. If you take a look at my video it might give you some ideas for around your "black bucket" area. Any-hoo, I look forward to new videos with updates.

--JD--

[happygameshow]

I dont think that little hose could keep up with a big rainfall

[SidneyBou]

@happygameshow Are you the only person saying his lines are small. I looked at that and thought he should at least feed a middle barrel with a 2 to 4 inch line and out feed with at least 1 inch both dirrections but I bet he knows that by now. Now he might be in a area where it just drizzles.

[sadiebabe333]

Nice job! I would be careful stacking the barrels though, that would be a lot of weight if the barrels were full. Another company that I use a lot is Dripworks.

[cdltpx]

If you stack they might break the drums where the base board is supporting that is a lot of weight. Great system will go to cocacola to see if I can get a stack dlivered. This can serve for garden irrigation but it can also be used for drinking should the emergency arise. When you dig the pond you might want to place a pool liner in it what the heck it would insure if you had draught your water could stay longer, I see pools on the curb all the time.

[buckstarchaser]

I'd like to know how well that hose works from the downspout to the first barrel. I would have thought that a good rain would give too much water for that size hose. If it is too much you could probably make your catch bucket taller and/or higher up.

[MrGreenbudha]

that is cool!

[dirtTdude]

NPT= National Pipe Thread

[qsk2pc602]

keep the y above water level in the barrels when not it use.

[birdland5]

I love backyard stuff like this. Here's one thing to consider. Your barrels are opaque, allowing light to enter. The microbes present in the water will tend to grow and thrive inside. I think you may end up with a swampy mess inside your barrels. Something to consider.

[dirtTdude]

nothing a few drops of bleach wont fix

[griffrs]

@birdland5

Translucent - FTFY

[TheDudeRulez09]

There are a couple problems with this setup,

1. The feed lines needs to be bigger, min 1"

2. The fill line has to be higher that the top of the barrels.

3. The connecting lines need to follow the ebb and flow method, otherwise they will never fill completely.

Otherwise everything else is right, good work man you have the right intentions now lets get you setup to really catch rainwater.

[thegoodlifefarm]

Thanks for the feedback...

1) I'd agree feed lines should be more substantial for sure!

2) The fill line is above the barrels at the start, I should address the sagging

3) What is the ebb and flow method?

When it comes down to it, with the one half of just the garage, and all the inefficiencies in the system, it still managed to be nearly full all growing season. I think creating a water loving garden all around it would be a nice use of leaks / waste water and take pressure off of perfection.

[TheDudeRulez09]

@thegoodlifefarm he first feed line is in the correct place each subsequent barrel needs to be the exact same, this is the ebb and flow method, as soon as one barrel fills it spills over into the next, this method assures a complete fill of each barrel, the way its set up now I doubt they will fill past the half way mark ever. I am not trying to piss on your parade at all , I have built several of these and know the method that works best from my own errors. the gutter entry needs to be higher.

[TheDudeRulez09]

than the first barrel where you have the filter set, this will minimize the back up of the water trying to climb the hose to get into the first barrel as is in your video.

[thegoodlifefarm]

I appreciate the feedback, this video I presented certainly isn't the first or last system I'll ever do, and is a work in progress. I would ask that if you have as much experience with all this as you say that you take some time to put together a video demonstration to share with everyone, it would be helpful.

[TheDudeRulez09]

@thegoodlifefarm I should huh, I might do that, I like helping people out with theirs, but I am sure that at times it comes across as elitist and if it has then I apologize, at least you are trying and that speaks mountains of information on the type of person you are, we need more like you man!! Keep up the good work, you will get it worked out.

Peace and Love man

David

[qcamUZ]

I'm curious to know what the filtration aspect of this catchment is. The title clearly indicates such, but nothing explains where or how the filtration occurs. Is this system creating potable water or anything like that? Nice set-up though.

[TheDudeRulez09]

@qcamUZ potable water requires being heated to a minimum of 160 degrees achieving pasteurization, to be considered potable.

[thegoodlifefarm]

The idea is to create a filtration system later on with it, not for all the water, but to have a storage/filtration system next to it. If you search for videos on 'slow sand filtration' you'll find some examples of the approach I plan to take.

[TheDudeRulez09]

@thegoodlifefarm also i would suggest the first flush method over the direct filter method, search on YT for first flush, then use the slow sand filter at the end of the barrels as it comes out. That is very similar to my setup.

[dagobertoposada]

so far the best system I have seen exept for the hoses to small, here in earthquaque land horizontally installed barrels will make it better

[thegoodlifefarm]

Thanks for the reply, I'd agree the hoses should be larger to accommodate the occasional super heavy rain.

[twitchtwitchreel]

I would be interested to see your black bucket during a hard rain. is seems that it would not drain fast enough with a 5/8th hose. have you checked it before? I am about to do the same at my house.

[thegoodlifefarm]

Good question/point... The buckets size as well as the pipe diameter certainly are limiting factors. A heavy rain overflows it easily. If I had more barrels in the series I would want to increase the size of the catch and fittings, but as of now, even with the huge inefficiencies, it still remains full most of the year so it hasn't been an issue. Might be worth designing this portion of the system larger to begin with, though.

[crazynickjr]

man you've got the right idea with this, this a very good idea

[061305]

just an idea: you may want to fill the supporting green drums with something that won't evaporate overtime. Maybe sand?

[thegoodlifefarm]

Good point, although the design really wastes 4 useful drums this way... I plan on redoing the system this spring using black locust thinnings from a nearby forest. It will be super strong, rot resistant and cost just about nothing.

[thegoodlifefarm]

I think the black bucket would probably be perfect for the system if the hoses connecting from it to the system were much thicker. Right now the limiting factors are the hoses for sure, so one or two 2" dia. hoses would make a big difference.

Also, in the North East, I'd say the backup issue is moot since one solid summer rainstorm completely fills up the system, so even though it is really inefficient in some ways, it still does everything I need it to. Best of luck!

[Hypsous]

Excellent job. You might want to plant some greenery in front of the installation to hide everything.

[thegoodlifefarm]

Thats a good call, although if it's too close or too thick it would make it hard to access the barrels to clean/etc. I suppose after a few years when all the kinks are really worked out and I only need access at the barrell that has the spout then I could make it less visible with a wall of gooseberries and mints maybe!

[Tenacious21]

Very cool, just some input/fyi: you probably don't have enough of a vent on your other barrels, it shouldn't take any time at all for the tanks to equilize

Nice setup though!

[koaftder]

Nice setup dude. Will you have to dump all your water in the winter due to ice? Have you seen any algae growth in your tanks?

[thegoodlifefarm]

I plan on emptying the whole setup before the first deep freezes of october/november and taking the black bucket that catches the water off the hook. I haven't seen any algae growth in the tank at all, but it hasn't been a long time and it's on the north/shady side of the garage. I'm sure it will be an issue eventually.

[NY5Quest]

Another great video! We've had so much rain here this summer, that we've been flooding. Would be great to save some of that water.

[chichimus]

very nice video. I just scrounged three drums and am looking to do something similar. I've no garden yet but I do have a large pond.

[thegoodlifefarm]

Thanks... I was thinking of digging a small pond down slope from this catchment so I could direct the overflow to it and keep it full. Let us know how your project turns out if you get a chance to make it happen.