A Simple Thought "Water Barrels"

[Torontomato]

well done! Great job!

[getrealthen]

you are not allowed to harvest rain water, unless you pay taxes. do you pay taxes?

In Lex KY, you are allowed to breath car exhaust smoke, from all the Gas Hogs driving around, but if you have you supply of rain water to do your laundry with, look out, you will have to appear in court. yepper!

THE CITY GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE OUR HEADS ON A PLATTER IF CAUGHT.

[getrealthen]

you are not allowed to harvest rain water, unless you pay taxes. do you pay taxes?

In Lex KY, you are allowed to breath car exhaust smoke, from all the Gas Hogs driving around, but if you have you supply of rain water to do your laundry with, look out, you will have to appear in court. yepper! 

[getrealthen]

you are not allowed to harvest rain water, unless you pay taxes. do you pay taxes?

[talisman227]

Hi matrixm777

I highly recommend food grade barrels. anything that carried chemicals or even carwash soap would not be food grade and when they are sitting out in the hot summer days, the plastic will emit a bit of the chemical they are made of. So please do not water your vegetable garden with these type of barrels. Lawn, flowers, or washing your car with a pump installed is ok.

Otherwise...gosh, rain barrels are addicting though aren't they?

[matrixm777]

@talisman227 Food grade barrels would be great!! Thanks for the good advice...

[snowhyte29]

AWESOME VIDEO.. Very Usefull. I will definitely refer back to this vid when i decide to make my own !! EXCELLENT & straight forward.. THANK YOU

[matrixm777]

@snowhyte29 Thank you...

All the best.

[cantecleer]

-- **flex hose

[cantecleer]

-- Oh, and the vent guard/flex house is great... well done!!

[matrixm777]

@cantecleer Thank you...

[cantecleer]

-- "...I'm just kidding, it was only 16." Awesome! =D

[qsk2pc602]

and yes i have a rambling vid on it up . with a twist ...thanks again

[qsk2pc602]

i did 4 barrel system connecting in the bottem i put the overflow on the first barrel. used the same water pump hose.when the big rains comes that daisy chain in your case in my case and the overflow is not enough.as you said they fill fast .even if the down spout and over flow was the same size the down spout being vertical will move water faster.at first i worried that i did not get every drop.it get more than most can hold in a 1 inch rain .you helped me w/ my rain barrel and heater.

[getrealthen]

@qsk2pc602

HOLY CRAP DO NOT DO THAT HERE IN LEX, OFF TO THE JUDGE YOU GO!!!

[CHOCCYDAZZLE]

Hi Many thanks for sharing this brilliant idea with us ~ it really is excellent xx

[SuperWeather123]

Thanks for that video your ideas are the best I've seen for a solid system. Especially the addition to help for too much water.

thanks a lot

[matrixm777]

@SuperWeather123 Thanks for your kind words...

[demofactory]

Great design friend. A suggestion though. If you have any problems with algae in the barrels, just paint the barrels black, so no sunlight can get in. If Algae grows in the barrels, I think it would be unhealthy to water vegetables with it. That's why most commercial rain barrels are dark and opague. Thanks for posting!

[matrixm777]

@demofactory Thank you for the tips...

[mopperone]

what about debris such as twigs,maple tree helicopters, leaves? Do they get caught in the filter? Wouldnt it be best to leave a small space between the drain and the catch?

[matrixm777]

@mopperone Debris does get caught in the filter, but it's very easy to empty out... I've seen other designs that leave a space. I simply chose to go this route.

Thanks for watching.

[hangover71]

kewl, got some ideas from this

[cortezcortez007]

Good stuff hopefully i can luck up and find some of those barrels. Good you gave me a good place to start looking.

[Childrenofthecornsno]

Your design is awesome! I copied it for the most part, but I integrated my purchased rain barrel from last year. I wish I would of seen this before I purchased my ready made barrel! Great job!

[Naturepheonix]

Beautiful

[matrixm777]

@Naturepheonix

Thank you...

[Naturepheonix]

@matrixm777 I love your place, it's near to perfect, but nothing is perfect right? :D

[matrixm777]

@Naturepheonix

Thanks for the kind words. I enjoy my home, but I would really like to build a monolithic dome home and make it off grid.

[Naturepheonix]

@matrixm777 Why though?

When people pass by your house, it's like

"are we at north pole?"

[Bravo19A]

@matrixm777 Your probelm of large rainsblowing out your inlet will probably still persist because you have failed to match the volume/diameter of your inlet(rain spout) to the same size as the over flow. Though your bypass will help only until the second barrel fills. Depending on your roof area, both barrels could fill within a few minutes.

[matrixm777]

@Bravo19A

Thanks for your response, but the issue was resolved when I installed the overflow to the second barrel. It worked so well I repeated the same process on my second set of barrels.

Best wishes...

[duluthfisherman]

I've been looking into these for what seems like forever-- Really impressive! I like the 4" Vent Guard for the drain, but after looking everywhere haven't found one anywhere. What is it supposed to be used for? (Dryer vent, etc?)

[matrixm777]

@duluthfisherman I found mine at the local Menards hardware store. They were on an end display in the plumbing section. I hope this helps.

FYI: Some debris is able to get through the vent guard so you might want to add a screen mesh to the inside as well.

[westrsk]

thx man great vid workin on mine

sensitive song thou

[zinglebluesun]

I like it, thanks for sharing!

[49kingify]

hav you gothis in the UK ??????

[didgerod]

Love this idea and it does work but the city of Colorado Springs Colorado says it is illegal to collect the water. The city claims they own the rain water. Now they are charging a run off tax to every house and business and have created a whole new division called the Storm Water Division. Talk about bad Karma! Claiming "they" own something that is a blessed givin element from our Mother Earth. I had to put my barrels under ground ..... LOL Thanks for the post!

[matrixm777]

I hear ya... Who's property is the rain falling on anyway??

Keep your eyes open because there's more unlawful things coming.

[HanzoHK]

I work at a car wash and saved a couple. How long, or how many times would you recommend rinsing them out?

[matrixm777]

I rinse mine out at the beginning of the rainy season. And before storms I'll drain them so they will fill up with fresh water.

I guess it depends on how often you get rain. Stagnant water will start forming agea within a week or two.

[HanzoHK]

Sorry let me rephrase my question. I just brought the barrel home and was wondering how many times i should rinse them out to make sure all the chemicals are out?

[matrixm777]

I rinsed mine until there were little or no more suds. I didn't worry too much about it because water is a great diluter and my purpose for collecting the water was for watering my plants.

My plants love that water...

[HanzoHK]

Thanks so much for the replies Ill let you know how mine goes.

[noskcire21]

very clever idea thanks

[timbotide]

Great video!

[parveenmittal]

Thanks Buddy.

I am gonna make a similar arrangement at my home in India.

:)

[matrixm777]

Good luck with your build...

[Wisegeorge]

It only saves pennies but rainwater is worth many dollars, mucho dinero, to your plants and your feeling of well being. Totally worth it.

[5botball]

does connecting 2 barrels make the water pressure more?

[matrixm777]

I believe It does produce better water pressure.

[datzfast]

if they were stacked it would

[packagewarren]

now, that's a great idea. thanks for the info.. this might help me think of other ideas for the water-system.

[dvdsky8]

Two quick words...Mosquitos and Algae. Make sure your overflow has a screen somewhere to prevent mossies and other critters. You don't want a dead rat floating in your tank. Also, if you can see the water from the outside, you ARE gonna have algae. All that said, more people need to be doing these simple but important things. Grow on!

[matrixm777]

I do fight the algae, but the plants seem to love it. I've seen an impressive amount of growth this season.

I try to keep fresh water in there and drain the barrels after about 30 days.

No mosquito problems in over a year...

Thanks for the tips as they are worth suggesting.

[ScoobyBrew66]

Great idea, great rainwater system. The reason why the second barrel didn't want to fill up is that there was no AIR outlet. The air didn't have a way to ascape, so pressure have build up and water coudn't get in. The new design will be better, becose the air will escape to the 1st barrel and out through the top hole.

[Slacktive]

Good tip on the vent guard!

Other sources for barrels could be bus depots and aircraft hangers where they regularly clean these large vehicles. Just make sure it's a biodegradable cleaner that was in the container.

[toxicfrost123]

man your slow... lol just joking looks like that would leak? why not just build a stand and put them on one and a nother? im going to have one that pumps in to my house and works the water in my toilet. but anyways its a great job what your doing, and did you know that rain water is better for your plants then house hold water. rain water has o2 in it.

[matrixm777]

I thought about stacking them, but that's a lot of weight to be liable for and more work than I want to put into it.

A friend uses his to flush his toilet too and it works great.

[321ozzy]

When I was watering the grass (at night) I had the impression I was at a swimming pool. The bleach will harm the grass and plants pretty much.

I have to ask for a permission to build the underground waterbasin and later on I will connect the piping to a tab for the garden and toilet as suggested above.

I'll keep you informed.

[chrisnotap]

I use rainwater for my toilet in the basement, gravity fed so there is no expense for pumps and hydro and is low maintenance. Takes about 3 minutes to fill the toilet but who cares since you have left the washroom.

[watawatata]

At 50 gallons per barrel, you're looking at over 400 pounds of water + barrel weight. So your stand needs to be very, very strong, and on level ground, or else it will topple!

[321ozzy]

I am thinking of building an underground water basin to collect rainwater and use it to water my plants, trees and grass during the dry period. Keep up the good work : - )

[armfart890]

This is great!

[blusokx]

Hey, you have done an awesome job there. In Australia we have severe water restrictions right now so we aren't allowed to water the garden from the mains supply so I have been looking into these barrels and found some on eBay really cheap. So I am planning on do a very similar setup to yours only I will be using 6 of them!!. Great work anyway.

[matrixm777]

I've heard about the restrictions there. I hope your barrels will help out...

[LookBetter4Ever]

very nice, thank you!

[florescomayagua]

Great idea to save water.

[matrixm777]

I wish I could have my own water tower. :)

[N412BE]

Nice! I'm going to do one this Spring. How did you connect the black/upper "Back-Up" overflow connections to the barrels? How did you connect the white/lower overflow connection to the barrel?

[matrixm777]

Thanks n412be. The hardware store has a threaded male connector. Drill the hole out then simple thread the connector into the side.

The lower connection is done with a T-joint. The fancy connector you see in this video between the two barrels is not needed. Just run a straight tube and it will work great.

Hope that helps.

I'll make a more detailed video this spring.

[N412BE]

Thanks matrixm777!

I confused you and am sorry. Wondering about the white overflow pipe to the ground. How did you connect to the barrel? Also, did you mean that you connected the sump tubing connection to the barrel by just drilling the holes in the barrel a bit smaller than the threads and then just screwing them in? Are there any leaks, and did you use teflon tape or silicone at those connections? Also, what department of Menards did you get that 4" filter from the gutter to the barrel?

[matrixm777]

That's exactly how I did it... No tape, no leaks that I know of. I connected the one going to the ground the same way. It took a little muscle to thread it in, but it's tight and not going anywhere.

I'm sure there are better ways to put these together, but this has worked great for me.

The 4" filter is over by the plumbing supplies. Mine were on an end cap.

[jepedoelph]

awesome. great ideas. but about that last overflow pvc going back to the earth....

shouldn't that be higher than any other pipes?

i would place the final overflow up at the top.

[matrixm777]

Thanks... I could have put it a little higher, but I don't think it would be good to take it out the top. Unless everything is water tight, you would have leaking happening at every seam.

Good thought though...

[airborne373]

nice

[matrixm777]

Thanks Doug.

[INFOWARSDOTCOM]

That's priceless....I'm just kidding,it was only 16 hours.....I know how the hardware aisle can be........8)

[benknefelkamp]

Also, the higher up the barrels are, the more water pressure you will get.

[evcrawfish]

dude awesome, don't feel bad but i'm stealing this idea...LOL

[matrixm777]

Thanks evcrawfish.

Pass it on.

[fuyukodochi]

I am so inspired! That is great. I want to go to the carwash, but my wife will think I'm up another one my crazy ideas again, so I have to wait until she won't notice what I'm doing. Sheesh, the scrutiny us mad scientists have to deal with, right? Ah well, just know that your vid was inspirational. Thank you!

[matrixm777]

Thank you so much..

"Without the dreamers, where would we be?

 Stopped by a door with out the key."

[DarkEyes5150]

I love this setup I got my idea for the setup from you.. I upgraded the pipe connecting the barrels to a 2". See if I can solve problem of the barrels not filling equally like that.. But I like this setup so much better than all the other i seen. Got my barrels free from a car wash (Thanks).

[matrixm777]

Sounds great DarkEyes. I hope it works out well for you.

Free is our friend. :)

[Eddiev1985]

Nice job!

I have the same idea, found it the same way you did.

I got my first big barrel for free and will be looking st construction ideas soon.

Everyone should do this.

The first time I captured rain water I felt closer to nature somehow, wierd huh?

Eddie

[matrixm777]

Thanks Eddie,

It does sound strange, but I felt the same way. I have two sets hooked up now and I use them regularly.

Good luck with your set up. Hope to see the vids.

Matt

[matrixm777]

Thanks...

Should be getting rain next week.

[Sirquack1]

Nice Matt,

Building mine today. :)