Catch any rain yet?

No. You see - I bought a big snowblower to blow the snow off my 100' driveway. As soon as I did that it practically hardly ever snowed again. Now that I have rain barrels set up I bet it won't rain much for October. Come November I'll drain the barrels and shut off the valve so water doesn't fill them again until I open them again in spring. Don't need ice bursting my barrels.

I DO have more than 75 gallons in the first set but I haven't measure it for sure. Plans for measuring the amount of water in the barrels will consist of a female hose connection fastened to a clear rubber hose. Hold it up along the barrels and see how high the water stacks up. But that's a simple project for another day. Right now I'm about to go cut some firewood for the fireplace.

 

To be honest, I still don't fully understand how the mud collection part of your system is supposed to work. And how well it's expected to work. Guess one will have to wait until a good rain to find out?

 

The former system had 2" weeping pipes. They did pretty good at capturing the dirt and mud.

Imagine the first rainfall washes mud, dust and dirt off the roof. It goes down the gutter downspout and falls straight into the mud collector. That pipe is 4" x 46" so it will take a fair amount of rain to fill it up. By the time it's filled up most of what is coming off the roof will be coming off a roof that has already been rinsed clean by the rain (relatively speaking). As long as the rainfall is heavy enough that weeping pipe will fill; and once filled rainwater will then begin going into the barrels. It is somewhat wasteful but it's planned that way. Come the end of the rainy season I can disassemble the weeping pipe, open up the bottom cap and clean out the debris.

The gutters themselves have LeafFilter covers fitted, so I don't have to worry about leaves coming down and clogging the system. All I have to do is remove the mud. Speaking of the former system (2" weeping pipes) one of them had about an inch of mud collected. The other had hardly any dirt in it. And the barrels were rather clean. Just a thin layer of mud on the bottom of the barrels.

This was the former setup. Small weeping pipe. And to get water out of the barrel you had to start a syphon. Once started it could take almost a half hour to drain to the bottom of the dip tube. That thing near the bottom of the barrel is a one-way valve that I took the spring out of. Gravity holds it down so filling the pipes for a syphon is pretty straightforward. Hook up a hose and drain it. That's how I pumped the water out.

 

No. You see - I bought a big snowblower to blow the snow off my 100' driveway. As soon as I did that it practically hardly ever snowed again.

Pretty much what you'd expect. During the hottest part of summer I often leave my boat in the driveway instead of wrestling it into the garage after each use. If there's a chance of rain I'll put the cover on it. There seems to be no more certain way to drive away rain than to cover the boat. If I get distracted and forget to put it on, you can guess the outcome.

 

Pretty much what you'd expect. During the hottest part of summer I often leave my boat in the driveway instead of wrestling it into the garage after each use. If there's a chance of rain I'll put the cover on it. There seems to be no more certain way to drive away rain than to cover the boat. If I get distracted and forget to put it on, you can guess the outcome.

I can definitely guess.

 

Latest addition to the barrels - a clear hose that threads to the hose bib.


The first pic shows slightly more than just above the inlet. This is set #2.
Second picture shows the bottom barrel is full and the upper barrel is about 1/3 of the way filled. Not 1/3 full, just 1/3 of the way from the bottom to the top. Set #1.

 

Set #1 is where I pumped the water I captured before starting this upgrade project.

Weather forecast is showing several tropical storms or hurricanes, some of which will have heavy effects on my area. I'm counting on both barrels being fully filled. Just before I have to drain them and shut the system down for the winter. What to do with all that water ? ? ? I DO have another barrel I could clean out and use to capture some of that water and filter it and purify it for later - emergency - use. But I'm not a "Prepper". Imagine being asked "Wouldn't you like to be a prepper too?"

 

I just hope your home address isn't 10 Cloverfield Lane ...

 

Weather forecast is showing several tropical storms or hurricanes...

I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but be prepared to run out during the heaviest downpour so you can examine operation under those conditions.

That's how I keep an eye on my gutters. If water is coming over the top, I know there's a clog.

 

I've been wondering if a sensor and valve could be designed so that when it starts raining, water would be prevented from going into the barrels until after a certain amount has passed through the main collecting pipe so as to allow the mud and dirt to be flushed out first.
After that, the valve would close and divert water into the barrels. That way you would be free of the hassle of having to routinely purge the mud collecting pipe.

 

I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but be prepared to run out during the heaviest downpour so you can examine operation under those conditions.

That's how I keep an eye on my gutters. If water is coming over the top, I know there's a clog.

LeafFilter screens keep the clogging debris out of the gutters and downpipes.

I've been wondering if a sensor and valve could be designed so that when it starts raining, water would be prevented from going into the barrels until after a certain amount has passed through the main collecting pipe so as to allow the mud and dirt to be flushed out first.
After that, the valve would close and divert water into the barrels. That way you would be free of the hassle of having to routinely purge the mud collecting pipe.

Cool idea. Could be done probably with not too much work. But with LeafFilter screens I don't get much debris in the pipes. The worst I saw with the old system was about an inch to an inch and one half of mud in the bottom of a tube after a year's service. I specifically designed the system for ease of disassembly for cleaning. Two self drilling and tapping screws hold the weeping tube to the Diverter Tee. Pull the pipe off and unscrew the clean-out at the bottom and hose it out. Light and easy to clean. And with the extra size I probably wouldn't have to clean it out annually. But I will.

And yes, I do hope to run out during the downpour to see if the barrels are filling or full.

 

One of these should be able to sense the presence of rainfall. From there a timer wouldn't be much difficulty. The big expense might be finding an automatic 2" valve.

 

https://www.amazon.com/U-S-Solid-Motorized-Stainless-Electrical/dp/B0CN592Q3F/ref=sr_1_2_sspa
or
https://www.amazon.com/ABPLAG-Smart-WiFi-Water-Valve/dp/B0D8KY1CY6/ref=sr_1_5_sspa
it can't be this type: It takes water pressure to open.
https://www.amazon.com/Rainbird-200-PEB-Commercial-Electric-Control/dp/B001QVMOSS/ref=sr_1_12
$200 each is a pretty hefty price to add to this already expensive endeavor.

 

To add to the problem would be the electronics needed to control the valves. And to quote a famous engineer (Montgomery Scott) "The fancier the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the drains."

 

I would design a butterfly valve made of PVC for this application, made from scratch/surplus parts. This because the valve doesn't have to be 100% watertight. And a little play/gap would be desirable anyway to make it resistant to dirt and small debris while being actuated.. Also, I don't think a timer would be the best approach due to wide variations in rain intensity.

 

I would design a butterfly valve made of PVC for this application, made from scratch/surplus parts. This because the valve doesn't have to be 100% watertight. And a little play/gap would be desirable anyway to make it resistant to dirt and small debris while being actuated.. Also, I don't think a timer would be the best approach due to wide variations in rain intensity.

A fair approach. However, it's possible, should those tiny leaks from rainfall and snow melt add up to a significant enough level where freezing could potentially burst a pipe or barrel. That has always been a top concern.

Now, I know that pipes don't often burst from the expansion of the ice. Rather, it's if the pipe freezes and water sits against a one way valve. As the ice expands the water is forced backwards. It's the water pressure that bursts the pipes. I saw on This Old House where a pipe can develop over 2600 PSI (going from memory - don't blast me if I got the number wrong). Copper pipes can't withstand that much pressure. Either they burst or a solder joint fails. I have mostly PEX tubing in my house. I have no idea how it will handle such an event. And I don't want to find out either. But with PVC, it wouldn't take much pressure to burst a pipe that has a freeze plug at one end and a closed valve at the other. So during winter, not only will I close the main intake valve I'll also leave the quarter turn ball valves on the hose bibs open. That way should any pressure develop - it has a place to go.

 

While searching for what I thought was from This Old House - I found this video:

 

After a long day of light rainfall the barrels did not apparently collect any water. I'm attributing it to the weeping pipe. I have three weep holes. You can see how strong the flow is from those holes, causing water to never reach the top of the diverter Tee. I will be sticking self tapping screws into two of the three holes.

 

Comparing two photos side by side it appears I DID manage to capture a little bit of rain water. Not much though.

Maybe a half inch in elevation. Left pic has a few bubbles but you can see the water level is right at a mold mark. Right pic, maybe 1/2" higher.

Next upgrade may be adding a yard stick so I can record water levels. As of yesterday evening I measured 1/4" of rainfall in the birdbath.

 

Morning update:
This morning I checked the barrels. Overnight barrel set #1, which started with more than one barrel full has overtopped during the night. Barrel set #2 is nearly one barrel full.
Barrel set #1 site tube over full:


Barrel set #2 (black line indicates water level)


I still plan on plugging two of the three weep holes in each barrel set weeping pipes.