Started a project worried about the expense. I'm over $600 so far. Wondering if it was worth it. Maybe. Maybe I'll never need the surplus water. But I guess it's good to have it in case it's needed.

Got the first of four sets of saddles done. Only three sets more to build. FYI: I plan on having two barrel stacks (four barrels in total).

 

Is your lumber treated, for outdoor use? If not I recommend treating it. I used a little untreated wood for a project and regret it now. After just a few years it's almost gone.

 

Pressure treated. And the cuts will get treated before it goes into service.

 

Hello, B ... here's a LinkedIn post I thought you might find interesting:

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Not sure just what became city law. Was it illegal when he did it and they changed the law to allow it? Or did he do it and they changed the law to ban it?

 

Not sure just what became city law. Was it illegal when he did it and they changed the law to allow it? Or did he do it and they changed the law to ban it?

I think it was the first:

Rather than punish him, Tucson eventually legalized the practice, then built an entire city program around it, called Storm to Shade, offering homeowners a $2,000 rebate to install the same kind of basins.

 

I think it was the first:

Rather than punish him, Tucson eventually legalized the practice, then built an entire city program around it, called Storm to Shade, offering homeowners a $2,000 rebate to install the same kind of basins.

Thanks. Since I don't have an active LinkedIn account, I could only go off the graphic you posted.

 

Interesting article cmartinez. Also important was what a commenter said about road salts in cold climates. Arizona probably doesn't see much if any snow, let alone the need to spread salt to melt snow/ice. Around here it's the farmers who complain about rainwater harvesting. They have water rights that include whatever falls on my property. It's probably a good reason why harvesting should be limited to some reasonable level. I don't know that I would be using 200 gallons (four 55 gallon barrels that don't completely fill) on a regular basis. But having it to use to water our garden during years like this one has been, dry and far below average rainfall, having that water to keep the pond full and the garden green makes sense. I've let my grass go brown. In a normal rainfall year I have to cut the grass every week. And then it fills up the green waste bin. this year I've filled the green bin twice so far. I expect maybe one or two more times before the growing season concludes.

I've done my part to cut down on water use. And with minimal rainfall most of the summer I've harvested just 200 gallons this year, filling my two 55's and draining them each only twice. Still, I pay for water I've not used from the city supply. I pay for 10,000 gallons every month all year long. I get no credit for water savings, which makes me wonder even more about why I spent so much money to save a couple hundred gallons per summer year.

Anyway, it's a venture I undertook. It's only reasonable to see it to fruition. When done I'll do a calculation of all monies spent to achieve this goal and post it. I expect it to be over $800 (including barrels, plumbing and wood supports).

 

Two saddles built and sealed against the weather. Two to go. Then the plumbing begins.

 

One setup complete. Still have to do a little concrete work before setting up the second set, but it will largely be the same.






Barrels were filled with tap water and checked for leaks. Once the leaks were addressed the tanks held water overnight (12 hours min) to make sure there were no more water leaks.

 

Project completed!
Here's the last two barrels under test:


Completed setup


Under test - no leaks.


Filled to the point of overflow. This is the weeping pipe that catches the mud. When rain comes into this pipe it quickly fills up and slowly drains out. Excess water flows into the rain barrels and fills from the bottom. In this test there's a blue hose connected to the tanks and is filling the tanks to overflowing. This is where the water reached the weeping pipe. It took a few minutes to drain. I didn't time it but it felt like 3 or 4 minutes to completely drain. Once drained it's ready for the next rainfall and dirt from the roof.

The gutters have LeafGuard covers on them so large debris does not make its way into the gutters or the tanks.

Thanks for those of you who helped with advice. I managed to save a few extra bucks. Tomorrow I'll do a complete cost workup on this project. Till then - good evening. And GO RAMS!

 

Nice! ... now, how about recovering water from your AC's condensation? ... I'm serious. I have 6 units and the amount of water they weep is significant!

 

Have long wondered about capturing condensate. I've imagined a solar powered dehumidifier to collect water. A large array of solar panels and dehumidifiers running and collecting water. Then a purification process also solar powered - free water. Don't know how much water I could collect.

Fantasy project. I'd have to hit the big lottery before I try it. So - not gonna happen.

Rams 16, Broncos 16. Third quarter.

 

Project completed!
Here's the last two barrels under test:

View attachment 371727
Completed setup

View attachment 371728
Under test - no leaks.

View attachment 371729
Filled to the point of overflow. This is the weeping pipe that catches the mud. When rain comes into this pipe it quickly fills up and slowly drains out. Excess water flows into the rain barrels and fills from the bottom. In this test there's a blue hose connected to the tanks and is filling the tanks to overflowing. This is where the water reached the weeping pipe. It took a few minutes to drain. I didn't time it but it felt like 3 or 4 minutes to completely drain. Once drained it's ready for the next rainfall and dirt from the roof.

The gutters have LeafGuard covers on them so large debris does not make its way into the gutters or the tanks.

Thanks for those of you who helped with advice. I managed to save a few extra bucks. Tomorrow I'll do a complete cost workup on this project. Till then - good evening. And GO RAMS!

How do you empty mud and stuff out of the weeping pipe? Is there a plug in that fitting at the bottom?

 

How do you empty mud and stuff out of the weeping pipe? Is there a plug in that fitting at the bottom?

Yes, there is a 4" clean-out plug at the bottom. Also the weeping pipe is not glued in place. At the bottom of the pipe it rests on a 4x4 giving the whole thing support. At the top (bottom of the Tee) the weeping pipe is not glued into the Tee. It's pressed in and then secured with two screws piercing both the Tee and the pipe.

Also notice that the valve and elbow are also fastened the same way. This allows the system to be disassembled without having to cut piping. Pieces can be disassembled from the barrels and the barrels themselves can be washed out when needed.

 

Wherever there is a connection to the holding tanks the pipes are glued. So as to allow the barrels to be disassembled in the future there's a union which disconnects one barrel from the other. If they were only glued (no union) then once assembled it would be impossible to separate the barrels without cutting the pipes.


These two barrels have been in service in an upright configuration for quite a while. That's the reason for the splashing paint markings on them. This isn't sloppy work this is just the used barrels. I actually paid around $85 each for the two used barrels years ago. I got the new barrels (first rig shown) for $70 each this year.

 

Final details on this project:
Spent $754.76 before taxes and minus military discounts.

The final blueprints (MOSTLY accurate) are as such:

Thanks all for your input. Much appreciated.

 

Nice! ... How do you plan to get the water out of the barrels when you need it? ... do you already have a pump in place for that?

 

Catch any rain yet?

 

Yes, I bought a pump. Does OK. Takes about 15 minutes to drain a barrel using the pump and syphon method. Initially I had just two barrels. The first barrel, I pumped that to an empty barrel. Drained the last of the water out of that first barrel (not the extra barrel) and washed it out. Then I pumped the second barrel into the first and washed it out. Then I put the second barrel into the saddle (bottom). Did some plumbing work so the second (bottom) barrel would hold water. Pumped the first barrel into the second. Set the first barrel on top of the second and finished the plumbing. Then I pumped the remaining water in the extra barrel back into the upper (first) barrel. As for the second set of barrels, that had no water to be concerned with.

Once I had the second barrel and plumbing assembled I filled them with city water to check for leaks. I found a few joints that only needed to be tightened up a little and that solved those leaks. Then I drained that second barrel set and pumped the rain water from the first barrel set into the second barrel set, where it sits now. I filled the first set to overflowing to make sure all would work as planned and it does. After checking for leaks - none found - I drained the city water out of that set. The barrels now sit ready to capture water when it comes.

As for the weeping pipes - it does take longer to fill before directing water into the barrels, which is what I want. You can see during testing the weeping pipe doing its job (with city water). It's not 100% capture but that's OK. As long as it fills up with a good rainfall. The roof is 16' X 33' (528 square feet of surface area) per barrel set. So a quarter inch of rain comes to just over 19,000 cubic inches of rainwater. 231 cubic inches equals 1 gallon. 82 1/4 gallons of water from a half inch rainfall per barrel set. Given the leaks from the collection system I'll probably capture about 90% of what comes down the pipes, or 74 gallons. That's with a half inch of rainfall. Combine both barrel sets and I'm collecting almost 150 gallons from that half inch rainfall event. Let it rain for a few days and I'll have full barrels in less than a week. Depending on the amount of rainfall I could collect full barrels in a month or less.