Rain Barrels

  • MartHale7

    Member
    March 25, 2023 at 9:25 pm

    I went with a 1000 gal tank 🙂 with a rain event there can be a deluge of water and a 55 gal will fill up fast. I have seen people link several together, but I guess you have to plan on where the water will go once they are all full. You can design and over flow that pipes to another locations once the barrels are full.

  • LotsaKidz

    Member
    March 25, 2023 at 11:00 pm

    I made a simple system in two different places on my house where the rain pours down heavily. Didn’t want to mess with downspouts since I don’t already have them, so I covered the “catcher” barrel (actually $20 WalMart trash cans) with window screen secured with a bungee cord. I followed the directions from this YT video to cut holes and connect them, using the linked gaskets he recommended and mounted a spigot at one end from which to fill my watering cans.

    I have 7 barrels, in one spot and on the other side of the house I had room and attached 14 together = 21 x 32 gallons each trash can allows me to store 672 gallons of rainwater!

    I will say they were tough to assemble because it’s hard to get the pipes in those gaskets, but we’ve had no leaks whatsoever!

    Video link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BI6LPNxFPdU

  • Squashmania

    Member
    March 26, 2023 at 12:02 am

    This style saves space, collects 165 gallons, barrels are dark to prevent algae growth, and take advantage of the gravity for the spigot at the bottom.

    • Stitchinglady

      Member
      April 4, 2023 at 3:09 pm

      TY for this pic!!!

    • SuzieqNC

      Member
      May 6, 2023 at 12:31 pm

      That’s awesome! How do you keep leaves and pine straw out of your gutters, so it does not clog up into your barrows?

      • R-N

        Member
        May 6, 2023 at 11:28 pm

        Leaf Gutter Guards or similar work good for me.

  • Bonnie-Blue

    Member
    March 26, 2023 at 1:18 pm

    What kind of trash cans? I noticed he used brute but will any brand work or are they not strong enough?

    • This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by  Bonnie-Blue.
  • JerseyGiantChick

    Member
    March 26, 2023 at 1:56 pm

    We use ibc 1000 l tanks, if you can get your hands on them.

  • EvW

    Member
    March 26, 2023 at 6:37 pm

    Does anyone paint IBC tanks black? I did not, and I get algae!

    • Dana-FantailValleyHomestead

      Member
      March 26, 2023 at 6:50 pm

      can you retrospectively paint them? our unpainted one ended up with about 6 inches of sludge in the bottom and it would clog the tap. Since then our new ones we take the tank out of the frame, wrap in black plastic and put back in the frame, so far so good

    • JDP

      Member
      March 28, 2023 at 1:15 pm

      You can buy a fitted black outdoor UV “fabric” cover on Amazon with the hole/flap in the top and Velcro or zipper closures costing US $15-20. Hubby tried spray painting one black and after one can decided it wasn’t worth his time or the cost to paint it.

  • Hippocrates_Garden

    Member
    March 26, 2023 at 7:33 pm

    I would like to interject a possibility here, for those that end up with significant Alge or inches of “sludge” in the system.
    Perhaps, it has less to do with light than with “nutrient load”

    Alge is alive, it needs to eat. If there is little or no food, no amount of light will produce significant populations of Alge.

    Start at the roof (material is less important than many think, but not completely irrelevant) and determine how many places material such as leaves, dust, etc there are (if any) to remove it prior to arriving in the tank.

    One of the below leaf diverters in line between the gutter downspout and the tank (preferably at a level you can easily and often walk by and check if it needs to be cleaned off) has two screens, one to stop leaves and larger bits, and one to trap much smaller material) as well as a 1mm-ish where the water drops into the tank (as well as ANY place bugs or other critters might possibly be able to access the innards of the tank) should suffice.

    Keep the nutrient load low, and there should not be alge. There will (and should) be a biofilm on the inside surfaces of the tank, and at the air/water interface, and yes there should be a small sludge layer at the bottom. These are normal, these are good, and these are layers of organisms that trap and possibly eat those nutrients or heavy metals thereby cleaning the water. Just make sure not to pull the water out right at the bottom (sucking in sludge), keep it about 4 inches above the bottom, and not pulling from a location that would suck in that very top biofilm layer. Those layers, if tested, SHOULD have higher levels of the icky stuff, which means they are working to keep them out of the water column you draw from.

    Oh, and dumping chemicals in to kill stuff, disrupts this. If you’re needing chemicals.. something else is wrong upstream in the system.

    Annual cleaning, should not be needed either.

    For those wishing more than just my say so, I’ll put a reply to this reply with sources.

    • Hippocrates_Garden

      Member
      March 26, 2023 at 7:36 pm

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      A Double-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Study of Water Treatment Filters and

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      of season and coastal proximity on the elemental composition of harvested rainwater’,

      Water Science and Technology, 61: 25-36 (2010)

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      patterns, demand management and rainwater tanks on water supply network design’,

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      ‘Extensive bacterial diversity indicates the potential operation of a dynamic microecology

      within domestic rainwater storage systems’, Science of the Total Environment,

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      and coal dust: The potential health impacts of trace elements in coal dust in rainwater’, Air

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      rainwater and the implications for water quality’, Water Science and Technology, 55: 245-

      253. (2007).

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      assumptions on the continuous simulation of rainwater harvesting strategies’, Water

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      Barry M E, Coombes Peter J., ‘Optimisation of Mains Trickle Top up Supply to Rainwater

      Tanks in an Urban Setting’, Australian Journal of Water Resources, 10: 269-276. (2006).

      Lucas Steven Andrew, Coombes Peter J., Hardy Matthew James, Geary Phillip Milton,

      ‘Rainwater Harvesting: Revealing the Detail’, Water Journal of the Australian Water

      Association, 33: 50-55. (2006).

      Spinks Anthony T, Dunstan Richard Hugh, Harrison Tracey Lee, Coombes Peter J.,

      Kuczera George Alfred, ‘Thermal inactivation of water-borne pathogenic and indicator

      bacteria at sub-boiling temperatures’, Water Research, 40: 1326-1332. (2006).

      Evans Craig Andrew, Coombes Peter J., Dunstan Richard Hugh, ‘Wind, rain and bacteria:

      The effect of weather on the microbial composition of roof-harvested rainwater’, Water

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      Coombes Peter John, ‘Integrated Water Cycle Management: Analysis of Resource

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      Coombes Peter J., Kuczera George Alfred, Kalma Jetse Daniel, ‘Economic, Water

      Quantity And Quality Impacts From The Use Of A Rainwater Tank In The Inner City’,

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      Coombes Peter J., Kuczera George Alfred, Frost Andrew James, Geoff O’Loughlin,

      Stephen Lees, ‘The Impact of Rainwater Tanks In The Upper Parramatta River

      Catchment’, Australian Journal Of Water Resources, 7: 121-129. (2003).

      Coombes Peter John, Kuczera George Alfred, Kalma Jetse Daniel, Argue J R, ‘An

      Evaluation of the Benefits of Source Control Measures At The Regional Scale’, Urban

      Water, 4: 307-320. (2002).

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      Queensland During Drought. 34th Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, Sydney,

      NSW (2012)

      Lucas Steven Andrew, Coombes Peter John, ‘Improving downpipe and gutter

      configuration on a residential dwelling to increase rainwater yield’, H2009: Proceedings

      of H2009, the 32nd Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, Newcastle, NSW (2009)

      Lucas Steven Andrew, Coombes Peter John, ‘Mains water savings and stormwater

      management benefits from large architecturally-designed under-floor rainwater

      storages’, H2009: Proceedings of H2009, the 32nd Hydrology and Water Resources

      Symposium, Newcastle, NSW (2009)

      Lucas Steven Andrew, Coombes Peter John, Sharma A K, ‘Residential diurnal water use

      patterns and peak demands: Implications for integrated water infrastructure planning’,

      H2009: Proceedings of H2009, the 32nd Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium,

      Newcastle, NSW (2009)

      Coombes Peter John, ‘The use of rainwater tanks as a supplement or replacement for

      onsite stormwater detention (OSD) in the Knox area of Victoria’, H2009: Proceedings of

      H2009, the 32nd Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium, Newcastle, NSW (2009)

      Morrow Abigail Cecilia, Coombes Peter John, Dunstan Richard Hugh, Evans Craig

      Andrew, Martin Anthony, ‘Elements in tank water – Comparisons with mains water &

      effects of locality & roofing materials’, Rainwater and Urban Design Conference 2007,

      Sydney (2007)

      Barton Andrew Frederick, Coombes Peter John, Sharma A, ‘Impacts of innovative

      WSUD intervention strategies on infrastructure deterioration and evolving urban form’,

      Rainwater and Urban Design Conference 2007, Sydney (2007)

      Barry M, Coombes Peter John, ‘Optimisation of mains trickle topup volumes and rates

      supplying rainwater tanks in the Australian urban setting’, Rainwater and Urban Design

      Conference 2007, Sydney (2007)

      Lucas Steven Andrew, Coombes Peter John, Geary Phillip Milton, Dunstan Richard

      Hugh, ‘Rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse in peri-urban areas’, 13th

      International Rainwater Catchment Systems Conference and 5th Water Sensitive Urban

      Design Conference. Proceedings, Sydney (2007)

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      Martin Anthony, Morrow Abigail Cecilia, ‘Roof harvested rainwater – Indicator organisms,

      water quality and risk assessment’, Rainwater and Urban Design Conference 2007,

      Sydney (2007)

      Bibliography on Rainwater Quality and Rainwater Harvesting considerations

      – 1 1 –

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      Morrow Abigail Cecilia, ‘The passage of direct precipitation to rainwater storage: A case

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      Barton Andrew Frederick, Coombes Peter John, Rodriguez Jose Fernando,

      ‘Understanding ecological response in urban catchments’, Rainwater and Urban Design

      Conference 2007, Sydney (2007)

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      Milton, ‘A comparative study of common uses of selected modelling tools for evaluating

      rainwater harvesting strategies’, Proceedings, Melbourne (2006)

      Lucas Steven Andrew, Coombes Peter John, Geary Phillip Milton, ‘Continuous Simulation

      of Rainwater Tank, Wastewater Storage and Stormwater Runoff: The Influence of Climate

      Regimes, Water Demand and Diurnal Flow Patterns’, Conference Proceedings of Water

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      Milton, ‘Evaluating rainwater harvesting: Revealing the detail using a comparison of

      three models’, Conference Proceedings of Water 2006, Grand Hyatt Conference Centre,

      Auckland, NZ (2006)

      Evans Craig Andrew, Coombes Peter John, Dunstan Richard Hugh, Harrison Tracey

      Lee, ‘Identifying the Main Influences on the Microbial Composition of Roof Harvested

      Rainwater and the Implications for Water Quality’, Book of Proceedings – 7th International

      Conference on Urban Drainage Modelling and the 4th International Conference on Water

      Sensitive Urban Design (7UDM + 4WSUD), Grand Hyatt Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

      (2006)

      Coombes Peter John, Dunstan Richard Hugh, Spinks Anthony T, Evans Craig Andrew,

      Harrison Tracey Lee, ‘Key Messages from a Decade of Water Quality Research into

      Roof Collected Rainwater Supplies’, Hydropolis Conference, Burswood Entertainment

      Complex, Perth, Western Australia (2006)

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      Rainwater Tanks in an Urban Setting’, Book of Proceedings, Grand Hyatt Melbourne,

      Melbourne, Australia (2006)

      Lucas Steven Andrew, Coombes Peter John, Geary Phillip Milton, ‘Realistic Simulation

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      New Zealand (2006)

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      International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design (7UDM + 4WSUD), Grand Hyatt

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      Drought’, Cities as Catchments: WSUD2004, Adelaide, SA, Australia (2004)

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      Conference, NSW (2004)

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      Hydrology And Water Resources Symposium, Wollongong, Australia (2003)

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      Tanks In Australian Capital Cities’, 28th International Hydrology And Water Resources

      Symposium, Wollongong, Australia (2003)

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      ‘Thermal Destruction Analyses of Water Related Pathogens at Domestic Hot Water

      System Temperatures’, About Water, Wollongong (2003)

      Coombes Peter John, Kuczera George Alfred, Kalma Jetse Daniel, ‘Economic, Water

      Quantity And Quality Results From A House With A Rainwater Tank In The Inner City’,

      Hydrology And Water Resources Symposium 2002, Melbourne, Australia (2002)

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      (2002)

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      Comparative Assessment Of Flood Performance Of Volume-Sensitive Systems’,

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      Wales (2002)

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      Water Cycle Infrastructure Savings Arising From Water Sensitive Urban Design Source

      Control’, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Decision Making, Lyon,

      France (2000)

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      Arising From Use of Water Sensitive Urban Development Source Control Measures’,

      Hydro 2000 Proceedings Volume 1, Perth, Australia (2000)

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      ‘Rainwater Quality From Roofs, Tanks and Hot Water Systems at Figtree Place’, Hydro

      2000 Proceedings Volume 1, Perth, Australia (2000)

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      figtree place in Newcastle’, Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Urban

      Storm Drainage, Sydney, Australia (1999)

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      – 1

      • Grampa-J

        Member
        March 29, 2023 at 12:56 pm

        Fantastic. Thanks for the references.

    • Bonnie-Blue

      Member
      March 26, 2023 at 7:38 pm

      Thank you for the additional information. Very helpful.

    • Stitchinglady

      Member
      April 4, 2023 at 3:08 pm

      TY SO MUC FOR YOUR INFORMATION!!!

  • NonaLee

    Member
    March 27, 2023 at 4:57 am

    We had three black IBC totes and two clear. We bought black covers for the white ones

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