🤔 Rainwater barrels/collection

[Ad Astra]

Wicked winter storm blew one of our gutter downspouts off. In fact, a 10' section wound up in a neighbor's yard three houses down. Anyways.

Since I have to redo the whole thing from gutter to ground, going to install one of those big, fake plastic barrels to collect and use rainwater. A soaker hose in the right direction might be great for the lawn's problem areas.

Anyone else have such a setup? All I've learned so far is to get it off the ground on concrete blocks. Also have to manage overflow. Tips and info appreciated. Thanks.

Oh, and pix later.


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[bberg100]

Check local and state laws. Colorado it was illegal to collect rainwater since every drop is already owned by someone else downstream. We can now have two barrels, not to exceed 110 gallons total. Now the debate is - some sources claim that is the total you may collect in a year; others say it is just the max you may have on hand. Don't you just love vague laws?

 

[Rayotech]

Check local and state laws. Colorado it was illegal to collect rainwater since every drop is already owned by someone else downstream. We can now have two barrels, not to exceed 110 gallons total. Now the debate is - some sources claim that is the total you may collect in a year; others say it is just the max you may have on hand. Don't you just love vague laws?

Colo bound here. 50 gallon drum, they have a problem here in town. Yet 4 six foot kiddie pools placed under down spouts and no problem! Not sure what the capacity is between the four but the code officer has not said a peep about it ever!

Go figure?

 

[Toothpick]

Old laws that most jurisdictions in the state don’t enforce from what I gather.

 

[bberg100]

The best discussion of Colorado's laws I've read:

Rainwater Collection in Colorado - 6.707 - Extension

The purpose of this factsheet is to provide information about the regulatory and health aspects of rainwater collection in Colorado. The information provided in this factsheet is based primarily on language in Colorado House Bill 16-1005 and is intended to inform citizens on how to properly use...

extension.colostate.edu

What you can and can't do with the water is astounding. Can't water livestock or pets, but can wash the car.

 

[Toothpick]

I don’t think the OP is in Colorado.

 

[Bobbers]

Many years ago I got a deal on 2 used tanks and stands. They were 4' in diameter and held about 400 gallons each. They were already plumbed together with shut off valves. All I had to do is reroute the downspout off my detached garage and hook it up to a garden hose. Used it for the garden. I got it used off ebay cheap, it came out of a car wash for the liquid soap. Lived in the country no sill water laws.

 

[bberg100]

I don’t think the OP is in Colorado.

Nope. Just an example of what to watch for.

 

[Rhody]

We had one many years ago. I remember that it was the source of backing up the gutters I think in winter when the barrel froze was a big problem.

 

[ColtRevolver]

On the other side of the Colorado law, some places charge a fee or tax on your rainwater runoff. I might agree with controlling or managing runoff, but stopping a person from collecting water that fell on his property is an overreach.

 

[flask28]

The city of Portland, not surprisingly, encourages the use of rain barrels pretty heavily. I seem them all over the neighborhood on my walks.

It's on my list of home improvements for sure. That's awesome you guys have already made it happen!

 

[luvmysuper]

There are inline filter/diverters that keep the barrel free of debris, switch to a downspout when the barrel is full, and can be manually switched to downspout in the winter.

 

[Altreac]

This is the system they installed on our apartment last summer.

 

[Ad Astra]

Sorry for the delay, multiple projects are going on and some had higher priority. Also, the part where downspout connected to gutter actually tore the aluminum so a pro fixed that part. Anyways.

Should finish today and get some pix, but even in an unfinished state this setup filled a 50-gallon rain barrel in one rainy afternoon! Shocked that much water was coming off there. I had it going to a French drain, a waste in retrospect.

Few kinks in doing: when empty, it's so light the wind knocked over the barrel... And the pressure seems too light for the type of drip hose. Still, if I had a garden - and will by March - all that water might save $10-20 a month. This is pretty neat.


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[Ad Astra]

Sorry for the delay; some pix ...

It's inconsequential, really, but this is fascinating for some reason - putting something totally wasted (rainwater) to good use.

Water passes through black filter in barrel top ... the filtered slot in front is for overflow.

No leaks, 'cause I used that clear gutter sealant on the tap ...

Don't ask me how, but there's a certain amount of water pressure. Shown flowing up and around that 50' hose loop!

Now if it wasn't January ... garden will come in March or so. And we'll have $10-30 of free water a month, I think.


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