Shouldn't keep your firewood up against the house it can attract carpenter ants powder post beetles and even termites in certain areas I recommend keeping your wood pile away from your house other than that great job
@@johnathon007 Brick walls still have weeping holes to let moisture get out from between the brick surface and the inner wood wall, blocking those off with wood can give problematic bugs (termites, carpenter ants, etc) a way in, and prevent proper drainage causing mold/mildew buildup inside the wall.
A tip for cheap rain barrels: Find a local canning operation like a craft farm that sells canned jams. These places have 55gal food grade drums to get rid of and often sell them on the side cheap.
Was immediately about to comment about termites that could come in your house as a result of keeping your firewood against the wall, but glad to see people were already giving that advice😊
He should have mounted the barrels higher so he can open the tap to have water run down into a bucket or through a hose in the garden (at a pedestrian pace).
I wwas just thinking I would do this but can't drive out to a canning /craft place like the other commenter described, if we worked together, just offered the service in our free time, I'm sure we could get repaid somehow. If someone wasn;t interested in improving their lives unless they got paid, that is.
Worked on gutters for 28 years and the wire light bulb screens in the gutter outlets will block up very easily from the smallest leaf debris causing the gutters to overflow.
I have that same diverter and similar barrels and did it all just about like that and it has worked awesome for 5 years and still works great. Every decent rains fills them. I just disconnect and turn them over in the winter. I have full gutter covers and that has taken care of the debris issue.
As a brit.we would link the tops of the barrels with a short flexible hose.so the first barrel would fill then the second then 3rd.and any crap would settle in the 1st barrel.
This is a valiant effort. Though a word of caution.. That screen in the top of the down spout will easily get clogged, and will 100% allow small debris into your tanks.
Putting screen in the top of your downspout is prone to debris buildup. A simpler solution is have a screen across the top of your barrel as that's easier to reach and clean. Also, mosquitoes will love the nesting ground you've made so there's a few solutions. 1. Get frogs 2. Chemical treatment 3. Running water( get a solar powered pond fountain and pull water from the last barrel and have it spray into the first barrel)
I had literally just dug a baby pond and put maybe two three buckets of tadpoles in there hoping to keep the bugs down. So glad I saw this to confirm it ❤
Been trapping Pac Nothrwest rain water for decades. We upped the antie and now run it thru a Watts 2 stage with a poly scrubber and then a coconut husk charcoal filter 2nd, then into my distiller. Water test after finish shows perfect water. The distiller plays double duty, for the Orange flavor Stump Whiskey. The hardest part is cleaning properly, before making another run or just distilling water. The other straight rainwater barrels are for cleanup, or flushing the toilet when the power goes out and I cant run my pump. A big bucket of water tossed quickly into the toilet bowl will overcome the trap and flush the toilet, when the power is out, anywhere you have a trap style toilet. Your welcome.
@@jvd920214k gallon pool??. we are all headed to your house. Keep that one to yourself. Tell no one and defend it to the last bullet. It might come down to just that.
As someone who replaces gutters for a living, i freaking hate those screens. Also, if you have asphalt shingles i wouldn't use that water for anything other than watering plants you dont plan on eating.
I installed gutters for years and now do sales. Those screens really do nothing but create a giant dam right at the downspout. And yes asphalt roofs need way more filtration that a screen a rain barrel has on it. Only seen 1 customer use rainwater for in home use (showers and laundry, no drinking) and that's because it was on a mountain and drilled 3 wells to like 600' and never found water. Also good filtration out of his collection tanks. I'd only ever use rainwater run off if it was metal roof + a very good filter system after collection for drinking. Even then I'd want to boil it first. Asphalt roofs are sure to cause you some form of cancer down the road haha.
Plumber that specialized in rain water collection systems here, its bad practice to reduce the size of your pipe, rather, just cut the pipe above the barrels and get a rectangular to 65 or 100mm pvc fitting and an elbow and that way you don't restrict flow, plus a very low chance for anything to catch and get stuck. Rainwater collection tanks generally have a filter above the tank, and the down pipe sits with a gap (big enough to unscrew and clean the filter) for debris / bugs like mosquitoes. Also I recommend not using a clear pipe as it can attract algee and get discoloration from the sun, rather connect them with a bit of polyethylene pipe 25mm should do the trick with a ball valve in between them to control filling individually or to control contamination and for maintenance with minimal waste. Also I did not see an overflow but I am sure it would have one. Lastly get a pump if you want to go all out 😁
I put mine on the ground and realized I couldn't fill buckets, so I went with a submersible pump. Doing it that way I was able to attach a garden hose spigot to it and use it that way which I found to be much better than buckets in the long run.
Only issue with propping those barrels up is the weight. I had 2 barrels split because they were on cement blocks that didn't support the ENTIRE bottom.
That's the post I was looking for 👍 I have mine elevated 12" off the ground plus my barrel has 2 spouts 1 in the middle and 1 at the bottom I put a window screen on top of the barrel with 2 bricks after the rain I just brush it off👍💪
I live in Northern Germany. The downspouts on our landlord's house have built in little "doors" on the front. All you do is flip them open and it's at the right height for a rain barrel. 👍🏻
I went cheap and daisy chained five 40 gallon trash cans together. When the 1st can is full it then fills the 2nd and so and so on. It’s Mai Ky to water the yard but could come in handy in a emergency if you boil or treat the water with purification tablets
As an Australian who lives in the country, it still freaks me out that there aren't water tanks on every house. That's the only water we had until i was 14 lol
Mosquitoes are horrible here and people are lazy and can’t be trusted to maintain barrels of water. We can barely get the neighbors to get rid of nasty above ground pools that they’ve let go but refuse to trash. lol
That's because all of us in the country in the US have wells. Uncontaminated totally fresh spring water with absolutely no way to be infested with mosquito larvae or any other air requiring water bug let alone other above ground environmental contaminants. And it's better than any bottled water you can find anywhere.
If it were me, I would cap the first two barrels at the bottom, and pipe them together at the tops. That way the first two barrels will naturally filter out the vast majority of debris and contaminates, and you'll get much cleaner water in the third barrel. If you're concerned about capacity, can always add a fourth and make use of the last two. But don't use the first two for watering anything but your grass or vegetables (Not root vegetables), and make sure to not let water sit in them for too long without periodic cleaning.
I got that who.e kit minus the barrel off Amazon. Came with the thing that goes into the spout, a hose to go from that to the barrel, a valve with hose threads that goes in the barrel all the screws, rubber grommets and a cap to cover the hole in the down spot over winter. Oh and it came with the two hole saws needed to install this. Works like a charm.
You could get 55 gallon drums for like $15-$30 Plastic or metal those plastic totes are less than 100 bucks with 230 gallons In a nice drain at the bottom
You need to lift them up on cinderblocks it’ll make the water flows so much faster due to the fact that they’re so low level. What are you actually going to get out of it unless it’s completely full
You should have used an offset debris collector in between the down spout and the barrels to help with collecting and smaller debris that will make it through the gutter screen. And, you should have connected all three barrels at the top coming off of the down spout. Then, all 3 barrels will fill evenly. I down installations like this whether it is installing plastic tanks sitting above ground, or the big concrete tanks underground.
Well if you do a down chiffon drain before the barrels it help to get less debris into it or also some screen filter on the line much better just like that lesser barrel cleaning!!
Always wanted rain barrels. One very important issue. It hasn't rained in months. April I think. I do have a gorgeous rain chain that was made for me as a gift. At least it looks pretty.
Anyone who spends 80 bucks on a rain Barrel should probably be not making videos cause he doesn’t know shit. Lol you can get barrels for 10-20 bucks basically anywhere in the country. Check craigslist food grade barrels. This guy is either sponsored or a total kook
I was looking for your overflow option. If one barrel fills have a pipe connecting the barrels so the next one fills. I live in the North wet, so we get a lot of rain 😅
In South Africa we’ve been doing this for a while. The JOJO tank brand is the most popular and the rain barrels are tanks here, all shapes and sizes to squeeze into any area. If you do it properly, all your spouts are fed into one for maximum catchment. We also attached pumps where needed.
What a great day to be a Bama fan. Lets go and show Coach KD we appreciate him taking this job knoqing wjat we the fans expect from him as a coach. RTR and keep om grinding Kyle. Love from North Bama Kyle and Team.
Okay I did this for a while but got fed up with the 55 gallon barrels and minimal quantity you can store. The water really looked and tasted bad coming off a shingle roof so it was only used in gardening. I got rid of the whole system and I got a large 500 gallon tank and had plastic sheets that I open up when it rains and it collects all the water straight into the 500 gallon barrel. Water is cleaner and it doesn't need to be filtered off of the gutter. Smells and tastes clean. It's just way cleaner water. The 500 gallon tank cost is about 150 dollars more than the cost of those 3 55 gallon barrels which only attribute to about 165 gallons of water? I've got 500 gallons and I get enough rain here that I can fill up my 500 gallon barrel in a month easily. I do still have a filter for debris but it's minimal since I have very few trees close to my house.
In Washington State that tank would be illegal. It's legal to collect rain water that falls on existing roofs, but it is not legal to put up a roof, tarp or catchment for the sole purpose of collecting rainwater. Sounds dumb sure, and fairly easy to work around but it prob still deters any kind of commercializing it. @@nancylourose
You need a device that let's the first bit of rain flow out the gutter so the gutter is washed cleaned. Once a bit of water has flowed through the water is the diverted to the barrels.
I agree with you bud , dirty water from first rains , yuck bird shit leaf mud pop , that's what this dumbass will be drinking till his system all clogs up.!
Says "supposedly" and then describes a fundamental property of fluid dynamics. Good on you sir, I hope this works out for you! With that screen on the inlet be sure to clean your gutters frequently if you have any trees nearby.
I put my barrels on platforms , off of the ground, with a shut off and short piece of garden hose. I also secure them to the wall so they don't tumble over. 385 lbs of water( 7x55)
And how many hours on end would one spend saving a few bucks? Amazon delivers for basically free, I'm pretty sure your factory won't do that. There are a gajilion other reasons to just push a button and have it show up at your door.
Very cool! Nice job. Unfortunately, there has been no rain in NJ all of October. I'm siphoning from my pond, which is only to water my plants. I don't have a well or city water.
Put a valve on the diverter and keep it closed until it has rained for 10 minutes or more. This will give the rain a chance to rinse off the roof and to wash debris out of your gutters.
Think of rain gutters just like drain plumbing. The pipes need keep getting bigger as water travels down the line. This is done because the line is not under pressure and the line will not unclog itself. Everything you just did/installed is making the line smaller and smaller I would suggest a gutter spout diverter that spills onto the top of a screened barrel. Debris can be swept away from the top easily. Do not use those spout screens. they collect debris and clog the gutter, which collects water, which breds mosquitos
It’s actually illegal to collect rainwater in many states unless you have water rights. It’s considered the property of those who hold water rights downstream, even if you don’t live near a body of water
What? No way barrels are expensive in any for unless you want something more flimsy that can never be filled without possible breaking but otherwise idk maybe some where they sell cheap ones with good quality I’d love to try something like this for my daughter but buying 3 and everything else sounds more like a when she’s older project 😅
@@charlieweckston8260 As if you would be happy storing water in a old rusted out free drum. The rain barrel here is non reactive. You won't be stuck with orange soup.
What you want to do is use the primary down gutter that's already there to catch all the dirt and particles. Install a large PVC pipe next to it with a bridge diverter connected toward the top. All the junk collects in the primary while the good water gets sent to the second pipe and diffused among the barrels. If you decide to make this water drinkable you'll need coal, sand and gravel layered twice as a filter in another drum where it's collected in a tank. Cheers! 👍
You should always check state laws and local ordinances before doing anything with rain water. It is not uncommon for the collection of rainwater to be illegal, depending on where you live in the United States. There are only ~25 states that don't have some kind of regulation regarding the collection of rainwater on the books and that doesn't factor in local laws.
Yeah so we collect rain water (for window cleaning business) and we simply bought an old IBC tank (1000lts) for €50 and diverted one down pipe into it and add an over flow back to the drain, probably cost less then €80 all done, we then run the water through a resin filter. More then clean enough to drink (if you needed to) but doesn't really taste of anything.
Some "waste" barrels you get at food processing plants or even automotive workshops have plastic barrels you can get for free or at low price, if you pick the product that was in there correctly you can wash them out with ease, like windscreen fluid. The bonus, the caps sometimes hade a plug that is threaded the same as 3/4 plumbing pipe, I used one of those once, threaded a elbow and pipe with faucet in it, flipped it over, cut a hole in the bottom, now top, to feed the intake in. Filled up in 30 minute rain fall
This, my city has a ban on rainwater collection for "reasons" that they don't specify(probably because they can't tax you for using that water, the greedy cunts), but if an inspector comes around and happens to see rainwater barrels connected to any drainage system it can be a large fine.
Before building this, did you check with your local municipality and or your HOA to make sure that collecting rainwater is legal in your area ? In many areas it is not.
That is absolutely a rule that should be broken. Australian here and it's just normal that homes have at least one small rain water tank, many homes have multiple large rainwater tanks and lots of people use rainwater exclusively in their homes.
@@melpixie5480 I don't disagree with the sentiment, but in my municipality getting caught collecting rainwater can lead to thousands of dollars in fines. Likely because you're not paying taxes on that collected rainwater VS using municipal water from a hose.
Ruined because some idiot "collected rainwater" by diverting a river onto his property to make a lake. Conspiracy theorists to this day still claim he was just collecting rain water.
Hmmmm. Down here in the Caribbean, water tanks are manufactured with the option to rout your downspout into the tank. So there's a 4" port at the top of the tank that can be connected to a 4" guttering from the roof. Also comes with the filter..
I have 3 - 275 gallon food grade containers. You wouldn't believe how much water you can collect if you have one day of an inch of rain off the roof of my barn which is 16 x22 ft wide it overflowed a 275 gallon containers with the metal frame. I could not believe one day of rain overflowed that Barrel. There is a formula to figure out the amount of collected water. I also put screens at the top of the downspout and at the top of the barrel to collect any large debris or anything. So it was a little more than an inch of rain for that day to fill my UBC containrr
A better way, although a little more expensive, is a rainwater diverter. Most have a filter. If you install it at the top level of the rainbarrel, then it should stop filling at that level. You could also add a catch basin with a filter to your system which would catch small debris as well as leaves and large debris. It is easier to clean than the gutter screens.
AS SOMEONE WHO HAS LIVED ON 'CATCHMENT WATER' FOR THE LAST 35YR, YOUR BARRELS ARE NOT FOR DRINKING FROM, IF THATS YOUR PLAN. THE SCREENS ONLY STOP LARGER LEAVES .. WHICH WILL BREAKDOWN DROP FILTERS ARE BEST
Check your local car dealership service shop. we use 55 gallon barrels for things like washer fluid and synthetic oil. We typically have old empty barrels stacking up and most are happy to get rid of them for free.
Its helpful to have your first barrel higher and have connected to second and third barrel. Cheapest is free or $5 food grade barrel and buy water spickets, screen for top of barrel for easy cleaning out. Black paint if barrels are lighter color.
I pile up cinder blocks and place the rainbarrel on top. I completely got rid of the long rainspout and replaced it with a flexible tube that dumps into the top of the barrel. Many filtering screens are needed.
I'd recommend moving that stack of wood away from the house during the warm season. Its an open buffet for a variety of pests you don't want near your home.
Could you make a pond that is filled with the rain water? You can take water from the pond when you need it (filtering and sanitizing first). That way you have a large reservoir and you can create a little ecosystem in your backyard. You will also have plenty of water for a garden.
#1 You should move that firewood away from the house to prevent pests and vermin. #2 I would look into a purge set up. The upper screen and little plastic bit will be having you do allot of cleaning debris out manually. Still a good job on the set up (for what it is) and effort to collect all that free water.
Usually you fit a tap at the bottom of the barrel to fill watering cans. Can't do that as they're sitting on the ground. Also the barrels fill at the same rate. Better to link them at the top so they fill in turn.
So next time when you do this: 1 put the barrels high enough so you can put a watering can underneath it 2 make sure the drain pipe of the down pipe is sloping to prevent sand from cluttering it 3 Let one barrel flow over in the other on the top and not on the bottom. Now if 1 barrel leaks all three will empty.
I didn't do it that way. My downspouts connect to 4" PVC in-ground drainage. So, I extended the PVC up and glued a valve and a Y (pointing down) above it, a nipple, and an elbow to fill the barrel. When the barrel gets full, I open the valve to allow the rainwater to go down the drain. It works for me.
I'm all for collecting rain water but remember, your asphalt shingle are made of petroleum...not even sure I would water my garden with it but nice construct...
We use IBC containers for 1 cubic meter of liquid. They are literally cubes, can be stacked and interconnected. And if you don’t like the look of them, you can also have a wood front on them.
Connect all your barrels together at the top part of the barrel to fill them all, put a spigot on them, and then use a small transfer pump to use on areas like ur garden
Thank you for your time, your information is invaluable. Your barrels weren’t the cheapest. I found the same size 20 bucks cheaper per barrel. Oh well.
Pro tip, don't stack wood next to your windows if there's any wood in your windows at all, you'll invite termites. A simple wood shelter can be built and kept at a distance from the house to protect your home from those pests
An inch of rainfall on a square foot of surface area yields .623 gallons. So, multiply .623 gallons by the number of surface square feet of your roof. So my barn is 16×24 = 384 square feet x .623= 239 gallons from 1" of rainfall for the day. So it was a little more than an inch of rain that day. I could not believe it how much little rain seemed to take. I use screens that are used for screening paint at automotive plants that paint trucks at the F150 plant in Detroit. It is really fine. Then I pulled them out once a week and clean the screens we put down rocks around the UBC container for the Overflow because I'm not there every single day usually I'm not there between February and July so it just constantly overflows until I can get up there and then take 50 gallon drums in fill those up out of the and place those in the barn to use for our shower and washing hands, dishes and so on. If it rained a couple days in a week I would have all three barrels full so 825 gallons of water if it rains 3 days in 1 week and that will last us all year because we're really only there during hunting season and steelhead fishing and salmon fishing season. We usually have four or five guys there for several weeks at a time from October to February. The screens I use are literally like Micron size holes in it so nothing gets through it except water.
Dude market place in Facebook someone is always selling rain barrels for around 20. I bought 3 that were used for vinegar. And all I had to do was powerwash them and then hook up the hardware like this guy did.
There're systems that indeed require you to do a cutout on the downspout but they have a diagonal screen that will divert debris out of the downspout, allowing water to pass through. Depending on the system, the overrun of the barrels returns to the downspout at the same spot or you need a 2nd hole for it. For the first system, the piping from downspout to the barrels of course needs to be level and there shouldn't be an overflow system in the barrels themselves.
Shouldn't keep your firewood up against the house it can attract carpenter ants powder post beetles and even termites in certain areas I recommend keeping your wood pile away from your house other than that great job
Was going to comment this same thing. This is a very real thing
Don't forget spiders!!
How do people forget the craziest part, rats!!!! Rats love that shit and then with a water collection right next to it ☠️☠️☠️
I was going to say the same thing. Also don’t forget snakes love woodpiles too.
so hold up, the termites are going to chew through his brick siding? dumb azz. common sense isn't so common anymore i guess
If you can, move the wood away from the house. Vermin is a big reason.
Not that big of a deal on a brick house though.
@@johnathon007 Never, *ever* underestimate the little demon rodents 🫣
@@johnathon007 Brick walls still have weeping holes to let moisture get out from between the brick surface and the inner wood wall, blocking those off with wood can give problematic bugs (termites, carpenter ants, etc) a way in, and prevent proper drainage causing mold/mildew buildup inside the wall.
@@johnathon007 Granted. Trying to think of a way around it and can't. Good point.
Arguing about brick 🧱 or wood 🪵 😂
A tip for cheap rain barrels: Find a local canning operation like a craft farm that sells canned jams. These places have 55gal food grade drums to get rid of and often sell them on the side cheap.
Or Facebook marketplace/kijiji tends to have them for like $20
Anything but Amazon for the love of god
Picked mine up from the local feed store, 20$ a piece
@@garlicburgerAgree!
We got 150 liter ones that still smelled like pickles! Nice advice
This is good to have you fill up the 1st one & use that water for your yard .
Was immediately about to comment about termites that could come in your house as a result of keeping your firewood against the wall, but glad to see people were already giving that advice😊
I been an installing gutter for 23 years I’m impressed. Usually home owners completely botch their own projects. You did a good job! 👍
He should have mounted the barrels higher so he can open the tap to have water run down into a bucket or through a hose in the garden (at a pedestrian pace).
Gutters or eavestroughs ?
@@mikkelbreiler8916in the original video he says he uses a pump that feeds into his sprinkler system
Sorry about that
@rverro8478 those are the same thing in most places (colloquially speaking)
I don’t have any interest in this type of the project , but amazed by the comments and all the support , so amazing to see people help each other ……
😂😂😂 🎯
Regardless of how many people talk about negativity, there is a majority of positivity and support all around
@@BreakItYourselfcollects rainwater like a fkn Rtard😂🤣
I wwas just thinking I would do this but can't drive out to a canning /craft place like the other commenter described, if we worked together, just offered the service in our free time, I'm sure we could get repaid somehow. If someone wasn;t interested in improving their lives unless they got paid, that is.
You Sir, Are making others day better!
Thank you
Worked on gutters for 28 years and the wire light bulb screens in the gutter outlets will block up very easily from the smallest leaf debris causing the gutters to overflow.
What would you recommend to do instead?
Mesh screen at the entrance to the rain barrel
@@Tegist123 literally just clean it every now and then. It's better than the debris going into your French drain anyway.
Better to use a first flush filter than that little wire bulb crap collector.
He explains in the video the diverter he installed will plug up IN the downspout. How is a screen at the rain barrel going to solve that?
I have that same diverter and similar barrels and did it all just about like that and it has worked awesome for 5 years and still works great. Every decent rains fills them. I just disconnect and turn them over in the winter. I have full gutter covers and that has taken care of the debris issue.
As a brit.we would link the tops of the barrels with a short flexible hose.so the first barrel would fill then the second then 3rd.and any crap would settle in the 1st barrel.
And there will be crap. That water is not potable. Must be processed.
Why does being a Brit make a difference in this context?
"In Britain, we would typically link the..." Is all they were saying.
@@ColdBrewLobster sorry please explain.... .
@@ColdBrewLobster so U are an old crusty...how do you link.....THE with any thing Else.. PLEASE LETS ARGUE. 1ST WHO WOULD U VOTE 4...XXX
This is a valiant effort.
Though a word of caution..
That screen in the top of the down spout will easily get clogged, and will 100% allow small debris into your tanks.
need to use a diverter, which allows the first 10-15 min of rainfall to go to waste with leaves and then diverts clean water to storage.
That screen the first to freeze
Every single bit of shingle dust is getting past that
Your shingle granular will get through that screen immediately and then your drinking asphalt shingle koolaid :)
leaf guards will keep debi out too
Putting screen in the top of your downspout is prone to debris buildup. A simpler solution is have a screen across the top of your barrel as that's easier to reach and clean. Also, mosquitoes will love the nesting ground you've made so there's a few solutions.
1. Get frogs
2. Chemical treatment
3. Running water( get a solar powered pond fountain and pull water from the last barrel and have it spray into the first barrel)
I had literally just dug a baby pond and put maybe two three buckets of tadpoles in there hoping to keep the bugs down. So glad I saw this to confirm it ❤
Yikes. The simple life is so complicated and expensive
That’s why you gotta get LeafGuard Lol
I've been using a rain barrel with a screen on top for 6 years now and haven't noticed any issues with mosquitos. How would they get through the mesh?
@@SW-jt3sl sometimes that simple life ain't so simple
Thank you great content. Advice termites can be introduced to the house from wood stored against house wall.
This is great. I live in a city where collecting rainwater is a crime though, which is F'd up. But if I could I would totally do this.
Been trapping Pac Nothrwest rain water for decades. We upped the antie and now run it thru a Watts 2 stage with a poly scrubber and then a coconut husk charcoal filter 2nd, then into my distiller. Water test after finish shows perfect water. The distiller plays double duty, for the Orange flavor Stump Whiskey. The hardest part is cleaning properly, before making another run or just distilling water. The other straight rainwater barrels are for cleanup, or flushing the toilet when the power goes out and I cant run my pump. A big bucket of water tossed quickly into the toilet bowl will overcome the trap and flush the toilet, when the power is out, anywhere you have a trap style toilet. Your welcome.
Great ideas although we use our 14k gallon pool for emrgency flush water
@@jvd920214k gallon pool??. we are all headed to your house. Keep that one to yourself. Tell no one and defend it to the last bullet. It might come down to just that.
that's illegal
@@garretteveryday Yes, it is.
As someone who replaces gutters for a living, i freaking hate those screens. Also, if you have asphalt shingles i wouldn't use that water for anything other than watering plants you dont plan on eating.
I installed gutters for years and now do sales. Those screens really do nothing but create a giant dam right at the downspout. And yes asphalt roofs need way more filtration that a screen a rain barrel has on it.
Only seen 1 customer use rainwater for in home use (showers and laundry, no drinking) and that's because it was on a mountain and drilled 3 wells to like 600' and never found water. Also good filtration out of his collection tanks.
I'd only ever use rainwater run off if it was metal roof + a very good filter system after collection for drinking. Even then I'd want to boil it first. Asphalt roofs are sure to cause you some form of cancer down the road haha.
Meanwhile you're drinking fluoride, lead and bleach filled tap water.
@@ShuruiiDamn, things still bad in Flint huh?
@@Shuruiiimagine not understanding how water treatment works…
@@ShuruiiDon’t forget all the estrogen that we’re getting from birth control pills that never leave the water supply.
Plumber that specialized in rain water collection systems here, its bad practice to reduce the size of your pipe, rather, just cut the pipe above the barrels and get a rectangular to 65 or 100mm pvc fitting and an elbow and that way you don't restrict flow, plus a very low chance for anything to catch and get stuck. Rainwater collection tanks generally have a filter above the tank, and the down pipe sits with a gap (big enough to unscrew and clean the filter) for debris / bugs like mosquitoes. Also I recommend not using a clear pipe as it can attract algee and get discoloration from the sun, rather connect them with a bit of polyethylene pipe 25mm should do the trick with a ball valve in between them to control filling individually or to control contamination and for maintenance with minimal waste. Also I did not see an overflow but I am sure it would have one. Lastly get a pump if you want to go all out 😁
Should've propped your barrels up on wooden boxes so you can fill your buckets easier when taking water out
I put mine on the ground and realized I couldn't fill buckets, so I went with a submersible pump. Doing it that way I was able to attach a garden hose spigot to it and use it that way which I found to be much better than buckets in the long run.
Put the barrels up a couple of feet and just attach a hose to the first barrel. It wont be high pressure and your flowers and veggies will love it.
Only issue with propping those barrels up is the weight. I had 2 barrels split because they were on cement blocks that didn't support the ENTIRE bottom.
That's the post I was looking for 👍 I have mine elevated 12" off the ground plus my barrel has 2 spouts 1 in the middle and 1 at the bottom I put a window screen on top of the barrel with 2 bricks after the rain I just brush it off👍💪
@@cboehm24 not surprising, a full 55gal barrel weighs around 450 lbs with water alone.
Be careful people, water weighs more than you think.
I live in Northern Germany. The downspouts on our landlord's house have built in little "doors" on the front. All you do is flip them open and it's at the right height for a rain barrel. 👍🏻
Just a tip... elevate each of your rain barrels on a pair of concrete blocks. It makes filling things from the spouts so much easier.
I went cheap and daisy chained five 40 gallon trash cans together. When the 1st can is full it then fills the 2nd and so and so on. It’s Mai Ky to water the yard but could come in handy in a emergency if you boil or treat the water with purification tablets
As an Australian who lives in the country, it still freaks me out that there aren't water tanks on every house. That's the only water we had until i was 14 lol
Welcome to America where we left taxation to be taxed more and not allowed to collect rain water. Not to much longer
Mosquitoes are horrible here and people are lazy and can’t be trusted to maintain barrels of water. We can barely get the neighbors to get rid of nasty above ground pools that they’ve let go but refuse to trash. lol
All new houses built in Australia must have a rain water tank, usually connected to the toilets and washing machine.
@@ThisBloke760 Australian W
That's because all of us in the country in the US have wells. Uncontaminated totally fresh spring water with absolutely no way to be infested with mosquito larvae or any other air requiring water bug let alone other above ground environmental contaminants. And it's better than any bottled water you can find anywhere.
Yeppirs...stair-stepping your up-stream barrels an inch or so higher keeps the siphon working too 😉
If it were me, I would cap the first two barrels at the bottom, and pipe them together at the tops. That way the first two barrels will naturally filter out the vast majority of debris and contaminates, and you'll get much cleaner water in the third barrel. If you're concerned about capacity, can always add a fourth and make use of the last two. But don't use the first two for watering anything but your grass or vegetables (Not root vegetables), and make sure to not let water sit in them for too long without periodic cleaning.
I got that who.e kit minus the barrel off Amazon. Came with the thing that goes into the spout, a hose to go from that to the barrel, a valve with hose threads that goes in the barrel all the screws, rubber grommets and a cap to cover the hole in the down spot over winter. Oh and it came with the two hole saws needed to install this. Works like a charm.
You could get 55 gallon drums for like $15-$30 Plastic or metal those plastic totes are less than 100 bucks with 230 gallons In a nice drain at the bottom
You need to lift them up on cinderblocks it’ll make the water flows so much faster due to the fact that they’re so low level. What are you actually going to get out of it unless it’s completely full
Came here to say this!
You should have used an offset debris collector in between the down spout and the barrels to help with collecting and smaller debris that will make it through the gutter screen.
And, you should have connected all three barrels at the top coming off of the down spout.
Then, all 3 barrels will fill evenly.
I down installations like this whether it is installing plastic tanks sitting above ground, or the big concrete tanks underground.
They fill evenly. The level equalizes through the bottom tube, as they are tied together there.
55gallon food grade barrels are $20-$30.
Well if you do a down chiffon drain before the barrels it help to get less debris into it or also some screen filter on the line much better just like that lesser barrel cleaning!!
Always wanted rain barrels. One very important issue. It hasn't rained in months. April I think. I do have a gorgeous rain chain that was made for me as a gift. At least it looks pretty.
I think this needs a long format follow up 👍
Anyone who spends 80 bucks on a rain Barrel should probably be not making videos cause he doesn’t know shit. Lol you can get barrels for 10-20 bucks basically anywhere in the country. Check craigslist food grade barrels. This guy is either sponsored or a total kook
Craigslist 55gallon drums or 275?gallon totes. Get em from $10-$20 a barrel and about $50-$75 for 275 g tote. Save dat money
Thank you
I was looking for your overflow option. If one barrel fills have a pipe connecting the barrels so the next one fills. I live in the North wet, so we get a lot of rain 😅
I was thinking the same thing. I thought the overflow spills from the first one is what filled the second one and so on.
In South Africa we’ve been doing this for a while. The JOJO tank brand is the most popular and the rain barrels are tanks here, all shapes and sizes to squeeze into any area. If you do it properly, all your spouts are fed into one for maximum catchment. We also attached pumps where needed.
What a great day to be a Bama fan. Lets go and show Coach KD we appreciate him taking this job knoqing wjat we the fans expect from him as a coach. RTR and keep om grinding Kyle. Love from North Bama Kyle and Team.
Go Longhorns!
Okay I did this for a while but got fed up with the 55 gallon barrels and minimal quantity you can store. The water really looked and tasted bad coming off a shingle roof so it was only used in gardening. I got rid of the whole system and I got a large 500 gallon tank and had plastic sheets that I open up when it rains and it collects all the water straight into the 500 gallon barrel. Water is cleaner and it doesn't need to be filtered off of the gutter. Smells and tastes clean. It's just way cleaner water. The 500 gallon tank cost is about 150 dollars more than the cost of those 3 55 gallon barrels which only attribute to about 165 gallons of water? I've got 500 gallons and I get enough rain here that I can fill up my 500 gallon barrel in a month easily. I do still have a filter for debris but it's minimal since I have very few trees close to my house.
Roof collection is not intended for potable water... This is irrigation water.
Trying to picture this....do the plastic sheets act like a funnel ?
In Washington State that tank would be illegal.
It's legal to collect rain water that falls on existing roofs, but it is not legal to put up a roof, tarp or catchment for the sole purpose of collecting rainwater.
Sounds dumb sure, and fairly easy to work around but it prob still deters any kind of commercializing it. @@nancylourose
Plastic sheets? Where and how designed? Connected to downspout? I live in FL and get a lot if rain. Metal roof. Thanks
You need a device that let's the first bit of rain flow out the gutter so the gutter is washed cleaned. Once a bit of water has flowed through the water is the diverted to the barrels.
I agree with you bud , dirty water from first rains , yuck bird shit leaf mud pop , that's what this dumbass will be drinking till his system all clogs up.!
It’s called a first flush device.
Says "supposedly" and then describes a fundamental property of fluid dynamics. Good on you sir, I hope this works out for you!
With that screen on the inlet be sure to clean your gutters frequently if you have any trees nearby.
Thing I took away is that cool diverting plug so you dont have to completely reroute the downspout. Thank you for that!
My brain hurts watching all these tik tok DIYs 😂 idk how these people function day to day.
Making a diy video with literally no knowledge. Stahp.
30 day free return 😂
I put my barrels on platforms , off of the ground, with a shut off and short piece of garden hose. I also secure them to the wall so they don't tumble over. 385 lbs of water( 7x55)
I did this also acts like a sink I love it getting rain water is so good for my plants
Just FYI, a gallon of water weighs ~8.3lbs
*US gallon
MichaelM is right. Each full barrel is 456 lbs, so 7x = 3,195 total lbs. Make sure your foundation is solid.
Make sure to empty those debris traps often or you'll have overflowing and clogged gutters
75 dollors for a rain barrel is def not the cheapest option, just get food grade plastic barrels from a factory, like 20 bucks
Yeah I was thinking the same thing. He probably means the cheapest that is still eye pleasing. Not some bright blur barrel.
You can ask local restaurants for their empty pickle buckets. Usually you can score a few for free 👍
Or an actual water tank 🤦🏽♂️
@@jaredkindredWell then get a $4 can of spray paint and have at it, now it's $24
And how many hours on end would one spend saving a few bucks? Amazon delivers for basically free, I'm pretty sure your factory won't do that. There are a gajilion other reasons to just push a button and have it show up at your door.
Philadelphia gives you the whole set up barrel, with the down spout diverter valve free!
Will they ship to Texas........LOL?
Very cool! Nice job. Unfortunately, there has been no rain in NJ all of October. I'm siphoning from my pond, which is only to water my plants. I don't have a well or city water.
70 bucks seems wild if it wasnt for all 3.
For collecting rain water I'd highly recommend rain gutter guards, they work much better than the screens and they don't clog up the gutters 👍
Gutter guards are horrid for gutters, you can't clean them at all and they still allow dirt and such in, they just grow moss and grass
Put a valve on the diverter and keep it closed until it has rained for 10 minutes or more. This will give the rain a chance to rinse off the roof and to wash debris out of your gutters.
Think of rain gutters just like drain plumbing. The pipes need keep getting bigger as water travels down the line.
This is done because the line is not under pressure and the line will not unclog itself.
Everything you just did/installed is making the line smaller and smaller
I would suggest a gutter spout diverter that spills onto the top of a screened barrel. Debris can be swept away from the top easily. Do not use those spout screens. they collect debris and clog the gutter, which collects water, which breds mosquitos
It’s actually illegal to collect rainwater in many states unless you have water rights. It’s considered the property of those who hold water rights downstream, even if you don’t live near a body of water
So cover the rain barrel with some camo netting
wow that was an insane price for something that's regularly thrown away
What would you use the water for
What? No way barrels are expensive in any for unless you want something more flimsy that can never be filled without possible breaking but otherwise idk maybe some where they sell cheap ones with good quality I’d love to try something like this for my daughter but buying 3 and everything else sounds more like a when she’s older project 😅
@@Nebraska_Juanused 55 gallon. Drum
@@charlieweckston8260 As if you would be happy storing water in a old rusted out free drum. The rain barrel here is non reactive. You won't be stuck with orange soup.
@@BlueBoyo101 plastic 55 gallon drum🤓
Nothing like stacking your greatest fire hazard against your house 😂
Needs a catch to divert and collect solids before it hits the barrels.
What you want to do is use the primary down gutter that's already there to catch all the dirt and particles. Install a large PVC pipe next to it with a bridge diverter connected toward the top. All the junk collects in the primary while the good water gets sent to the second pipe and diffused among the barrels. If you decide to make this water drinkable you'll need coal, sand and gravel layered twice as a filter in another drum where it's collected in a tank. Cheers! 👍
You should always check state laws and local ordinances before doing anything with rain water.
It is not uncommon for the collection of rainwater to be illegal, depending on where you live in the United States. There are only ~25 states that don't have some kind of regulation regarding the collection of rainwater on the books and that doesn't factor in local laws.
Aw, you're so kind! It's like you're building bird houses, but for mosquitos
Yeah so we collect rain water (for window cleaning business) and we simply bought an old IBC tank (1000lts) for €50 and diverted one down pipe into it and add an over flow back to the drain, probably cost less then €80 all done, we then run the water through a resin filter. More then clean enough to drink (if you needed to) but doesn't really taste of anything.
You'll definitely need a particulate filter somewhere in the pvc pipes, who knows what can get in the gutters with the leaves
Stuff like bird and bugs.
Good on you Mate. A great project.
Some "waste" barrels you get at food processing plants or even automotive workshops have plastic barrels you can get for free or at low price, if you pick the product that was in there correctly you can wash them out with ease, like windscreen fluid. The bonus, the caps sometimes hade a plug that is threaded the same as 3/4 plumbing pipe, I used one of those once, threaded a elbow and pipe with faucet in it, flipped it over, cut a hole in the bottom, now top, to feed the intake in. Filled up in 30 minute rain fall
Don't let the government know you collected water without giving them there cut
I was gonna say I believe this isn’t even “legal” in some places.
@@stevewoodytSame.
This, my city has a ban on rainwater collection for "reasons" that they don't specify(probably because they can't tax you for using that water, the greedy cunts), but if an inspector comes around and happens to see rainwater barrels connected to any drainage system it can be a large fine.
It is illegal in Colorado to collect more then one barrel of rain water.
"there"? Really? 😂
Before building this, did you check with your local municipality and or your HOA to make sure that collecting rainwater is legal in your area ? In many areas it is not.
That is absolutely a rule that should be broken.
Australian here and it's just normal that homes have at least one small rain water tank, many homes have multiple large rainwater tanks and lots of people use rainwater exclusively in their homes.
HAHAH, "Land of the Free" :'D Yet can't even collect rainwater. I'm wheezing.
@@melpixie5480 I don't disagree with the sentiment, but in my municipality getting caught collecting rainwater can lead to thousands of dollars in fines. Likely because you're not paying taxes on that collected rainwater VS using municipal water from a hose.
Lol what an insane bylaw.
Ruined because some idiot "collected rainwater" by diverting a river onto his property to make a lake. Conspiracy theorists to this day still claim he was just collecting rain water.
As an German I have to say you Americans are making everything complicated 😂😂
Says someone from the country that made Tiger tanks and BMWs
Audi
That is all.
@@birdmann9197 You're right. The last word in complication.
As an automotive technician who worked on Audis and VWs I have to laugh, and cringe, at this comment.
BMWs😂
Hmmmm.
Down here in the Caribbean, water tanks are manufactured with the option to rout your downspout into the tank.
So there's a 4" port at the top of the tank that can be connected to a 4" guttering from the roof.
Also comes with the filter..
I have 3 - 275 gallon food grade containers. You wouldn't believe how much water you can collect if you have one day of an inch of rain off the roof of my barn which is 16 x22 ft wide it overflowed a 275 gallon containers with the metal frame. I could not believe one day of rain overflowed that Barrel. There is a formula to figure out the amount of collected water. I also put screens at the top of the downspout and at the top of the barrel to collect any large debris or anything. So it was a little more than an inch of rain for that day to fill my UBC containrr
Insurance companies will not pay out with firewood next to the building 😂😂😂
A better way, although a little more expensive, is a rainwater diverter. Most have a filter. If you install it at the top level of the rainbarrel, then it should stop filling at that level.
You could also add a catch basin with a filter to your system which would catch small debris as well as leaves and large debris. It is easier to clean than the gutter screens.
AS SOMEONE WHO HAS LIVED ON 'CATCHMENT WATER' FOR THE LAST 35YR, YOUR BARRELS ARE NOT FOR DRINKING FROM, IF THATS YOUR PLAN. THE SCREENS ONLY STOP LARGER LEAVES .. WHICH WILL BREAKDOWN DROP FILTERS ARE BEST
I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to deliver several giant barrels in my Amazon van💀
Check your local car dealership service shop. we use 55 gallon barrels for things like washer fluid and synthetic oil. We typically have old empty barrels stacking up and most are happy to get rid of them for free.
I have a couple of stockings stretched over inlets and outlets - works as a good debris filter.
Its helpful to have your first barrel higher and have connected to second and third barrel. Cheapest is free or $5 food grade barrel and buy water spickets, screen for top of barrel for easy cleaning out. Black paint if barrels are lighter color.
I pile up cinder blocks and place the rainbarrel on top. I completely got rid of the long rainspout and replaced it with a flexible tube that dumps into the top of the barrel. Many filtering screens are needed.
I'd recommend moving that stack of wood away from the house during the warm season. Its an open buffet for a variety of pests you don't want near your home.
Could you make a pond that is filled with the rain water? You can take water from the pond when you need it (filtering and sanitizing first). That way you have a large reservoir and you can create a little ecosystem in your backyard. You will also have plenty of water for a garden.
Great effort.
#1 You should move that firewood away from the house to prevent pests and vermin. #2 I would look into a purge set up. The upper screen and little plastic bit will be having you do allot of cleaning debris out manually. Still a good job on the set up (for what it is) and effort to collect all that free water.
That's really cool.I would have the screen on top of the barrels though so you don't have to go up to the roof to clean out the screens
I had seven barrels, and I just put them on the ground, usext screens to keep out the debris. They were food grade juice barrels.
Çool rain water is a good thing to have when you need it❤
NEVER stack wood next to any structure, especially your home. It attracts dampness, mold and bugs.
Usually you fit a tap at the bottom of the barrel to fill watering cans. Can't do that as they're sitting on the ground. Also the barrels fill at the same rate. Better to link them at the top so they fill in turn.
Hoka shoes, my dad's not the only one. I got skechers. Supremely comfortable, both brands.
So next time when you do this:
1 put the barrels high enough so you can put a watering can underneath it
2 make sure the drain pipe of the down pipe is sloping to prevent sand from cluttering it
3 Let one barrel flow over in the other on the top and not on the bottom. Now if 1 barrel leaks all three will empty.
I didn't do it that way. My downspouts connect to 4" PVC in-ground drainage. So, I extended the PVC up and glued a valve and a Y (pointing down) above it, a nipple, and an elbow to fill the barrel. When the barrel gets full, I open the valve to allow the rainwater to go down the drain.
It works for me.
I have the same barrels and love them
I'm all for collecting rain water but remember, your asphalt shingle are made of petroleum...not even sure I would water my garden with it but nice construct...
We use IBC containers for 1 cubic meter of liquid. They are literally cubes, can be stacked and interconnected. And if you don’t like the look of them, you can also have a wood front on them.
Connect all your barrels together at the top part of the barrel to fill them all, put a spigot on them, and then use a small transfer pump to use on areas like ur garden
Thank you for your time, your information is invaluable. Your barrels weren’t the cheapest. I found the same size 20 bucks cheaper per barrel. Oh well.
Mmmm tar oil and sand from the shingles bird amd squirrel droppings in your water awesome
Pro tip, don't stack wood next to your windows if there's any wood in your windows at all, you'll invite termites. A simple wood shelter can be built and kept at a distance from the house to protect your home from those pests
In Germany, downspouts (on board with gardens) already have a little seesaw built in to diverter rainwater 😅
Connect the rain barrels on the top. So you fill them one by one and you have more pressure when you take water from the first.
An inch of rainfall on a square foot of surface area yields .623 gallons. So, multiply .623 gallons by the number of surface square feet of your roof. So my barn is 16×24 = 384 square feet x .623= 239 gallons from 1" of rainfall for the day. So it was a little more than an inch of rain that day. I could not believe it how much little rain seemed to take. I use screens that are used for screening paint at automotive plants that paint trucks at the F150 plant in Detroit. It is really fine. Then I pulled them out once a week and clean the screens we put down rocks around the UBC container for the Overflow because I'm not there every single day usually I'm not there between February and July so it just constantly overflows until I can get up there and then take 50 gallon drums in fill those up out of the and place those in the barn to use for our shower and washing hands, dishes and so on. If it rained a couple days in a week I would have all three barrels full so 825 gallons of water if it rains 3 days in 1 week and that will last us all year because we're really only there during hunting season and steelhead fishing and salmon fishing season. We usually have four or five guys there for several weeks at a time from October to February. The screens I use are literally like Micron size holes in it so nothing gets through it except water.
Put your barrels on a sturdy platform so you keep your storage space. It will also improve gravity flow.
years ago the gutters had a diverter. you would let it rain a while and flush the gutters clean, then divert the water to the cistern.
Looks great!
Dude market place in Facebook someone is always selling rain barrels for around 20. I bought 3 that were used for vinegar. And all I had to do was powerwash them and then hook up the hardware like this guy did.
There're systems that indeed require you to do a cutout on the downspout but they have a diagonal screen that will divert debris out of the downspout, allowing water to pass through. Depending on the system, the overrun of the barrels returns to the downspout at the same spot or you need a 2nd hole for it. For the first system, the piping from downspout to the barrels of course needs to be level and there shouldn't be an overflow system in the barrels themselves.