I love your idea to put the barrels on the side and to take advantage of the proximity of the holes in the top!!! I got my barrels for free and I just need to purchase the PVC materials! This layout is the one that makes the most sense to me. I have 30 barrels and I have been thinking about how to place and line them up in a way that is not too ugly for the neighbors to see. Thank you so much for the great idea!!! Susan
Great looking rack of barrels, I might suggest the incoming water be fed into the top of the first barrel secondary to the incoming water not lifting the weight of the water to fill the top barrels. Secondly If you are near an earthquake zone, find some strapping material to go around all the barrels. Your problem with the white tank could be fixed with connecting a clear vinyl tube between the upper and lower water lines. Great job even if you don't change a thing.
Very nicely done. Thanks for sharing. I would add a second valve on the discharge and only use the outside valve on a regular basis. That way if the outside valve ever has a problem (like leaking) you can shut off the inside valve while the bad one is changed out, and you don't have to worry about the system draining while you're doing it.
Try IBC pallet containers on your next project. holds about 250 gallons each and they are translucent so see water levels and can be plumbed in series like yours to make a chain of tanks.
You used the right kind of glue on your joints. It will not leak. I have a municipal water supply running a landscape sprinkler system. There is 95 PSI in the supply line and there are no leaks because I used the same kind of joint glue you did. Looks fantastic. Thank you for sharing your work with us.
I love your idea of the barrel system. It will be great in water-restricted areas, or water rationing places during fire seasons. Plus there are places that charge to use city water.
Great build! However, you didn't have to connect the barrels at the top, only at the bottom. Water will level out through the bottom pipes alone. Very nicely done.
Thank you so much for sharing both these videos (parts one and two). I really appreciate being able to see your set up and hear your experiences. Best wishes to you and yours.
Very impressed, not only with your system but with the interest others are showing. I, too, presumed you are living in a freeze-free area. I would like to point out that it is not the water in the barrels that you need to worry about freezing unless you live in an area that has sustained, subzero temperatures. It is more likely to be the plumbing that will freeze. I do not have an answer for that, although many of the suggestions here are promising. Good R&D. Thanks for sharing.
Nice system. #1: I would disconnect the very top horizontal pipes (unnecessary) and leave the same holes as vent holes. #2: With so many barrels filled with water, I would stand them up vertically (minimize movements and eliminates the bottom support) and there will be plenty of pressure to water the far end of your garden. #3: Dedicate 1 barrel as a filter with rocks, gravels, and sand. Again...nice system!
I love this! Thank you so much for showing this... I want to build a rainwater system at my house and I love this setup... un million de gracias! Charlie
Great video! We can see that you are very passionate. It's a wonder gift that natures gives us and more people should make use of it. We are starting to think about installing the rain barrels and your video is great encouragement. Thank you and lets all do what we can to use natural resources.
I like you set up. What you should do now is add a catchment system to the top of your barrels. There's a lot of square feet of space that is being missed.
Most of the ones I've seen have a knock-out or drill-out section in the middle of the plug. There are already threads in the plug for a 3/4" pipe to screw in to. Just don't damage those threads when you remove the center section of the plug. If it has to be drilled, you will need a small hole saw/drill bit tool. Usually sold in sets. Hope that helps you.
I like your system mainly because it is so easily expanded. I would suggest you putting a tee in the bottom pipe and a tee in the top pipe connecting them with a clear tubing to see the water level. It can be a small plastic tubing, as long as you can see the water in it... and paint the whole white barrel. You will be able to see the water in teh plastic tubing much easier. Love the vid...
nice setup but a lot of us cant get the blue barrels ,i all so had a well put in and do not to collect rain any more,but you have a great setup with pressure and if i had your setup i would still collect rain water.
Your water system is Wonderful!!! Thank you so much for posting the video, it gave me information I really needed. It's a beautiful example, and looks so clean and organized. Beautiful Job! Congratulations!.
Thanks for your video and I also learned from you sir.That it is better to fill the bottom barrels first and then the top barrels next.And the next I'm going to build is elevated up to 5 feet high to create pressure.
absolutely great system! if you do add a clear pipe to check your water level, make sure you cover it with dark insulation foam or it will grow algae - just passing on what i have learned so far :)
Really like your video! I enjoyed hearing your ideas and creations, thank you for sharing. I Have a few comments you may find helpful. If you put the barrels level with each other, instead of at an angle, the water will still fill the barrels from bottom to top due to the effect of gravity pushing the entire mass of water to the lowest level. Building in this way will help distribute the load on your structure and still provide you with the same amount of water pressure. Thanks & stay Fresh
Great video and system. I'm in the works to perfect a rain barrel system at my house. This was very helpful and you make great points. It's like I always say. Let's all learn from each other. Joe Tactical
Thanks for the tip on the ball valve instead of the brass faucet. I think the ball valve also has better flow - before you install you can see right through from one end to the other when open - NOT like the faucet!
I like your idea about the tape over a small section of the white barrel (which you're going to paint) to indicate the water level. That would be a great (and cheap )improvement which should come in all water barrels- a small clear section with a removable cover.
I really love your system and instead of painting the white barrel just put a blue one in and get two half inch elbows that will seal to your barrel drill a hole and seal the elbow on the top and one on the bottom barrel then you clamp a clear pipe on the top and bottom barrel then you can see your level of water a lot better then trying to look at a dark barrel great way to save our water for the time of extra droughts.....Tim
use a tee anywhere on your pipeline amongst the barrels on the low point and the high point in the top row and put a length of clear pvc between the tees -instatnt sight glass! good luck
Really good. I have around 500 gallon system using a 275 & a bunch of barrels. This is much nicer cause your using the cheaper blue barrels. I found out the hard way that you can't use the white barrels in the sun as it quickly grows algae too, but you figured a very smart tape off system. Very smart. How do you keep the lids from popping off? Glued them? Very impressive! Thanks for posting!!!
next time use a blue barrels at the end and use the white top to see what you have in the barrel or use a clear pipe that gos up from a tee and cap the top to show you about what you have but all in all it looks good as for that PVC pipe in the sun you can put the Foam Pipe Insulation and rap with duck tape you did a grate job I hope that it works well for you so good to see that others are trying to do there part to save the world thank you for doing your part
In your video you mention that you use the white barrel so you can see the water level in the system. I had that problem with my carpet cleaner and I solved it by adding a sight tube. It's simply a 90 degree elbow at the bottom of the tank connected to another 90 degree elbow at the top of the tank using a clear vinyl tube. As the water drops in the tanks it will also drop in the tube... Just a suggestion
@dagobertoposada Great setup ,I heard you mention the use of the white barrel to see the level of water.Could i suggest connecting a clear plastic pipe to one of the lower barrels and also connect near the top of the higher barrels water will fill the clear tube to show you the water level,you could even put a brightly coloured ball in the clear tube to make the level more visible.the ball would float inside the clear tube.
When full will those top barrels be to heavy to rest on the bottom barrels? It seems they should have some support other than the other barrels. Very nice though.
great video and great idea...how did you solve the venting issue? I can't quite tell from the video, after all, me thinks the air inside the barrels has to go somewhere....I would have to take into consideration our freezing temps in the winter...not sure I I could insulate and outside set-up enough to keep it from freezing
I love your set up! Brilliant acually. I would like to see how you divert your water to your garden and trees. Do you have a irrigation system or do you hose water? Thanks for the tip on the white barrel...I didn't know that white could cause alge issues. Eastern Washington State
Dagoberto, estaria super si pusieras el mismo video con audio en español para los chicos de america latina que no dominan el ingles, excelente trabajo, saludos desde Puerto Rico :D
@aphile2 I tought obout that too, ridgit pipes, but, if down the road happen will fix it thats the beauty of been handy guy . no problem. just don't put to much glue. good luck with your project
great job! comment by peepthezoobazz would top it off. just tie in a vertical pipe line that goes to clear tubing that is capped and vented that reaches above overflow. The use for that is good because you have such a nice collection system and the nature of your total volume of collection. Excellent work. plan on using as model. thanks for posting!
Thanks. Im going to do these types of barrels and plumbing as well, just 5 barrels.. but this was helpful. Did you make oneon the sizes & directions of plumbing &attachment? I know this vid is older. Ill check your others.
@sly2kusa if you look at the orietation of the barrel tops, the white barrel is the lowest in the series. Each barrel back toward the wall is higher that the one forward. the white barrel fills first and empties last. The overflow for the entire system is on the back top barrel.
Simple answer, empty the entire system. If you are outside it might help use black barrels in full sun and maybe even build a cold frame around it much like you would for plants. You could also use aquarium heaters or pond heaters, but you risk failure and freezing with power outage. This would be costly, but to run a green house all year would make it worth it. Actually, black barrels filled with water help heat a green house too, so..... just put them inside the green house for dual purpose.
I liked your first video. I LOVE this one! Great system. I want to build one. I have bought the barrels but need to know what pipe fittings,pipe sizes, etc. you used and how you connected the fitting to the bongs. I look forward to getting your reply. I'm excited!
I really like this setup...so much I am looking at doing my own. My concerns: 1. Will the pvc not crack 2. I am thinking about having 19 barrels on my system (thats 8725 lbs of water)...and I'm not sure what kind of base to do 3. Will my 9 barrels on the top (4,133 lbs) not crush the lower level of drums?
I like your setup. It gives you a lot of storage in a minimum area. A couple of comments. 1. you could use a filtration system to keep trash from the gutters blocking the pipes. important because the piping is glued together and not easily accessible if a pipe becomes plugged. 2. a clear glass or plastic tube ofe the correct diameter could sufice as a sight glass and allow the final barrel to be colored to avoid algae growth. I am curious how long you can get by with 600 or so gallons of stored water?
Great System! How do you keep the water from back flowing out from your source? I see that the source pipe goes to the bottoms of the barrels and then fills it going up. Im just wondering how rain coming from the gutters is suppose to have enough force to push the existing water through the pipes and up through the system. Thanks a lot!
I love your idea to put the barrels on the side and to take advantage of the proximity of the holes in the top!!! I got my barrels for free and I just need to purchase the PVC materials! This layout is the one that makes the most sense to me. I have 30 barrels and I have been thinking about how to place and line them up in a way that is not too ugly for the neighbors to see. Thank you so much for the great idea!!! Susan
Great looking rack of barrels, I might suggest the incoming water be fed into the top of the first barrel secondary to the incoming water not lifting the weight of the water to fill the top barrels. Secondly If you are near an earthquake zone, find some strapping material to go around all the barrels. Your problem with the white tank could be fixed with connecting a clear vinyl tube between the upper and lower water lines. Great job even if you don't change a thing.
Very nicely done. Thanks for sharing. I would add a second valve on the discharge and only use the outside valve on a regular basis. That way if the outside valve ever has a problem (like leaking) you can shut off the inside valve while the bad one is changed out, and you don't have to worry about the system draining while you're doing it.
This is 11 years old and so relevant!! I been searching for ideas for a specific set up and here is is!!!! God Bless you man thank you!
Try IBC pallet containers on your next project. holds about 250 gallons each and they are translucent so see water levels and can be plumbed in series like yours to make a chain of tanks.
You used the right kind of glue on your joints. It will not leak. I have a municipal water supply running a landscape sprinkler system. There is 95 PSI in the supply line and there are no leaks because I used the same kind of joint glue you did. Looks fantastic. Thank you for sharing your work with us.
I love your idea of the barrel system. It will be great in water-restricted areas, or water rationing places during fire seasons. Plus there are places that charge to use city water.
I've been researching these water barrel systems here for my future project and you have definitely got the ultimate super system!
Great build! However, you didn't have to connect the barrels at the top, only at the bottom. Water will level out through the bottom pipes alone.
Very nicely done.
Love the horizontal layout! It's so practical and neat.
And I didn't think about the "blue" being used for preventing algae.
Clicked on video for the dog. Impressive water collection system!
Thank you so much for sharing both these videos (parts one and two).
I really appreciate being able to see your set up and hear your experiences.
Best wishes to you and yours.
I love your idea of the barrel system. It will be great in water-restricted areas, or water rationing places during fire seasons.
Very impressed, not only with your system but with the interest others are showing. I, too, presumed you are living in a freeze-free area. I would like to point out that it is not the water in the barrels that you need to worry about freezing unless you live in an area that has sustained, subzero temperatures. It is more likely to be the plumbing that will freeze. I do not have an answer for that, although many of the suggestions here are promising. Good R&D. Thanks for sharing.
You are the rain barrel god. Best system ever..can't wait to build mine
Nice system. #1: I would disconnect the very top horizontal pipes (unnecessary) and leave the same holes as vent holes. #2: With so many barrels filled with water, I would stand them up vertically (minimize movements and eliminates the bottom support) and there will be plenty of pressure to water the far end of your garden. #3: Dedicate 1 barrel as a filter with rocks, gravels, and sand. Again...nice system!
I love this! Thank you so much for showing this... I want to build a rainwater system at my house and I love this setup... un million de gracias! Charlie
You have a nice set-up. I like your horizontal stacking approach too.
great job, very interesting video, thank you for sharing your experiences to help others avoid the same mistakes, well done.
Excellent idea with the "tape trick" on the white barrel!
I liked the job you did with the storage system you made Keep up the good work.
I love the design, I am looking to build a system for my garden and this looks like the system for me. Thanks for sharing this! Goodluck!
Great video! We can see that you are very passionate. It's a wonder gift that natures gives us and more people should make use of it. We are starting to think about installing the rain barrels and your video is great encouragement. Thank you and lets all do what we can to use natural resources.
I like you set up. What you should do now is add a catchment system to the top of your barrels. There's a lot of square feet of space that is being missed.
Most of the ones I've seen have a knock-out or drill-out section in the middle of the plug. There are already threads in the plug for a 3/4" pipe to screw in to. Just don't damage those threads when you remove the center section of the plug. If it has to be drilled, you will need a small hole saw/drill bit tool. Usually sold in sets. Hope that helps you.
Very well done video.. Hope you have lots of great vegetables..
AWESOME JOB!!! THANKS FOR THE GREAT SYSTEM,GAVE ME SOME GREAT IDEAS FOR MY SYSTEM.THANKS FOR YOUR POSTING!!!!
This is phenomenal!! Thank you so much! I have been looking for just this set up.
I like your system mainly because it is so easily expanded. I would suggest you putting a tee in the bottom pipe and a tee in the top pipe connecting them with a clear tubing to see the water level. It can be a small plastic tubing, as long as you can see the water in it... and paint the whole white barrel. You will be able to see the water in teh plastic tubing much easier. Love the vid...
Please show how you collect the rain water from your roof top gutters into the large pipe that leads to your barrels. Thanks, good job!
You've done a great job! I would love to build what you have. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
nice setup but a lot of us cant get the blue barrels ,i all so had a well put in and do not to collect rain any more,but you have a great setup with pressure and if i had your setup i would still collect rain water.
Great video. Getting a lot of great ideas for my system.
Your water system is Wonderful!!! Thank you so much for posting the video, it gave me information I really needed. It's a beautiful example, and looks so clean and organized. Beautiful Job! Congratulations!.
you are awsom ...thanks for this ...your are helping your fellow man...I wish more people would where like you...I am learning because of you
Very impressive. Great job. Thanks for sharing.
Alot of ways this can be done, As long as it works its the rigth way, Looks good to me , Thanks for the video, AL
Thanks for your video and I also learned from you sir.That it is better to fill the bottom barrels first and then the top barrels next.And the next I'm going to build is elevated up to 5 feet high to create pressure.
Well thought out and built. Great job guy...give the dog a pat on the head for me.
absolutely great system!
if you do add a clear pipe to check your water level, make sure you cover it with dark insulation foam or it will grow algae - just passing on what i have learned so far :)
Really like your video! I enjoyed hearing your ideas and creations, thank you for sharing. I Have a few comments you may find helpful.
If you put the barrels level with each other, instead of at an angle, the water will still fill the barrels from bottom to top due to the effect of gravity pushing the entire mass of water to the lowest level. Building in this way will help distribute the load on your structure and still provide you with the same amount of water pressure. Thanks & stay Fresh
Great video and system. I'm in the works to perfect a rain barrel system at my house. This was very helpful and you make great points. It's like I always say. Let's all learn from each other. Joe Tactical
Thanks for the tip on the ball valve instead of the brass faucet. I think the ball valve also has better flow - before you install you can see right through from one end to the other when open - NOT like the faucet!
I like your idea about the tape over a small section of the white barrel (which you're going to paint) to indicate the water level. That would be a great (and cheap )improvement which should come in all water barrels- a small clear section with a removable cover.
Dagoberto:
Te felicito. La idea es maravillosa y pienso crear uno en el futuro. Te cuento pronto
Tomas Elvir
Awesome system. Nice plumbing job!!
I really love your system and instead of painting the white barrel just put a blue one in and get two half inch elbows that will seal to your barrel drill a hole and seal the elbow on the top and one on the bottom barrel then you clamp a clear pipe on the top and bottom barrel then you can see your level of water a lot better then trying to look at a dark barrel great way to save our water for the time of extra droughts.....Tim
use a tee anywhere on your pipeline amongst the barrels on the low point and the high point in the top row and put a length of clear pvc between the tees -instatnt sight glass! good luck
The video was great. I have watched a few videos and by far yours is the best
yes thats great system you are no 1 best video
Really good. I have around 500 gallon system using a 275 & a bunch of barrels. This is much nicer cause your using the cheaper blue barrels. I found out the hard way that you can't use the white barrels in the sun as it quickly grows algae too, but you figured a very smart tape off system. Very smart. How do you keep the lids from popping off? Glued them? Very impressive! Thanks for posting!!!
Very nice video thanks for taking the time to put it up.
next time use a blue barrels at the end and use the white top to see what you have in the barrel or use a clear pipe that gos up from a tee and cap the top to show you about what you have but all in all it looks good as for that PVC pipe in the sun you can put the Foam Pipe Insulation and rap with duck tape you did a grate job I hope that it works well for you so good to see that others are trying to do there part to save the world thank you for doing your part
Great idea, I plan on doing this in the near future
best collection video I've seen, great job
Great job. Really like it
In your video you mention that you use the white barrel so you can see the water level in the system. I had that problem with my carpet cleaner and I solved it by adding a sight tube. It's simply a 90 degree elbow at the bottom of the tank connected to another 90 degree elbow at the top of the tank using a clear vinyl tube. As the water drops in the tanks it will also drop in the tube... Just a suggestion
...i like your design...
I really liked this, felt inspired to go about setting up my own system. Glad you shared this.
Nice system! I would love to have one like this under my deck.
Good Job I really like it.
Thank you this is a very nice system I will copy your work good job
Can you show what parts did you use to connect each barrel? It will be great if you could show step by step to build the system. Thanks.
Nice job. I like the layout.
Really fantastic !
@dagobertoposada Great setup ,I heard you mention the use of the white barrel to see the level of water.Could i suggest connecting a clear plastic pipe to one of the lower barrels and also connect near the top of the higher barrels water will fill the clear tube to show you the water level,you could even put a brightly coloured ball in the clear tube to make the level more visible.the ball would float inside the clear tube.
Bravo! Thanks for sharing! I'll be incorping some of these brilliant ideas!
Man you are one slick dude, thanks for sharing this.
When full will those top barrels be to heavy to rest on the bottom barrels? It seems they should have some support other than the other barrels. Very nice though.
great video and great idea...how did you solve the venting issue? I can't quite tell from the video, after all, me thinks the air inside the barrels has to go somewhere....I would have to take into consideration our freezing temps in the winter...not sure I I could insulate and outside set-up enough to keep it from freezing
very good job man....gave me great ideas for my own project
Absolutely incredible. Can't wait to own my own home so I can try this
I love your set up! Brilliant acually. I would like to see how you divert your water to your garden and trees. Do you have a irrigation system or do you hose water? Thanks for the tip on the white barrel...I didn't know that white could cause alge issues.
Eastern Washington State
VERY VERY NICE! I LOVE IT!
Dagoberto, estaria super si pusieras el mismo video con audio en español para los chicos de america latina que no dominan el ingles, excelente trabajo, saludos desde Puerto Rico :D
@aphile2 I tought obout that too, ridgit pipes, but, if down the road happen will fix it thats the beauty of been handy guy . no problem. just don't put to much glue. good luck with your project
I am going to copy your system with a different stacking system. Thanks for the information.
You just build a good rain water collecting system and thank you for sharing it.. My only comment is Can this barrels hold the pressure ?
great job! comment by peepthezoobazz would top it off. just tie in a vertical pipe line that goes to clear tubing that is capped and vented that reaches above overflow. The use for that is good because you have such a nice collection system and the nature of your total volume of collection. Excellent work. plan on using as model. thanks for posting!
Thanks. Im going to do these types of barrels and plumbing as well, just 5 barrels.. but this was helpful. Did you make oneon the sizes & directions of plumbing &attachment? I know this vid is older. Ill check your others.
I like your system, but I want to see a video how did you start it. Thank you.
@sly2kusa if you look at the orietation of the barrel tops, the white barrel is the lowest in the series. Each barrel back toward the wall is higher that the one forward. the white barrel fills first and empties last. The overflow for the entire system is on the back top barrel.
Wow! Fantastic system!
Simple answer, empty the entire system. If you are outside it might help use black barrels in full sun and maybe even build a cold frame around it much like you would for plants. You could also use aquarium heaters or pond heaters, but you risk failure and freezing with power outage. This would be costly, but to run a green house all year would make it worth it. Actually, black barrels filled with water help heat a green house too, so..... just put them inside the green house for dual purpose.
Great video and I appreciate your hat tip to those that have done video before that you learned from.
Awesome! Great job!
Sweet setup !
Good job and use of resources.
I liked your first video. I LOVE this one! Great system. I want to build one. I have bought the barrels but need to know what pipe fittings,pipe sizes, etc. you used and how you connected the fitting to the bongs. I look forward to getting your reply. I'm excited!
I really like this setup...so much I am looking at doing my own. My concerns:
1. Will the pvc not crack
2. I am thinking about having 19 barrels on my system (thats 8725 lbs of water)...and I'm not sure what kind of base to do
3. Will my 9 barrels on the top (4,133 lbs) not crush the lower level of drums?
I like your setup. It gives you a lot of storage in a minimum area. A couple of comments. 1. you could use a filtration system to keep trash from the gutters blocking the pipes. important because the piping is glued together and not easily accessible if a pipe becomes plugged. 2. a clear glass or plastic tube ofe the correct diameter could sufice as a sight glass and allow the final barrel to be colored to avoid algae growth. I am curious how long you can get by with 600 or so gallons of stored water?
Great Job!!
You're doing great!!!
wow! Great system! Nice job with the piping. Im gonna do that =b
very well done! I am doing something similar...but a few less barrels. Where is the overflow, if all barrels get full?
Great ideas and advice!
Nice system! I hear a lot of talk about the white barrels allowing algae to grow in them though. Have you noticed that?
Great System! How do you keep the water from back flowing out from your source? I see that the source pipe goes to the bottoms of the barrels and then fills it going up. Im just wondering how rain coming from the gutters is suppose to have enough force to push the existing water through the pipes and up through the system. Thanks a lot!
Great job
Looking good.