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.
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.
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!
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
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
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.
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 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
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.
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
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...
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.
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.
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.
@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
@theafrodude22 i Like your idea of the pit in the back yard, i think in a pit with concrete on all four sides but no concrete at the botton and a cover of wood like a deck. and I just learned that if you throw in a few pennis in the waters, you prevent mosquito infestation, one more thing. the City of Los angeles is giving away on more trash container, i mean water container they now want to push people to save rain water. we are ahead , we are smarter than them. right
To get allot more pressure you can put a car tire vale stem into barrow, that will allow you to pressure-rise your barrows with an air compressor ,it works great.
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 :)
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
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!
@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.
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
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.
On the last water container, put 2 connectors & a clear rubber tube, to make a water level indicator, cover most of the pipe with black pvc tape, just leave a view stripe pointing in to the shade.
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
Well , it's a good stuff there. I do have some advice for u. First , u got to do some protection for those plastic materials inculd pvc pipe, mostly from sun light. Second , do u have a winter there, if u do ,u'better releas all the water from it.
fabuloso! me encanto tu video. deberias publicarlo subtitulado en espanol. en algunas partes de mi pais Mexico no hay agua. tenemos sequia y cualquien gota de lluvia se podria guardar y utilizar para riego. Dios te bendiga. y gracias
plumb in a piece of clear pipe vertically between your 2 horizontal rows and you'll be able to see the level of the water. Just make sure the clear pipe extends to the top and bottoms of your containers.
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!
Using this for irrigation is great but you also might want to get with a plumper and see if you can by installing a small pump system isolate your water closet(s) another way to reduce your governmnet water bill.
@mpgofly put a filter, like some large stainless steel chinese-made all purpose kitchen sieve between your roof drain and your barrel, so the water in the barrel would only be riffraff free. look online for lots of ideas, others use sand filters
Instead of the white barrel, to learn how much water is in the system, you could add a capped vertical pipe from the lower pipe system and then use a dip-stick to see how much water is in it.
@1972landcruiser : an easier way of knowing the water level is to connect the top and bottom pipes on the lower level container with a see through pipe.
Great job. But their is a problem with this system,there were no drains installed for the removal of dirts and the pipe from main down to the bottom is already useless since the middle line will already fill the bottom barrels.
I'd had gone with 6 - 8 concrete pads 2' x 2' in size and some made piers from solid 8" blocks, then a network of 8" timbers over those. Image a fully loaded F250 sitting atop this and one can imagine how much weight this structure need support.
very cute accent.....did you do that video where the cat is massaging a dog? just curious, sounds just like you... but anyway, thank you for sharing this video, your system is very impressive! Nice work!
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.
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.
Love the horizontal layout! It's so practical and neat.
And I didn't think about the "blue" being used for preventing algae.
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!
Clicked on video for the dog. Impressive water collection system!
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've been researching these water barrel systems here for my future project and you have definitely got the ultimate super system!
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
I liked the job you did with the storage system you made Keep up the good work.
yes thats great system you are no 1 best video
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
Very well done video.. Hope you have lots of great vegetables..
Very impressive. Great job. Thanks for sharing.
Very nice video thanks for taking the time to put it up.
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
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 are the rain barrel god. Best system ever..can't wait to build mine
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.
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 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
VERY VERY NICE! I LOVE IT!
Good Job I really like it.
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.
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
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
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...
Great ideas and advice!
Really fantastic !
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 am going to copy your system with a different stacking system. Thanks for the information.
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.
Great job
Great job. Really like it
Great setup.
great job, very interesting video, thank you for sharing your experiences to help others avoid the same mistakes, well done.
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!
very nice storage system.
Excellent idea with the "tape trick" on the white barrel!
very good job man....gave me great ideas for my own project
Great idea, I plan on doing this in the near future
Dagoberto:
Te felicito. La idea es maravillosa y pienso crear uno en el futuro. Te cuento pronto
Tomas Elvir
Great Job!!!!
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.
@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
Very nice.
@theafrodude22 i Like your idea of the pit in the back yard, i think in a pit with concrete on all four sides but no concrete at the botton and a cover of wood like a deck. and I just learned that if you throw in a few pennis in the waters, you prevent mosquito infestation, one more thing. the City of Los angeles is giving away on more trash container, i mean water container they now want to push people to save rain water. we are ahead , we are smarter than them. right
Great!!!!!!
que buena idea para almacenar agua de lluvia
To get allot more pressure you can put a car tire vale stem into barrow, that will allow you to pressure-rise your barrows with an air compressor ,it works great.
Awesome!
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 :)
Very nice
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
good work. a+
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!
@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.
Good Job
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
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.
Exellent/Exelente
On the last water container, put 2 connectors & a clear rubber tube, to make a water level indicator, cover most of the pipe with black pvc tape, just leave a view stripe pointing in to the shade.
wow! Great system! Nice job with the piping. Im gonna do that =b
Well thought out and built. Great job guy...give the dog a pat on the head for me.
best collection video I've seen, great job
Great video. Getting a lot of great ideas for my system.
Good job!
The video was great. I have watched a few videos and by far yours is the best
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
That's a creative set up.
Well , it's a good stuff there. I do have some advice for u. First , u got to do some protection for those plastic materials inculd pvc pipe, mostly from sun light. Second , do u have a winter there, if u do ,u'better releas all the water from it.
Excellent. :)
I love the whole system, any filtration? O and every man needs a dog. Go Crisco
Great video primo. :))))
fabuloso! me encanto tu video. deberias publicarlo subtitulado en espanol. en algunas partes de mi pais Mexico no hay agua. tenemos sequia y cualquien gota de lluvia se podria guardar y utilizar para riego. Dios te bendiga. y gracias
I really liked this, felt inspired to go about setting up my own system. Glad you shared this.
Wow! Fantastic system!
Great Job! Thanks for Sharing! Viva Cuzco!
Muy bueno. Voy a hacer algo parecido pero con dos tanques IBC (cubos) de 1000 litros cada uno!
the doggie is cute
Absolutely incredible. Can't wait to own my own home so I can try this
What a great job. That's very impressive bro
plumb in a piece of clear pipe vertically between your 2 horizontal rows and you'll be able to see the level of the water. Just make sure the clear pipe extends to the top and bottoms of your containers.
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!
Nice job. I like the layout.
Your setup looks a lot better than most I've seen so far
Nice system! I would love to have one like this under my deck.
yay! nice bideo!
Using this for irrigation is great but you also might want to get with a plumper and see if you can by installing a small pump system isolate your water closet(s) another way to reduce your governmnet water bill.
Thank you this is a very nice system I will copy your work good job
Dang, that's like 7,000 pounds. I hope your support is solid. If you have kids, warn them never to go under there
@mpgofly put a filter, like some large stainless steel chinese-made all purpose kitchen sieve between your roof drain and your barrel, so the water in the barrel would only be riffraff free. look online for lots of ideas, others use sand filters
Awesome! Great job!
Instead of the white barrel, to learn how much water is in the system, you could add a capped vertical pipe from the lower pipe system and then use a dip-stick to see how much water is in it.
Great video and I appreciate your hat tip to those that have done video before that you learned from.
@1972landcruiser : an easier way of knowing the water level is to connect the top and bottom pipes on the lower level container with a see through pipe.
Great job. But their is a problem with this system,there were no drains installed for the removal of dirts and the pipe from main down to the bottom is already useless since the middle line will already fill the bottom barrels.
I'd had gone with 6 - 8 concrete pads 2' x 2' in size and some made piers from solid 8" blocks, then a network of 8" timbers over those. Image a fully loaded F250 sitting atop this and one can imagine how much weight this structure need support.
good stuff
very cute accent.....did you do that video where the cat is massaging a dog? just curious, sounds just like you... but anyway, thank you for sharing this video, your system is very impressive! Nice work!