MSP's Rain Catchment Project

[d3nni5]

OK, it rained!   Not much, between .3 and .4 inches....



I guess I don't need much.   The barrels are almost half fllled already!   Hard to tell in this picture, but the waterline is there if you look close.



So, rough calculations here, it will take about 1 inch of rain to fill my barrels from empty.   I also roughly figured the front half of my roof is about 672 sq feet.   I may to google for some equations to see what I can predict for the future, but honestly, it fills when it fills.   

I'm so happy such a little amount of rain got me as much as it did!   

[mountainmoma]

great job !

[endurance]

The calculation I've always been given is that for every 1000 square feet of roof, 1" will provide 600 gallons.  I've never checked the math on that, but based on my experience with a 240 square foot collection area and a 275 gallon IBC tote, it's in the ball park.

[d3nni5]

The calculation I've always been given is that for every 1000 square feet of roof, 1" will provide 600 gallons.  I've never checked the math on that, but based on my experience with a 240 square foot collection area and a 275 gallon IBC tote, it's in the ball park.

Yea, there seems to be no easy method to get this calculated.   I'm reading about "collection effeciency" and so forth now.   Honestly, it's not worth it other than it is sort of a fun puzzle to solve.   "Ball park" is all I need.   I may need to climb up on the roof and measure it now .

At your rate, that is .6 gallons per sq ft, per 1" of rain.  So I got .4" of rain last night, that filled me to about 100 gallons.   

.6 (gallons) x 672 (sq feet) x.4 (inches of rain last night)=161.28 gallons.    So, given this equation my collection efficency is about 61%, that's if my #'s are right.   I could have less sq feet and my rain gauge is the cheapest they make .   

Another factor at play here....is my diverter capable of gathering 100% of the runoff? I don't think so, I think most of the water I'm losing is simply because the diverter can't keep up and the overflow is going into the downspout.   The rest of my system should be big enough not to bottleneck the flow into the barrels.

But again, "ballparking" it is all i really need.   And if I can fill it up every time it rains an inch, I'm a happy camper.  We get on average about 4 inches of rain per month in the summer.   That means I can, on average, drain the system once a week and expect it to refill.

[d3nni5]

Another burst from the clouds this morning.....and its full.   Wow it fills fast.

[nkawtg]

Rain is nice!
Vegas sucks....

[endurance]

Another burst from the clouds this morning.....and its full.   Wow it fills fast.

Cool!

[Perfesser]

Nice work. Maybe a bit of overkill on the piping and valves but nice workmanship. I used 3/4" NPT standard garden hose valves, garden hose header (4 outlets screw on a standard valve), short hoses or washing machine supply lines(2 female ends on a short hose). 

Re: first flush
I happened to be in the box store and found that a plastic toilet tank float fits just inside a 3 or 4"PVC pipe. You would have to make the rest up as you go but the only hard part is to find a good sturdy float ball.

[d3nni5]

I added a first flush system today.   My gutters needed cleaned out, it was the first time in 6 years I have needed to do that.   The neighbor's maple tree really had an abnormal amount of those "helicopter" seeds this year.   I found them clogging my downspouts on both front and back gutters.    So I decided to add this just as a saftey measure.   Probably more overkill, but it wasn't much money and I had fun building it.

[Denny27]

How about a little detail on the first flush. I'm looking to add that to mine, but not sure how.

[d3nni5]

How about a little detail on the first flush. I'm looking to add that to mine, but not sure how.

My first flush was very simple.   I put a 2" threaded T, opening it up to a 4 inch pipe.    The bottom is just a temporary cap that I glued in.   I can unscrew it at the "T" and dump it out.

I did not put a ball (float) valve in mine, although it really should have one to make it a better flush.  Like this...




I do not have many trees around my house, and get very little gutter debris.   I put a metal roof on my house last year, so i don't even get those asphalt crumbles anymore either.   As long as I dump it after every rain, I'm good.

I don't think you need to buy one of these per se, you can construct one yourself out of the same 2" and 4" PVC i have here, adding a 3" plastic ball from a child's toy, or perhaps one of those colored balls from a bounce house.

[archer]

cool. now i have the land, time to do a setup like this. Or shall I get a tote.. hmm.

[archer]

so i picked up a 275 gallon tote,  anyone have suggestions on how to set it up? Just clear the ground and put it there? build a base from 4x4's and gravel? put it on cinder blocks? tia.

[d3nni5]

so i picked up a 275 gallon tote,  anyone have suggestions on how to set it up? Just clear the ground and put it there? build a base from 4x4's and gravel? put it on cinder blocks? tia.

At 8 lbs a gallon, we are looking at approximately  2200 lbs full.   I would say you want to use  posts anchored in the ground past the frost line with quickcrete settings.   The problem here is the ground sinking or shifting, then you got a whole lot of water sloshing around.   I worried about the cinder blocks shifting when I set up my system.

Another nice thing about setting posts and working from there....it is easier to level, not as much digging involved.   

[endurance]

so i picked up a 275 gallon tote,  anyone have suggestions on how to set it up? Just clear the ground and put it there? build a base from 4x4's and gravel? put it on cinder blocks? tia.

I have two underground, two above ground. The underground ones are on a scraped flat pad, the above ground ones are just on cleared ground with some bricks and cinderblocks used to help level them. They're a big heavy box of water. If yours have the 2" threaded fittings, you are set. Everything you need from there is at the hardware store. If it's that proprietary thread, I used one of those 2" to 2" rubber low pressure thingies with the hose clamps on each end to get to 2" PVC. Once you're at 2" PVC, you have options to go to 3/4" garden hose fairly easily.

[archer]

It has the clamp on hose fittings and the guy who picked it up for me got that also. Now I just need to flatten out the ground. I'd rather not have it fall over...

[endurance]

It has the clamp on hose fittings and the guy who picked it up for me got that also. Now I just need to flatten out the ground. I'd rather not have it fall over...

I've abused mine badly. They're not truly level, they get full sun in the mornings, and one froze solid three winters in a row. They're a lot tougher than they look. I was shocked when they froze and the valve didn't burst.

[scoob]

For the benefit of those that don't know anything about plumbing, the rubber couplings
are typically called "Fernco" couplings.  Fernco is the Q-Tip of couplings. 
They look like this:



You can get them them from the big box:

Home Depot 2" Fernco

It's a good idea to keep one or two of different sizes around the home or homestead.  Hint-hint.