Rainwater Collection

Devonviolet

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We had an exhausting, busy day yesterday!

Today we are having rain all day. Since we got the water totes last week, we wanted to get them set up to start our rainwater collection.

Before we could do that we had to drive to town (Sulphur Springs) to get some supplies, at Lowe's, to hook our gutters into the totes. Last week, we we went to Home Depot & bought 32 - 8X16" cinder blocks to set the totes up on.

The totes needed to be rinsed well, before using, because they had contained phosphates, which are water soluable. We have been assured that giving a really good rinse makes the totes safe for potable water. So, we can use that water for watering our garden & use with our aquaponics system.

The plan was to set up 2 totes on each side of the roof, at the downspout, to collect the runoff from the gutters. We also wanted to set up 3 - 55 gallon food grade barrels, to collect water being pumped out of the crawl space.

By the time we finished the first two, it was 6:30 pm. We decided to get the barrels set up, for crawlspace water, since we have gotten up to q2 inches of water down there after a heavy rain. I had already put 8 - 12" concrete patio blocks thare, but they needed to be leveled with dirt. Only 2 of the barrels fit there, and we were too tired & in too much pain, from all the heavy lifting. Each one of the totes weighs at least 100+ pounds + we moved 12 cinder blocks (each about 31 pounds) & the patio blocks, and washed out 2 totes & 2 barrels.

It was getting dark, but I was able to get these 2 photos:
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This morning I got these photos, of the tops of the totes, from the porch:
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Devonviolet

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When you have 2 or more totes together, it's helpful to daisy chain them together. A man, that was selling totes, sent me the following photos, of the way he daisy chains his together:
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thistlebloom

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This is so interesting. I've considered collecting from my equipment shed roof but never got past the thinking stage.
How do you direct water into successive totes/barrels? Are there connecting pipes at the top?
 

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