I bought a broken 1000 gallon milk storage tank for $1000 for one of my storage tanks. I like these because they have an inch or so of insulation and also I feel safer storing my water in stainless. Just some ideas for my fellow homestead homies :) You guys ROCK!!!!!!!
Another good video Doug and Stacy, keep them coming. Testing the water where ever you live is a good idea so you know for sure what is in it. One year in a little town on Long Island NY Nassau County, took a look into the town water tank and found dead birds floating in the water. Instead of pulling the dead birds out they added more chemicals to the water. This water goes to over 8000 homes and a number of business in the town. Plus most of the town wells on Long Island had to be shut down because of all those people trying to kill those dandelions, termites, potato grubs and they put other chemicals as well. They didn't think what they put on top of the grown would leches down into the water supply when it rains. Now for collecting rain water, it not just about the few birds that would fly over the roof but also all the air planes, acid rain, pollution from factories, crop dusting planes, and anything that can go into the clouds and fall down as rain. Look at what happen in Japan with their nuclear power plate it blow up and released all that radiation into the air, then it rained the radiation down on Tokyo miles away. So in order to know what type of filters to put on the line you really need to know what is in the water, even if you only test the water once or every other year. You go through all the trouble of growing your food and taking every step to be healthy why stop short with the water.
Aloha, when we lived on the Big Island, Hilo side, our water was catchment. We had several in line filters, for microbes, sulfuric acid, etc. People there told us about the few times water hauling was necessary but we were fortunate not to have draught conditions. Our rain fall average for a year worked out to 180".
When the volcanic fog hung around because the tradewinds died, the rain became infused with sulfuric acid. That filter was the most expensive and needed replacement frequently. For the better part of our time on Moku 'O Keawe, the tradewinds kept blow ing the cog away and the water was delicious.
I'm thinking of catching water directly when it rains without using pipes. Do I still need a filter for keeping out microbes, and how would a filter(s) be installed if no pipes are used?
I'm so lucky I live in a tiny town because they don't gripe about me harvesting rain water I hooked up 55 gallon black barrels under each gutter down spout besides the bottled water we save inside. gives me a lot relief knowing I have this and usually once a year before a big rain I'll drain the barrels so we can get some fresh rain water just like with our food preps we need to rotate out the old water for fresh water really important
You can siphon plumb 55 gallon barrels to add as many barrels as you have space for. This takes no plumbing skills just gluing PVC together. Chances are there is way more water coming to the barrel than you gather in the 55 gallon barrel. When you siphon plumb the barrels they fill and empty at the same level. All you do is get PVC two vertical pieces that go most the way to the bottom of the barrel And enough out the top for cross piece (this is important that they don't go all the way down or you lose the siphon) One piece to cover the distance form barrel to barrel. Two 90 degree connectors. Glue all the pieces in a U shape. Then use a cork with an eye-screw with string attached. Turn U shape PVC upward and fill with water. Stop PVC with corks with string attached. Make sure you have enough water in the barrels to submerge the corked ends and turn U shape PVC into the barrels. Knock out the cork and the barrels will fill and empty the same time. I used a cheap yard stick from the hardware store to uncork the pipe. I drilled a hole in the yard stick and ran the string through the hole then I could uncork the PVC and away we go to water collection. Very inexpensive...a beautiful hillbilly like method. God Bless!
I use my unfiltered rainwater for dishes and showers. Just picked up big berkey filters so that will save me trips to town to buy bottled water for drinking. Hoping Missouri winters will provide enough rainfall. Seemed pretty dry this last winter.
Interesting comment section today :/ Anywho , just my observation with rain vs city water. Get a water barrel, if you cannot tell what it does to one's body. Water some of your plants with the city water hose in the yard, and water a separate section with rain water. Your plants will def tell you which is better, js. Thank you for the info as always :)
We used to live out of town for 14 years and had only rain water, but because of little rain we had to buy water every year except 2. We had a filter in the line into the house and always had the sweetest water. Moved in to town and had to put a filter on the kitchen line and we now have sweet water again.
Hey Doug. Two questions. Your video depicts when you have gone awhile without significant water or snow fall. Do you have a "relief valve" if you get too much water intake? Second: Do you have a way to clean out the first flush tank? Over time, it seems that debris will collect in that tank without screening or something. Great Videos.
What a great tip. I never knew that. We have rainwater and town water separate and didn't realise that mixing them would be a problem. Great video, well edited and links work.
Thanks Doug. Just a thought...do you think if you connected another tank below the rainwater tanks with a cutoff switch value, you could utilize "city water" in the same pipe system without it going thru the main tanks, if it became necessary? That way it would be connected to the house yet not ruin your existing good water. It may not be cost effective for you at this time.
Hey Doug, Thanks for the Tip. We live in city in So.Cal. We do have Six 55gal drums with water for when the Fan Gets Hit, but being here in the city to reduce our water usage our washer drains into another 55gal drum and we water our grass with it. we've been doing this for about 2 years now and our grass doesn't seem to mind, in fact we have green grass while many of our neighbors don't. you can do a lot with Gray Water. I do catch rain water off our patio cover to feed our edibles but have not yet put in a gutter system to get it off all our roof (Future Project) Thats why your channel is so cool you are always looking to better what you have. You're just a lot faster at it than me. Being 60 I don't get around so well any more, bad knees and all. But I'm still kicking and love Life. Ever morning I say "This is the BEST DAY of my LIFE the LORD still has need of me. To Tell you the truth I'm trying to be as Old as I can. Great channel love your zest for life, Very Inspiring.
Is there a way that you could fill smaller barrels with city water and temporarily hook them up to the plumbing running down to the house so that you don't have to worry about the city water and rain water mixing?
I’m in Australia and rain water tanks are the norm in most rural areas but we have a pretty low rainfall even in a good year it’s expensive to buy town water here we had a gravity system not because we were off grid but just because it made sense to have it that way black poly tanks are cheaper than the coloured tanks that you can get that match the colour of the powder coated zincalume metal sheeting on most rural house roofs we can get gutters and tanks that all match those colourbond metal so you can live in a colour coordinated home if that’s your thing
Hmm. I mix rain water and city water all the time and add it to my aquariums. The rain water has a ph of 6.8 and the city water 8.5, so I get a better ph, mixing the water. Also the city water has more buffering but it has more particles in it that will build up in an aquarium that rain water balances since it has almost no particles. I do add a bit of de-chlorinator before using it. I've been doing this for a couple years. Not a problem so far. I think you need more of an explanation than "that's what the Amish say".
Hey Doug and stacy!!! Long time viewer I love you guys channel and its extremely inspiring for me to be more self sufficient ecologically stable. Ive only got one complaint, Please consider captions even the auto generated ones and playback speed. It would make your videos more accessible to those with neurodivergent brains. Much love and keep up the hard work!
Is there a specific book about rain water harvesting you'd recommend? I'd like to read more about the details, such as not mixing rain with city. What about rain mixed with well water? Thanks for all the wonderful videos!
I guess you'd only want to put city water into one of the ranks then you can leave the other attached to the gutter. That way you don't miss out on any rain fall but can still keep the city water separated until it's gone.
Thank you for the video and information. I need ideas on how to harvest rain water without doing anything from the home's gutters or disturbing the house structure. Unfortunately, my husband is not willing to do anything to harvest water and does not want me to change anything on the home. Is there a certain type of container that I can get to just put in the yard and catch the water and store it that way? We have our own well, it is 150 ft down. But, I have no idea on how I can put something into that either. Thank you for any help!
Very Interesting - would have never imagined that could be a problem. I like what Cuba Rodriguez below said about it being the bacteria from city water that then takes over when level of Chlorine gets low. Glad we are on well water - tastes great too. But deep wells take lots of power (1-2kW day) I'm amazed you haven't had any rain - the west has been hammered.
Hi there! What do you do with the first flush water? And, what happens with the snow on the roof? Does the tank need to be empty of the rain water before filling it with city water?
We bought 2 2500 gallon black water tanks. We are elderly so we are still trying to get them attached to our gutters. the companies that we’ve asked to give us bids on setting up the system like you have have bid between $25,000 to $45,000 and that’s way out of our budget.
We've done that when in drought and have water restrictions for our garden as we live right on a river. It is very nice to have as a backup in dry times. It works great!
If that happened-I had to have city water pumped into the tanks and have to use it all up and with such a low pressure would I have to get a pump system to get ALL that water out of the tanks before collecting rain water? Good point, Doug. Thank you
Wow, so interesting. I didn't know you could have city water brought in and sure didn't know the rain water should not mix with it. What causes the water to go bad when it is mixed? Do you have to drain any remaining rain water before filling with city water? Do you have to occasionally clean or shock those tanks? It would seem that over time, they would need to be cleaned. I am thinking I would not want the city water put in the rain catchment tanks. Maybe a separate tank for that.
As always, thank you for the information & inspiration. Why didn't you consider burring these? (BTW...we are being buried in snow up here in the Ottawa, Canada area.)
seems like the chemicals etc in the city water would mix with the tank water & continue to "treat".. or maybe, it's diluted too much & it's a battle of bacteria.. things to ponder, lol.
275 or 550 gallons, I have 2500 gallon tank. Water level gets low, I go to my brothers house on city water, and get one on two ibc Totes full, and put it in my 2500 gallon tank.
what i don't like about catchment water is the bird shite on the roof.....had to do it as a kid(bleach bathwater/boil drinking water,which had some bleach in it for good measure).....i love having a well..even it needs filters ,sulfur/iron...............love your vids,,your homeplace is wonderful.............................................jda
Bermed-in Catchment Tank Farm. We need that! What's not safe, used straight, is the rainwater, anymore. Rainwater is now loaded with pollutants. Those in chemtrail areas, it's far worse. Therefore, need good filters to remove the pollutants, before using it for potable water. Municipal water has chemicals in it. Those can combine with other chemicals, or, can degrade over time. Mixing that, with rainwater and it's pollutants, can form some interesting mixtures...which you really don't want to drink or cook with. Those MUST be filtered and aerated, to get rid of them. Aeration is another step which helps the structure of water, oxygenation of water. In the old days, people used to drop sterling silver coins into their cisterns, to help kill germs. Silver is a very broad-spectrum germicidal agent [that is, it kills the longest list of different kinds of germs, than almost anything else, yet is still safe to consume][nope, you won't automatically get Argyria from it..but that's another discussion]. Some with cisterns, build up a surround of good high-fire bricks around the pump intake, then add layers of gravel and washed sand around that, to filter the water before it gets into the pipes. This helps, in cases where lids are broken or removed, and small critters might fall into the tanks...best to get those out, for sure, but many have been sloppy on that. Anyone else have experience with these?
I think the "souring" of the water comes from bacteria. City water is recycled, filtered & chemicals are added versus the rain water which is distilled naturally. The city filtration methods aren't as good as the rain being distilled, IMO, which is why the city adds chemicals to rid of bacteria & such. This is just speculation & my own opinion.
ab b City water is so much worse than if a couple birds crap. With all the added chemicals, city water is bird crap multiplied, toxins from runoff, lead, PCBs, and then they filter it claiming it safe for consumption. They add fluoride, which toxic, chlorine which is not good either and we're bathing, brushing teeth, & cooking with it. Personally, I'd rather have the rain water, even if some of the toxins are not rid by distillation either. But if you have watched Doug & Stacy's previous videos, you'd know they use a Berkey filtration system, which is one of the best out there present day. My areas have had huge water issues due to pollutants such as PCBs, where the citizens have been fighting against county & state. We have a very high cancer rate compared to the nation's statistics. Warminster, Hatboro, Warrington, & other SE PA localities. I wish people were more informed before commenting & spewing complaints. Good day & God bless!
Cuba Rodriguez no one is spewing complaints, so let's not spew religion either. have you ever tested your city's water? I'm a chemist by trade, and my cousin pumps my water. you should visit your local treatment facility and try some chemistry for yourself! as an aquarist- i keep fish- I test my water regularly, and the science doesn't lie. Our water is great! IMO fluoride too is great, and if you don't want to subscribe to the benefits of chlorination, golly... maybe just let it sit out and dechlorinate for an hour? which is waaaaaay easier for you than dealing with all the problems chlorination solves for you. I'm very sorry if your city truly has bad water... but did you test it for yourself?
ab b yes I have family that works for the same municipality I live in. We know how unsafe the water is. You are clearly uninformed about flouride, so now it's totally clear why you comment the way you do. Religion is actually part of this page & homestead, so I'm not the one bringing religion into it. It's also sad that people like yourself get offended by offering our God's blessings, as if that were some derogatory comment. SMH
Either two setups or two tanks you can isolate. First tank with the inflow from the gutter, second with the outflow to the house. If running low, isolate both tanks and pump the remaining water from tank 2 to tank or use it. Then you can use tank 2 for city water while still collecting rain water in tank 1.
So are you going to get city water and add to your tanks or not? Sounds like no, but I didn't think you said. No snow here in Central KY but we had a lot of rain in the fall and some this winter.
could you pump (the 500 gal) from one tank to the second tank (500 gal) shut off the ball valve between the tanks first and have 1000 gal in one tank and increase your pressure? if that's the way your set up?
i like the infrastructure vids. you know i need some garden clips too. shared as always , im one of your FB homies but i dont often use FB, i always share on twitter and G+
YOU HAD A VIDEO ON ADDING GRAVEL AN SCRAPPING YOUR DRIVEWAY, TALKED ABOUT USING ALMANAC CALENDER. I HAVE LOOKED ON THEIR SITE TO PURCHASE UNABLE TO FIND IT. THANK YOU, VICKI SANN
Doug, is it possible to get water from a natural source, like those guys that come and fill your pool? More than likely that water would come from springs and not city water. You say you have a well, does it have a pump hooked up to it that you can run? I guess nobody thought it would be that dry in winter, Eh? Keep the Faith.
Wow, did not know that. However, our "city" water comes from a well and they do not treat it so not sure if that would make a difference. We are in a very small town in a large county. But this is good to know as we have been playing around with the idea. The crazy thing is that some cities in some states tax people for having such a system...can you imagine having to pay your city to collect what nature provides? Talk about government overreach!
Yes, small town where they just keep doing as they always have, which happens a lot in small towns of Montana. Although the federal government has come down on the city (which of course depends on federal grants) about various issues with sewer and water procedures. So the political fun will be passed on to the citizens of course. ;)
I don't think it has to do with the mixing, I think it is the city water sitting in a tank, if it isn't circulated somehow in the tank and kept churned up, it starts to smell all by itself. Don't know why but try it, it does. It stagnates and smells, like one comment said maybe it is because the chemicals in the city water kills everything in it but doesn't remove it
Would love to get together & share but internet sketchy and even phones have been the same. Was only able to get on Facebook once and tried your instagram with no luck. LOL No radio reception either nor TV. Don’t miss that so much but some contact with outside world is important so as to prepare for volcanic eruptions or blizzards or weird weather like freezing rain or 68 below 0. Love you both and there are a few other channels and people I love and truly wish to be a blessing. Want to sell and move but don’t know where yet. I am sowing seeds with what I have.(spiritual & otherwise ) 😊 May our Daddy bless you both in this season and keep you.
Another great video hope to get our rain water catchment system put in this year. It would really save us in the late summer Her in NE Texas Thanks again Doug and Stacy GOD Bless
Question for my own info. What would a homesteader do for water, if something natural or mademade left rainfall unusable (murphy's law, I guess) .. I have a well over at the farm, but figuring out "just in case" ideas.
Doug - ( Nottingham Homie Here), If the PVC valves and connectors are in danger of splitting or rupturing, is there any benefit to be gained by replacing them with metal? probably Copper for plumbing? Or, is that prone to the same problems? Also, are there more 'cons'' to consider, other than cost. And I'm in no way treating your almost full drought conditions lightly, but if you're in the market for Snow and/or Rain, you need to have a word with Starry and Mister, they're up to their hip bones in it, literally! 😄😂
Interesting info. We have always been interested in rain water collection. You don't drink the water collected correct? Wondering why one couldnt filter the rain water with something like a berkey water filter for drinking??
Oh..I was thinking y'all had bottled drinking water for some reason. Good deal. Really interested in this. We have a windmill on our property but its not pumping right now. Wed really like to get that going. We have the tank and platform...just not in use right now. Some day. So many projects..so little time.
Just curious, why don't you put a town water barrel for your back up? That way you can keep the rain water separated and still gather in case it rains?
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I bought a broken 1000 gallon milk storage tank for $1000 for one of my storage tanks. I like these because they have an inch or so of insulation and also I feel safer storing my water in stainless. Just some ideas for my fellow homestead homies :) You guys ROCK!!!!!!!
0:08 "It's Off Grid with Doug and Stacy... and I'm Doug."
See, I like that. It's immediately clear who's Doug and who's Stacy.
Thumbs up.
There are dudes named Stacy ..... but no gals (that I know of) named Doug ...... not yet anyway!
you been checking on us? make sure we didnt name swap =)
Another good video Doug and Stacy, keep them coming.
Testing the water where ever you live is a good idea so you know for sure what is in it. One year in a little town on Long Island NY Nassau County, took a look into the town water tank and found dead birds floating in the water. Instead of pulling the dead birds out they added more chemicals to the water. This water goes to over 8000 homes and a number of business in the town. Plus most of the town wells on Long Island had to be shut down because of all those people trying to kill those dandelions, termites, potato grubs and they put other chemicals as well. They didn't think what they put on top of the grown would leches down into the water supply when it rains.
Now for collecting rain water, it not just about the few birds that would fly over the roof but also all the air planes, acid rain, pollution from factories, crop dusting planes, and anything that can go into the clouds and fall down as rain.
Look at what happen in Japan with their nuclear power plate it blow up and released all that radiation into the air, then it rained the radiation down on Tokyo miles away.
So in order to know what type of filters to put on the line you really need to know what is in the water, even if you only test the water once or every other year. You go through all the trouble of growing your food and taking every step to be healthy why stop short with the water.
BULLSEYE 🎯
Aloha, when we lived on the Big Island, Hilo side, our water was catchment. We had several in line filters, for microbes, sulfuric acid, etc. People there told us about the few times water hauling was necessary but we were fortunate not to have draught conditions. Our rain fall average for a year worked out to 180".
and you don't have to worry about your water freezing either! Aloha
When the volcanic fog hung around because the tradewinds died, the rain became infused with sulfuric acid. That filter was the most expensive and needed replacement frequently. For the better part of our time on Moku 'O Keawe, the tradewinds kept blow ing the cog away and the water was delicious.
I'm thinking of catching water directly when it rains without using pipes. Do I still need a filter for keeping out microbes, and how would a filter(s) be installed if no pipes are used?
I'm so lucky I live in a tiny town because they don't gripe about me harvesting rain water I hooked up 55 gallon black barrels under each gutter down spout besides the bottled water we save inside. gives me a lot relief knowing I have this and usually once a year before a big rain I'll drain the barrels so we can get some fresh rain water just like with our food preps we need to rotate out the old water for fresh water really important
You can siphon plumb 55 gallon barrels to add as many barrels as you have space for. This takes no plumbing skills just gluing PVC together. Chances are there is way more water coming to the barrel than you gather in the 55 gallon barrel. When you siphon plumb the barrels they fill and empty at the same level.
All you do is get PVC two vertical pieces that go most the way to the bottom of the barrel And enough out the top for cross piece (this is important that they don't go all the way down or you lose the siphon) One piece to cover the distance form barrel to barrel. Two 90 degree connectors. Glue all the pieces in a U shape. Then use a cork with an eye-screw with string attached. Turn U shape PVC upward and fill with water. Stop PVC with corks with string attached. Make sure you have enough water in the barrels to submerge the corked ends and turn U shape PVC into the barrels. Knock out the cork and the barrels will fill and empty the same time. I used a cheap yard stick from the hardware store to uncork the pipe. I drilled a hole in the yard stick and ran the string through the hole then I could uncork the PVC and away we go to water collection. Very inexpensive...a beautiful hillbilly like method.
God Bless!
I use my unfiltered rainwater for dishes and showers. Just picked up big berkey filters so that will save me trips to town to buy bottled water for drinking. Hoping Missouri winters will provide enough rainfall. Seemed pretty dry this last winter.
One winter, we also melted snow for water. Get plenty of that in Maine.
Interesting comment section today :/ Anywho , just my observation with rain vs city water. Get a water barrel, if you cannot tell what it does to one's body. Water some of your plants with the city water hose in the yard, and water a separate section with rain water. Your plants will def tell you which is better, js. Thank you for the info as always :)
We used to live out of town for 14 years and had only rain water, but because of little rain we had to buy water every year except 2. We had a filter in the line into the house and always had the sweetest water. Moved in to town and had to put a filter on the kitchen line and we now have sweet water again.
Great tip. I did not know we shouldn't mix city and gutter water. Thank you.
Why will it sour
Hey Doug. Two questions. Your video depicts when you have gone awhile without significant water or snow fall. Do you have a "relief valve" if you get too much water intake? Second: Do you have a way to clean out the first flush tank? Over time, it seems that debris will collect in that tank without screening or something. Great Videos.
What a great tip. I never knew that. We have rainwater and town water separate and didn't realise that mixing them would be a problem. Great video, well edited and links work.
Thanks Doug. Just a thought...do you think if you connected another tank below the rainwater tanks with a cutoff switch value, you could utilize "city water" in the same pipe system without it going thru the main tanks, if it became necessary? That way it would be connected to the house yet not ruin your existing good water. It may not be cost effective for you at this time.
Hey Doug, Thanks for the Tip. We live in city in So.Cal. We do have Six 55gal drums with water for when the Fan Gets Hit, but being here in the city to reduce our water usage our washer drains into another 55gal drum and we water our grass with it. we've been doing this for about 2 years now and our grass doesn't seem to mind, in fact we have green grass while many of our neighbors don't. you can do a lot with Gray Water. I do catch rain water off our patio cover to feed our edibles but have not yet put in a gutter system to get it off all our roof (Future Project) Thats why your channel is so cool you are always looking to better what you have. You're just a lot faster at it than me. Being 60 I don't get around so well any more, bad knees and all. But I'm still kicking and love Life. Ever morning I say "This is the BEST DAY of my LIFE the LORD still has need of me. To Tell you the truth I'm trying to be as Old as I can. Great channel love your zest for life, Very Inspiring.
🙏🤠👍
Good info Doug. I had no idea about the mixed water being bad!
Have You thought about getting another tank Doug? Just for the city water during drought.
Good tip. We haven't seen much snow or water in the rockies either.
Mixing city and rain causing it to sour..good to know. Thanks. Love your channel.
Is there a way that you could fill smaller barrels with city water and temporarily hook them up to the plumbing running down to the house so that you don't have to worry about the city water and rain water mixing?
Great tip! 👍🏼
Hi..... 🏡🎥👍👍👍
I’m in Australia and rain water tanks are the norm in most rural areas but we have a pretty low rainfall even in a good year it’s expensive to buy town water here we had a gravity system not because we were off grid but just because it made sense to have it that way black poly tanks are cheaper than the coloured tanks that you can get that match the colour of the powder coated zincalume metal sheeting on most rural house roofs we can get gutters and tanks that all match those colourbond metal so you can live in a colour coordinated home if that’s your thing
Thanks Doug,never knew you couldn't mix the waters. Great info always learning something new from you guys!!! :)
Thx for your videos,I appreciate your time and wisdom.
Hmm. I mix rain water and city water all the time and add it to my aquariums. The rain water has a ph of 6.8 and the city water 8.5, so I get a better ph, mixing the water. Also the city water has more buffering but it has more particles in it that will build up in an aquarium that rain water balances since it has almost no particles. I do add a bit of de-chlorinator before using it. I've been doing this for a couple years. Not a problem so far. I think you need more of an explanation than "that's what the Amish say".
Yeah, I call BS. There is no problem mixing water providing both are from a good source. Perhaps there is something already wrong (sour) already.
Sometimes I have to add city water to my koi pond that is usually fed by my well. I just add dechlorinator and the koi are happy
Im Planning on putting a couple 50 gallon barrels in out back for emergencies
Hey Doug and stacy!!! Long time viewer I love you guys channel and its extremely inspiring for me to be more self sufficient ecologically stable. Ive only got one complaint, Please consider captions even the auto generated ones and playback speed. It would make your videos more accessible to those with neurodivergent brains. Much love and keep up the hard work!
only works on the cell phone we have tried
@@OFFGRIDwithDOUGSTACY thanks so much for the reply guys. Thanks for trying 😊😊
is there a relatively constant stream nearby. maybe a hydraulic ram pump could be used to keep tanks full
Is there a specific book about rain water harvesting you'd recommend? I'd like to read more about the details, such as not mixing rain with city. What about rain mixed with well water?
Thanks for all the wonderful videos!
I guess you'd only want to put city water into one of the ranks then you can leave the other attached to the gutter. That way you don't miss out on any rain fall but can still keep the city water separated until it's gone.
Thank you for the video and information. I need ideas on how to harvest rain water without doing anything from the home's gutters or disturbing the house structure. Unfortunately, my husband is not willing to do anything to harvest water and does not want me to change anything on the home. Is there a certain type of container that I can get to just put in the yard and catch the water and store it that way? We have our own well, it is 150 ft down. But, I have no idea on how I can put something into that either. Thank you for any help!
Sour water. Who would have guessed I wonder what the chemistry is that does? Good reporting.
That is a very good thing to know. Who would have thought.
Very Interesting - would have never imagined that could be a problem. I like what Cuba Rodriguez below said about it being the bacteria from city water that then takes over when level of Chlorine gets low. Glad we are on well water - tastes great too.
But deep wells take lots of power (1-2kW day)
I'm amazed you haven't had any rain - the west has been hammered.
Hi there!
What do you do with the first flush water?
And, what happens with the snow on the roof?
Does the tank need to be empty of the rain water before filling it with city water?
We bought 2 2500 gallon black water tanks. We are elderly so we are still trying to get them attached to our gutters. the companies that we’ve asked to give us bids on setting up the system like you have have bid between $25,000 to $45,000 and that’s way out of our budget.
You have a creek near your home don't you, I know wargel star uses a ram pump to pump water from a creek up to his home.
We've done that when in drought and have water restrictions for our garden as we live right on a river. It is very nice to have as a backup in dry times. It works great!
Why would the water "sour?"
catching rainwater is really fun
If that happened-I had to have city water pumped into the tanks and have to use it all up and with such a low pressure would I have to get a pump system to get ALL that water out of the tanks before collecting rain water? Good point, Doug. Thank you
Wow, so interesting. I didn't know you could have city water brought in and sure didn't know the rain water should not mix with it. What causes the water to go bad when it is mixed? Do you have to drain any remaining rain water before filling with city water? Do you have to occasionally clean or shock those tanks? It would seem that over time, they would need to be cleaned. I am thinking I would not want the city water put in the rain catchment tanks. Maybe a separate tank for that.
Good to know, thank you.
"Then I'll give you that big hot tip"
At least where I live, if you have city water and the power goes out you still have water.
Didn't know that. Thanks for the information.
As always, thank you for the information & inspiration. Why didn't you consider burring these? (BTW...we are being buried in snow up here in the Ottawa, Canada area.)
*****
Oooh, that makes total sense. See how you folks are constantly helping teach & inspire, us newbies.
I mixed mine several times with no problems.
seems like the chemicals etc in the city water would mix with the tank water & continue to "treat".. or maybe, it's diluted too much & it's a battle of bacteria.. things to ponder, lol.
275 or 550 gallons, I have 2500 gallon tank. Water level gets low, I go to my brothers house on city water, and get one on two ibc Totes full, and put it in my 2500 gallon tank.
Very Good Post Doug Much Learned thanks!
Would it cost less if you wrapped everything in Electrical Tape?
Cheers from Oklahoma brother great information
Great tip once again
what i don't like about catchment water is the bird shite on the roof.....had to do it as a kid(bleach bathwater/boil drinking water,which had some bleach in it for good measure).....i love having a well..even it needs filters ,sulfur/iron...............love your vids,,your homeplace is wonderful.............................................jda
very interesting...thanks for the info & tip
Excellent informative information. Thank you immensely for keeping us informed. :)
After this last winter and spring I imagine your tanks are full now lol
Thank you for the information Doug!
All needed info
Bermed-in Catchment Tank Farm. We need that! What's not safe, used straight, is the rainwater, anymore. Rainwater is now loaded with pollutants. Those in chemtrail areas, it's far worse. Therefore, need good filters to remove the pollutants, before using it for potable water.
Municipal water has chemicals in it. Those can combine with other chemicals, or, can degrade over time. Mixing that, with rainwater and it's pollutants, can form some interesting mixtures...which you really don't want to drink or cook with. Those MUST be filtered and aerated, to get rid of them. Aeration is another step which helps the structure of water, oxygenation of water.
In the old days, people used to drop sterling silver coins into their cisterns, to help kill germs.
Silver is a very broad-spectrum germicidal agent [that is, it kills the longest list of different kinds of germs, than almost anything else, yet is still safe to consume][nope, you won't automatically get Argyria from it..but that's another discussion].
Some with cisterns, build up a surround of good high-fire bricks around the pump intake, then add layers of gravel and washed sand around that, to filter the water before it gets into the pipes. This helps, in cases where lids are broken or removed, and small critters might fall into the tanks...best to get those out, for sure, but many have been sloppy on that.
Anyone else have experience with these?
Thank you so much for that awesome tip, not to mix the waters.
I think the "souring" of the water comes from bacteria. City water is recycled, filtered & chemicals are added versus the rain water which is distilled naturally. The city filtration methods aren't as good as the rain being distilled, IMO, which is why the city adds chemicals to rid of bacteria & such. This is just speculation & my own opinion.
Cuba Rodriguez yeah, natural rain distillation is great, but birds are shitting all over his rain water collector.
ab b City water is so much worse than if a couple birds crap. With all the added chemicals, city water is bird crap multiplied, toxins from runoff, lead, PCBs, and then they filter it claiming it safe for consumption. They add fluoride, which toxic, chlorine which is not good either and we're bathing, brushing teeth, & cooking with it. Personally, I'd rather have the rain water, even if some of the toxins are not rid by distillation either. But if you have watched Doug & Stacy's previous videos, you'd know they use a Berkey filtration system, which is one of the best out there present day.
My areas have had huge water issues due to pollutants such as PCBs, where the citizens have been fighting against county & state. We have a very high cancer rate compared to the nation's statistics. Warminster, Hatboro, Warrington, & other SE PA localities. I wish people were more informed before commenting & spewing complaints. Good day & God bless!
Cuba Rodriguez no one is spewing complaints, so let's not spew religion either. have you ever tested your city's water? I'm a chemist by trade, and my cousin pumps my water. you should visit your local treatment facility and try some chemistry for yourself! as an aquarist- i keep fish- I test my water regularly, and the science doesn't lie. Our water is great! IMO fluoride too is great, and if you don't want to subscribe to the benefits of chlorination, golly... maybe just let it sit out and dechlorinate for an hour? which is waaaaaay easier for you than dealing with all the problems chlorination solves for you. I'm very sorry if your city truly has bad water... but did you test it for yourself?
ab b yes I have family that works for the same municipality I live in. We know how unsafe the water is. You are clearly uninformed about flouride, so now it's totally clear why you comment the way you do. Religion is actually part of this page & homestead, so I'm not the one bringing religion into it. It's also sad that people like yourself get offended by offering our God's blessings, as if that were some derogatory comment. SMH
is "God Bless" known as "spewing religion" nowadays? holy shitballs batman!! we must have a super sensitive atheist here.
thinks for the tip how would you set up a system for rain water for garden
nice video
so 2 setups could be good too
1 for city and 1 for rain water
Either two setups or two tanks you can isolate.
First tank with the inflow from the gutter, second with the outflow to the house. If running low, isolate both tanks and pump the remaining water from tank 2 to tank or use it. Then you can use tank 2 for city water while still collecting rain water in tank 1.
So are you going to get city water and add to your tanks or not? Sounds like no, but I didn't think you said. No snow here in Central KY but we had a lot of rain in the fall and some this winter.
could you pump (the 500 gal) from one tank to the second tank (500 gal) shut off the ball valve between the tanks first and have 1000 gal in one tank and increase your pressure? if that's the way your set up?
i like the infrastructure vids. you know i need some garden clips too. shared as always , im one of your FB homies but i dont often use FB, i always share on twitter and G+
Thank you Doug for the information about mixing water
You both are awesome 🤩
YOU HAD A VIDEO ON ADDING GRAVEL AN SCRAPPING YOUR DRIVEWAY, TALKED ABOUT USING ALMANAC CALENDER. I HAVE LOOKED ON THEIR SITE TO PURCHASE UNABLE TO FIND IT.
THANK YOU,
VICKI SANN
Doug, is it possible to get water from a natural source, like those guys that come and fill your pool? More than likely that water would come from springs and not city water. You say you have a well, does it have a pump hooked up to it that you can run? I guess nobody thought it would be that dry in winter, Eh? Keep the Faith.
Wow, did not know that. However, our "city" water comes from a well and they do not treat it so not sure if that would make a difference. We are in a very small town in a large county. But this is good to know as we have been playing around with the idea. The crazy thing is that some cities in some states tax people for having such a system...can you imagine having to pay your city to collect what nature provides? Talk about government overreach!
Yes, small town where they just keep doing as they always have, which happens a lot in small towns of Montana. Although the federal government has come down on the city (which of course depends on federal grants) about various issues with sewer and water procedures. So the political fun will be passed on to the citizens of course. ;)
Wow didn't know that .thanks
Good tip!!
I don't think it has to do with the mixing, I think it is the city water sitting in a tank, if it isn't circulated somehow in the tank and kept churned up, it starts to smell all by itself. Don't know why but try it, it does. It stagnates and smells, like one comment said maybe it is because the chemicals in the city water kills everything in it but doesn't remove it
What happens with the water from that FLUSH TANK? Can it be used for anything?How do You clean that? Thanks for all the info.
What cleaning products do you use? I feel that more and more people are going off grid.
Would love to get together & share but internet sketchy and even phones have been the same. Was only able to get on Facebook once and tried your instagram with no luck. LOL No radio reception either nor TV. Don’t miss that so much but some contact with outside world is important so as to prepare for volcanic eruptions or blizzards or weird weather like freezing rain or 68 below 0. Love you both and there are a few other channels and people I love and truly wish to be a blessing. Want to sell and move but don’t know where yet. I am sowing seeds with what I have.(spiritual & otherwise ) 😊 May our Daddy bless you both in this season and keep you.
Thanks for the tip
Thanks for the info about not mixing the water. Didn't know that.
Wow you've trimmed out since then.....healthy lifestyle.
Lol
Well I guess you have to completely empty tanks first. Disconnect gutter feeds. Then fill tanks. How dry do the tanks have to be?
Another great video hope to get our rain water catchment system put in this year. It would really save us in the late summer
Her in NE Texas
Thanks again Doug and Stacy GOD Bless
Question for my own info. What would a homesteader do for water, if something natural or mademade left rainfall unusable (murphy's law, I guess) .. I have a well over at the farm, but figuring out "just in case" ideas.
Is there a reason why you don't pump water from your pond and run through a charcoal filter then into your tanks. Just a thought.
Doug - ( Nottingham Homie Here), If the PVC valves and connectors are in danger of splitting or rupturing, is there any benefit to be gained by replacing them with metal? probably Copper for plumbing? Or, is that prone to the same problems? Also, are there more 'cons'' to consider, other than cost. And I'm in no way treating your almost full drought conditions lightly, but if you're in the market for Snow and/or Rain, you need to have a word with Starry and Mister, they're up to their hip bones in it, literally! 😄😂
Interesting info. We have always been interested in rain water collection.
You don't drink the water collected correct? Wondering why one couldnt filter the rain water with something like a berkey water filter for drinking??
Oh..I was thinking y'all had bottled drinking water for some reason. Good deal. Really interested in this. We have a windmill on our property but its not pumping right now. Wed really like to get that going. We have the tank and platform...just not in use right now. Some day. So many projects..so little time.
Interesting tip about it souring.
What about bringing in well water? Does that have the same effect?
Hey Doug hope all is well. Do you still have horses? I haven't seen them in a while. Cheers!
Good to know, thanks for sharing Doug
Thank you so much and I subscribed! 😊
THANK U FOR THE TIP
can't you just off-gas the chlorine for a few days or a week then be able to mix again?
So it maybe best to have a different setup for city water use so there is no mixing of the two waters
great info
very good tip. thanks for sharing. Have a wonderful day
Do you drink the rainwater? Where is your source for drinking water? Are you located in Missouri or Ohio? Why no rainfall?
drink it, brush teeth with it and bath in it
Just curious, why don't you put a town water barrel for your back up? That way you can keep the rain water separated and still gather in case it rains?
$$$ we made it just fine =)
I love it! I need to do that for when I get my own place 👍🏼
Have you looked into thermal electric generating for you wood stoves?