Rain water catchment system

This is my rain water catchment system for the garden. Also very useful for any survival situation when in need of water. It is a 550 gallon tank plumbed into the gutter system. I have gutter guards on the gutter to keep out debris. There is also an overflow pipe installed so water can escape when too full. The overflow could also be attached to another tank if needed.

I have seen other systems with smaller and larger tanks. Some have underground filtered systems to supply their homes with water from the gutter. Thanks for checking in...






Here's the link just in case the video did not embed:
www.youtube.com...

reply to post by wrecksrme


illegal to catch rainwater in many states. It looks like you are in the clear for now. You might want to spray some camo paint on it just in case!

reply to post by SkipperJohn


Never heard of it being illegal. How and why would it ever be illegal!? The rain falls from the sky!
Camo paint....You have me thinking now.

Originally posted by wrecksrme
reply to post by SkipperJohn

 

Never heard of it being illegal. How and why would it ever be illegal!? The rain falls from the sky!
Camo paint....You have me thinking now.

edit on 31-3-2012 by wrecksrme because: (no reason given)

There have been threads about it here. I remember one about someone in Arizona being charged because there was a company that already had a claim on the water in the area where the person was collecting their roof water.

Can't find the exact thread but here is another case in Colorado.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Nice useful setup. Got to love america, illegal to collect rain.. Soon to come, illegal to breathe without paying an air tax.

After camo, your number one concern should be filtering. There's no such thing as too much filtering.

Soils in some areas are showing high level of barium, aluminum and other toxins. Also, radiation has been detected in rain in California, Oklahoma and Missouri (and no doubt other locations). Expect the radiation to get worse until Fukushima is really cleaned up..

Originally posted by wrecksrme
reply to post by SkipperJohn

 

Never heard of it being illegal. How and why would it ever be illegal!? The rain falls from the sky!
Camo paint....You have me thinking now.

edit on 31-3-2012 by wrecksrme because: (no reason given)

I got no time to get the list of states but here is a quick one.

link

reply to post by Freezer


My grandpa used to say if the government can tax air.... They would.

Originally posted by Freezer
Nice useful setup. Got to love america, illegal to collect rain.. Soon to come, illegal to breathe without paying an air tax.

When I was in Germany, the locals kept thanking the powers that be that they don't tax breathing.

They also tax roof water based on the dimension of your roof and the amount of water in your area the prior year.

I am surprised that this isn't happening all over the US (being taxed for rain water).

Cool set up.

S&F.

If I were you I would route the overflow away from the frame. The overflow could cause cavitation around the leg closest to the overflow outlet. If moving it is an issue, dig a hole underneath the overflow outlet (next to the leg) and fill it with stones/rocks. This should stop the overflow washing away the ground below it in very heavy rains.

I would also consider making the strap permanent, Just in case an animal or tree branch were to puncture the tank.

Kudos

OA

If you need water for survival this is almost the worst system to have. For a garden or whatever its fine, as long as you don't get caught.

In a survival situation, where laws can be ignored for your own well being, this system will kill you faster than going without water.

Terrible idea to even mention survival in this video. This isn't safe.

reply to post by litterbaux

In a survival situation, where laws can be ignored for your own well being, this system will kill you faster than going without water.

Based on what?

What should one consider to be a survival situation?

Sure this system probably won't work in a nuclear holocaust, but will this system kill you in the event of total economic collapse?

How many different scenarios did you take into consideration when you posted your reply?

I guess if I'm taking shots at your idea I should have a better one to share.

This is what I go with for water security.



When camping I take an old pair of jeans and knot the ends of the legs with the waist side up (orientated how you wear them with the legs tied at the ankles). Then I have a thick rubber band that ties the legs together (I use the rubber bands from broccoli at the grocer). I then take water from streams, lakes and ponds (in that order of what's available), pour into the jeans then let drip into the filter in the youtube video above.

I don't even bother carrying water anymore, it's heavy. I can fit all the gear to get clean water in a bucket and carry with one finger.

Ciao

reply to post by OccamAssassin


If there is a tornado, hurricane or earthquake (just to name a few reasons to need clean water) the authorities will have enough problems on their hands than to worry about you collecting water.

Originally posted by dainoyfb
Can't find the exact thread but here is another case in Colorado.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

It's technically illegal in some parts of Utah too.

Yep, illegal in my area too. I've dreamed of burying a large plastic cistern and collecting rainwater, but didn't need a hassle having someone reporting me after dropping big money on the unit. I will try a smaller scale and run a pump for the garden. Maybe a few 55gal drums would be easier to deal with.
As for drinking it, I agree it could be pretty bad if the algae and bacteria isn't controlled.

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
will this system kill you in the event of total economic collapse?

Yes. When it comes to water everything is against you. You have diseases, insects, pesticides and that bird that pooped on the roof... yeah that just got washed into your rain barrel. It's not only unsafe to drink the water its literally suicide.

Originally posted by litterbaux

Originally posted by OccamAssassin
will this system kill you in the event of total economic collapse?

Yes. When it comes to water everything is against you. You have diseases, insects, pesticides and that bird that pooped on the roof... yeah that just got washed into your rain barrel. It's not only unsafe to drink the water its literally suicide.

Nope.

You may want to research the subject before making stupid claims.

You can buy all manner of filtration systems to add to a rainwater tank to ensure clean drinking(potable) water.

Sand filters, osmosis filters, activated charcoal filters, etc, can remove nearly all of the pollutants in a rainwater catchment system.

Insects can be dealt with a half a cup of kerosene poured in to the tank - Note the kerosene will float to the top creating a thin barrier that will stop any water breading insects (Mosquito's etc) from laying eggs in the tank.

Also note - A system with a kerosene buffer CAN NOT be run dry.

Chlorine can be added to the OP's tank (as it is semi-transparent) to periodically clean it from any diseases/bacteria. Note that chlorine will break down in sunlight and form a salt(stable) and providing not too much has been used.....will not affect taste.

....Ask your self this......

Does the rain that falls over a dam/catchment have to deal with the issues you have stated?

How do the people at the water board deal with it?

reply to post by litterbaux


bobdrew.wordpress.com... of some interest to the op

www.harvesth2o.com... a online comunity focusing on rainwater catchment and filtration could be educational and www.rainwater-harvesting.biz... talking about how it can be used for crops if your worried so much about filtering it www.rainwater-harvesting.biz...



i think when it comes down to it having this kind of system allready in place and having knowege of filtering the water safely could very well be the difference in life or death for people in either natural disasters and or the ever talked about SHTF scenarios as depending on your region water can be pretty hard to come by with a functioning society let alone one that cant pay its bills or dealing with some kind of chaos so i think its a good idea