Homestead Project: Rain Barrel Catchment System

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Future project: water catchment in rain barrels

One of the future projects that I am looking forward to is building a water catching system using my 55 gallon drums. I have twelve at the new homestead after donating ten back in Flagstaff. I simply didn't have the space on the moving trucks to bring all of them with me to Idaho. I donated them to a family that allowed us to stay in their home on the last day of moving since we got snowed in AFTER all of our stuff was packed up and locked onto a trailer.

I bought most of my barrels off of CraigsList and have been trying to garner as many as possible, much like my little 20lb propane tanks (of which I have about eight).

The plan is to create a system much like LDSPrepper demonstrating in his YouTube video here. He incorporated a runoff tube that not only collects a majority of the sediment and debris but it can also be quickly drained via a threaded cap at the end.

I will probably use this system to water the garden but it certainly has more possibilities.  I'm thinking about a configuration that consists of two columns, one on each side of the window. This will also be a good location to keep it hidden from view.

~OJD

Parts That Make a DIY Rain Barrel Catchment System Work Better

A system like this comes together a lot more cleanly with the right parts on hand. A downspout diverter kit routes water straight from the gutter into your barrels without cutting and fitting everything from scratch, a screen filter keeps leaves and sediment out before it ever reaches the barrel, and a simple spigot and overflow kit makes drawing water back out for the garden much easier than tipping a 55 gallon drum. Little upgrades like these are what turn a stack of drums into an actual working system.