rethinking my water situation -OR- man plans, god laughs, man gets a bigger tank

[DirtyCoconuts]

Florida, particularly south Florida used to be wetter year round. I have lived here since '82 and the winters were always a lot drier and we have seasonal brush fires but it is usually only a few dry weeks before the drizzles start and then rain in feb through the summer and into nov.

in the last few years this has changed and the dry period is now a legit season stretching almost 4 months. This coincided perfectly with my increased passion for orchids and desire to catch rain water LOL

i grew into a three barrel system, one on each side of the house and a smaller on in the aviary for the quails and herbs

i found myself out of water by december the last two years and i started to do some research.

I am not supposed to catch water (dumb) so i have to be slightly clandestine and keep the catchment hidden from the street- this is my major constraint, and i only have a minivan so i cant haul massive stuff.

after a long time of searching i found an IBC tote (250 gallons) and got it delivered for $80 total ( i love Letgo)


i spent the few moments of baby0break time over a few days and slapped this together just in time for the rain last night

Untitled by J Solo, on Flickr


it filled 1/4 of the way in a night and the other three all over filled so i am in pretty good shape for H2O for a little while.

i am going to try to not use city water at all since i cant get any reliable info about the TDS or what's in it LOL


tips, tricks and opinions welcome

[WaterWitchin]

Question... what did you do about the poisoning stuff they sprayed on your roof prior to installing this?

[DirtyCoconuts]

I went up there with my lil residential pressure cleaner and rinsed. For hours....

Then I let it get rinsed by nature for a few months.

I did a taste test before I hooked any of them back up.

I also asked a buddy who is a chemist and he said most of any chemicals would have degraded enough in that time so as to be as dangerous as the normal air pollution that lands on my roof.

[Diane56Victor]

Looks great. Shame about having to hide the setup, we are actively encouraged to collect water here.
We have a tank connected to part of the roof and verandah. Not had it completely empty in the 3 years we have been here. Rains a bit more here than in the city and burbs.

YouTube has some good videos on 'prepper type' water tote installations.

Hubby was plumber so Ive absorbed a bit of general info over the years.
But, as they say, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing!
Also I don't want this to sound like Im try to teach you anything, you obviously know what you are doing.

Options for more storage, if needed, are another tote on top. Probably not good in your case looking at the height of the tote to your gutters. Plus a bit more complicated setup requiring 'burp' valve on lower tote, not to mention weight mitigation.

Side by side, this leaves options as to the inflow pipe placed high or low.
High means tote closest to gutter fills first then overflows into next one. Or low placement so all connected totes fill to the same level.

One thing that seems to be standard across the installs Ive seen is either painting the tote black or wrapping in black plastic to stop algae growth.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Awesome info.

I am a thick skinned dude who likes to learn. Please please always tell me any advice

Painting it is a great idea! I think I’ll make a view strip to see the contents and get me some spray paint

[WaterWitchin]

Thanks DC. I figured you'd done something. Heck, you may have talked about it before and I forgot.

A fun option to keep algae at bay would be get a roll of that reed fencing and make it look like a little tiki hut. With all the palm leaves around, you could even do an authentic roof. I did that once to my Great Pyer's dog house, but with a planted green roof...just for fun.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Originally Posted by WaterWitchin

Thanks DC. I figured you'd done something. Heck, you may have talked about it before and I forgot.

A fun option to keep algae at bay would be get a roll of that reed fencing and make it look like a little tiki hut. With all the palm leaves around, you could even do an authentic roof. I did that once to my Great Pyer's dog house, but with a planted green roof...just for fun.

that's a cool idea!! a hula skirt of sorts!!!

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

that's a cool idea!! a hula skirt of sorts!!!

Yes, very tropical, very Floridian.

---------- Post added at 10:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:16 AM ----------

PS Don't forget to add the pink flamingoes.

[DirtyCoconuts]

when i was a kid there were flamingos on the beaches....i have not seen one in like 20 years

[estación seca]

The algae growth is good for irrigation water. It prevents growth of harmful water molds. It provides nutrients to plants when used for irrigation. Algae-filled water is being used as organic fertilization on some Arizona farms. I would not paint the tanks.