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My 'Ghetto' Water Collection System....

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast


There's a spigot on the right. I have a funnel and gallon plastic jugs.
 
What's the deal with the bucket inside?
 
Weight so it doesn't get blown around in the wind? That's my best guess.
 
Weight so it doesn't get blown around in the wind? That's my best guess.

That would make sense.

My entire roof is a water-collection device running to a pair of underground cisterns.

...unfortunately I need that water to shower and live on, so NOT for plants, lol. I need to build me a little watershed for garden water.
 
Weight indeed! We had near tornadic conditions, yesterday.
 
Heh, I just set out a bunch of plastic bowls when I see it is about to rain. I don't risk trying to put one under the spout for the gutters because I think that would have too much dirt and debris.
 
I use a 4' x 4' x 3' plastic tub, with a 5 gal bucket on top. Water goes into the bucket and through a couple of pond filter pads before it goes into the collection vessel. A ball valve between the bucket and the vessel lets me cut off flow when the vessel is full. Then the water backs up in the bucket and drains out through a downspout located about 3/4 of the way up the bucket.
 
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Given the generally low mineral content of rain water, as well as its slight acidity, is all that filtration really necessary?
 
Given the generally low mineral content of rain water, as well as its slight acidity, is all that filtration really necessary?

You seemed to think it was. It's just mechanical filtration to remove particulates. I'll get a pic up if it stops raining before dark.
 
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  • #10
Heh, I just set out a bunch of plastic bowls when I see it is about to rain. I don't risk trying to put one under the spout for the gutters because I think that would have too much dirt and debris.

Just put a screen like those found on screen doors on top and that will keep the trash out.
 
  • #11
You seemed to think it was. It's just mechanical filtration to remove particulates. I'll get a pic up if it stops raining before dark.

Oh, you put them under the gutters.
 
  • #12
Oh, you put them under the gutters.
Considering my container holds over 300 gallons it would take a long time to fill just sitting out collecting the rain that fell within its own footprint!
 
  • #14
Given the generally low mineral content of rain water, as well as its slight acidity, is all that filtration really necessary?

The last time I tried to collect water for my CP's I ended up having to use it on the houseplants instead because it had caught so much pollen on the way down the water was actually yellow. >.<
 
  • #15
Due to a translucent cover the water in my container is often tinted green from single cell algae, and somehow some Ceriodaphnia got into it. Water puddles on the top when it's full full, and birds drinking from it likely carried them in. Their population tends to cycle from boom to bust, but there are always a few in there. I use the water for my orchids, cps, and soft water species of fish I keep. Never had an issue. It's nice sometimes to do a water change on a fish tank and then not need to feed it again for a few days!
 
  • #16
The last time I tried to collect water for my CP's I ended up having to use it on the houseplants instead because it had caught so much pollen on the way down the water was actually yellow. >.<

That would still be fine to use on CP's..pollen is just a bit of organic matter, it doesnt add any mineral hardness.
I have used polleny water, not concerned about it in the least..

I collect rain water off the roof of the shed..into a gutter then down into a barrell..I dont bother to filter it, it can be a bit dirty at times,
but thats nothing to be concerned about IMO..its the mineral hardness that is bad, and you dont get any of that unless it filters through the ground..
(the shingles are 20 years old..im not concerned about them affecting the water)
Scot
 
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  • #17
My setup is similar. I have a metal roof and never bothered with filtering. Pollen water never bothered my plants. They encounter something similar in the wild I'm sure.
 
  • #18
Nice system and good for the environment too! This wouldn't work where I live though; I probably wouldn't even get a bucket of water in a year.
 
  • #19
Heh, I just set out a bunch of plastic bowls when I see it is about to rain. I don't risk trying to put one under the spout for the gutters because I think that would have too much dirt and debris.

This one isn't rigged to collect water from the gutters. This is either for direct rain / snow or to fill with snow, manually, or to fill from the bog / seep on the property. I don't trust what may or may not leach from the roof. I had that thing filled to capacity this winter, with snow, but I didn't have the fore-thought to have it propped up to put the plastic jugs under under the spout. Now that it has been emptied, it was light enough to prop it up.
 
  • #20
You seemed to think it was. It's just mechanical filtration to remove particulates. I'll get a pic up if it stops raining before dark.

Ironically, I test for particulate matter at work.

 
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