Culvert Cistern Tour - Rainwater Harvesting DIY 

yack f zay Thanks YFZ! Since you mention bath... maybe I ought to build and outdoor shower for this guy! I'm sure the tree would appreciate it for sure:)

Give it a try.

+Amber Teeters That was probably one of the nicest comments I've ever received Amber! Thank YOU:) I'm certainly not an expert in anything (mostly just a tinkerer and experimenter:).. but I'm sooo glad that some of my vids might be helpful to you! Regarding the rainwater collection, I'm going to be having a couple more rainwater related videos coming up in the new few weeks... whole house system, tarp collection system, and my rainwater gardening project update. Hopefully you'll find them interesting and maybe give you some ideas for your future off grid homestead! I wish you luck in you off grid adventure.... that's something that I would like to do here eventually. I'm excited for you! ...and perhaps you could post some videos of your experiences too! Or maybe even let me come and do a video tour once you get set up:) Joe

+homesteadonomics Thank you, and absolutely...we plan on modifying your plans into larger scale (as we'll have 40 acres which is not flat but somewhat a slightly sunken valley with a LARGE creek wash in the center.) using your plans with a few modifications we should be able to irrigate an alfalfa patch for winter feed for the livestock (1 horse 3 heads of cattle.) This system opens up a HUGE portion of our funds for our solar projects!!!! we plan on living in the rv while we build the earthbag house, so your house system will be BEYOND helpful!!! We would love to have you out for a video tour, or even as its being done...the majority of the building will be oct 2016-may 2016 so that it is all in place come monsoon season. Myself, my husband and son will be living there full time ...with my parents (and uncle hopefully) snowbirding from idaho oct-april in yurts on the property. obviously we'll be trucking in water until it's done but this saves us the insane costs of drilling a well (that can now be spent on solar)

+Amber Teeters That sounds like you've got a great property and a great plan! If I had it to do over again, I'd do the RV thing while building… save money and you're on the site the whole time:) Earthbag construction is really interesting to me (as well as straw bale) but I have no experience. Have you checked out the 'mylittlehomestead' channel? They built an earth bag house and have a couple videos on the process. Anyways, keep me posted on the progress. I'd love to check it out when you guys get to it:) Joe

+homesteadonomics we're loving the earthbag building style, but may or may not have drastically changed plans tonight...and are now considering a wooden yurt. by building a yurt, the structure would be listed as temporary/moveable under property codes and thus would free us from the requirement of a septic tank and we could use composting toilets and have a grey water tank. this would save us THOUSANDS, not only from not being required to put in a costly septic tank.....but in property taxes as well...one large yurt as a great room/ living room/ kitchen/ dining room...with 3 smaller yurts attached for bedrooms and bathroom. as the entire thing is built on a deck the only construction we would require a permit on is the deck its self (which would be built first and used with the rv's.....skirting around the deck keep airflow from under the deck and reduces the amount of insulation under the yurt. we'll keep you posted!

+homesteadonomics the yurt is built in 4x8ft panels (3 different kinds of panels...one design for walls, one for walls with windows and one for walls with doors) and bolt together on the outside making the entire structure able to be taken down and moved, and also allow us to pre build the panels and put in a storage container (a few every month to keep it from being an all at once cost to build) so that once all are built putting the yurt together becomes fast and simple.

+Linda May Thanks Linda! The culvert cisterns really are cool looking for sure! I have an article on Backwoods Home Magazine on how I built this one if you want to check it out:) Joe

I‘m pleased to see this clip, as I have a 6 ft long, 30 in diameter culvert left. Have been thinking if I can convert it into water container. But wonder how I can find the 30 inch diameter end caps. Can you advise please?

Mark's Workshop Creations Thanks Mark! Sounds like you've got a cool set up yourself... I love seeing barrels linked together for water storage... there are some really cool setups on youtube of people who have like 10 or more barrels set up in a gravity system and it seems to work awesome... not to mention the fact that you can move them easily and they can fit in tight spaces:) Joe

+Joan Smith Thanks Joan! Yes, I love any idea of saving water whether in a tank or in the soil.... I'm a fan:) I have some smale scale swales currently but would love to do a future large scale swale project that could harvest (or retain) thousands of gallons of rain runoff with each rain event. Hopefully, my shovel will be ready for some extra digging come spring:) Joe

Blackberry Hideout Thanks Jessica!

joseph mascarenhas Thanks Joseph! Should have a couple more rainwater videos up in the next few days:) Joe

The College Woodworker Thanks! It's definitely a love it or hate it kinda look but I've found that most people like it. And thats cool you're buddy decided to 'pimp' his coop out too... the ladies (hens;) will love him for it! And good luck on the land search too... it's nice to have space when you're a builder of things! Joe

Darbin Orvar Thanks Linn! I'm also getting ready to do a tour of my whole house system in the next few days or so. It accounts for 90-95% of our home water use for the year. Once I get that finished I should be able to clear out some HD space so I can do some projects with your beeswax polish! Joe

GFD472 Thanks GFD! That sounds like an interesting system... maybe you could pair 55 gal barrels or an IBC tote as your fertilizer/compost tea component and mate the water tank to them with a PVC assembly.... kind of like a mixer or compost tea induction system. When the water from the tank is flowing you crack the 'tea' valve and let the 'tea' mix with the main water source...hahaha or something similar... you got my mind flowing;) Joe

homesteadonomics I don't have the design clear in my mind so to speak. It can not doubt be made to work and be a benefit to the permaculture homestead once up and running. Just a matter or working out the design kinks. I'd be interested in your thoughts if you decide to investigate the concept further.

GFD472 I might just have to put that one on 'the list' of projects and let it sit in the back of my mind for a while. Sometimes, when I do that the answer just kinda comes to me when I least expect it.... of course, sometimes I just forget about it too..lol:) Joe

homesteadonomics Well I have been thinking about it for a couple months and the best I could come up with is to source some free coffee bean bags (these are large 50lb bags used for raw beans) and fill them with whatever you want to make the tea out of and sink the bags into a dedicated water tank with a air stone. This tank is plumbed to the main water source and run just exactly as you described above. I am going to try and get this sort of system running by Spring next year. To much on my plate to touch it this Summer.

Slowvannah Farms Thanks Sarah! Will be doing a whole house rainwater harvesting tour in the next week or so too:) Joe

Thanks so much Janet! sounds like you have a very cool property! If you haven't seen it, you might want to check out my Rainwater Garden video 2015, where I grow corn and squash off the side of my road where the rain runs off the road. No additional irrigation other than harvested monsoon runoff from my road:) Joe

I will check it out! Thx🙂

+Ginger Borgeson Thanks so much Ginger:) Joe

TheMaryb1 haha... I think you're being too nice:) But I do appreciate it! Joe

Glad you liked it Doris.. thanks for watching!

Ted Alexander ahhh... that's a great idea! The buoyancy principle is also what makes this level guage work! For my treatment I just use a little bit of chlorine bleach in my main rain tank(tan poly tank), which is where this tanks water will eventually get transferred to. Didn't want to have the bleach negatively affect the galvanizing of this tank. But for our drinking/cooking water... I use a berkey water filter as our final filtering of our rainwater. Showers, laundry, dishes all just get regular rainwater:) Joe

Stef Duncan Thanks Stef!

+Desert Dwellers Hi DD, you are in luck. You'll most likely be able to get it at the same exact place I got mine. It is Arizona Culvert Company(aka pacific culvert co) located in Casa Grande(off of the 8). They will cut whatever length you need and if you are getting an 8ft length I can say that it will fit in a standard pickup bed just fine with a couple come-along straps to hold it in. I little weird feeling to drive with a big cylinder object in the bed of the truck but pretty easy. They will load it with a fork lift but you'll need at least two people to unload it. Hope that helps:) Joe

Thierry Margrin Thanks Thierry!

Thanks so much Vocho! Joe

His reply below: +Samuel Tan Glad you liked it! I got the culvert from a company called Arizona Culvert Co. (part of Pacific Culvert Co. I think). But you can source them from pretty much any company that sells supplies for road crews, asphalt companies, civil works, etc,.. Most any state should have at least one company that either makes or sells them:) Hope that helps

+Samuel Tan Glad you liked it! I got the culvert from a company called Arizona Culvert Co. (part of Pacific Culvert Co. I think). But you can source them from pretty much any company that sells supplies for road crews, asphalt companies, civil works, etc,.. Most any state should have at least one company that either makes or sells them:) Hope that helps

Troy Lock Thanks Troy! This culvert is 16 gauge… Also, should have a full tour of the whole house rainwater system up in a week or two as well… if you're interested. Anyways, keep me updated on the culvert project and thanks for watching:) Joe

Peter K. Hi Peter, I've never had any algae growth or mosquitoes in this tank... that I know of atleast;) I usually transfer the water in this tank to my polytank rain tank behind my house during the monsoon season. I don't think the tiny bits of light that get in there make much of a difference either way though. But if it was a concern you could always throw in a 'cap' of bleach to mitigate any algae or other growth. And don't worry, that amount of bleach is waaaay less chlorine than is added to municipal water supplies;) But, just to be safe any water should be filtered before consumed (berkey is my choice). Anyways, hope that answered your question! Joe

Don't know where you live, but look in rural areas. I live in DFW so I am going to call the local hardware store in Paris, TX and ask them where I can buy a 5' diameter culvert. They should know. So, pick a medium sized town in a rural area near you and ask the busiest hardware store there that is NOT a big box store.

Thats what I want to know.

@towbar1965 He probably doesn't drink it, just uses it for irrigation. These things are very popular in Hawaii where rain is almost a daily event. They do have to de-contaminate it before drinking. I don't know how they do it. Also it looks like he lives in a warm western USA state, where freezing temperatures aren't an issue.

weetreebonsai Hey WTB... the culvert is steel bonded with zinc galvanizing and the lid can be made to fit by most HVAC companies that do custom sheet metal work. Mine cost a little over $100 but I've seen conical shaped ones that look really cool but are a bit more expensive. Hope that answered your questions and thanks for watching:) Joe

What do you thing about the duration of the steel walls?

weetreebonsai Yes... I need a few more too!

let me know when ya want to do a road trip to the Texoma area of Oklahoma!!! 100% off grid is how the cabin is!

weetreebonsai haha... I'd love to come out and see it! No plans as of right now but if I end up coming out that way then maybe I'll have to hit you up to see if you're up to do a tour:) Joe

Yes! Don't ever use pvc. Use pex, but wrap it with insulation inside the slab as it doesn't like cement, but it won't burst. Just saw this video and plan on doing it, but haven't figured out how to get the water out yet. Had standard 200g galvanized tanks in Papua New Guinea in the 80's and they had an out let 2' above the bottom. you let the debris and stuff gather on the bottom and just the cleaner water comes out. I could not see where Joe has set his outlet at in the video, but would advise staying with the 2-3' mark. Also, that is a heavy weight of water, so make very sure it is level and I would treat it like pouring a house foundation. This depends heavily on the kind of soil you have.

+Asdfssdfghgdfy Yes, I agree... I think it's because people just take a working faucet for granted. Australia is definitely on the forefront of water wisdom and slowly (hopefully) the rest of the world will follow suit:) Heck, if I can do it with my low rainfall, then most others should be able to get by with far less capacity:) Thanks for watching! Joe

Hi Joe.. You probably could..... I'm assuming you are wanting to keep all the piping subgrade? could you send me a pic of drawing of what you're thinking to my email? I'd love to answer more but just want to make sure I have the right picture in mind. You can get my email off the 'about' tab on my channel page:) Joe

+Garage Man Project Shop Hey Gman… I have found the best place to source culverts is from a manufacturer. They are generally located regionally. So there might only be one manufacturer in your state or region. OR you'll need to find out the closest supplier that supplies road crews with culverts for road work. Big box stores will not have them… it'll have to be a supplier or manufacturer. You might want to check with some local contractors on where they purchase theirs. Hope that helps:)

Menards home Depot lowe's. You may have to order it though

helidodge Hey Jarret... no worries, those are all great points:) -the cost was about $400 (not including the lid $100) and the culvert is comparable to most poly tanks in price per gallon... the larger you go that is... smaller culvert cisterns loose that value per gallon quickly. -for the PVC... I actually have a little pallet wood box that sets over the assembly but just took it off for the video as it looks kinda junky..lol -and for the IBC tote being painted/covered... something I've been meaning to do but just haven't yet:) Hope that answered your questions and thanks for watching Jarret:) Joe

That's a great price for the culvert. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get it and what brand did you go with?

yes, just the same as the other. Althought the rubber floor doesn't clean up as well as the polytank floor:)

+Crispin Wilson Hi Crispin... sorry for the delay in responding... but the best places for culverts are fabricator/manufacturers that sell directly to road and civil construction companies. They can be hard to find at first as those companies are usually geared towards selling to companies or Gov't buyers. Some landscape companies will sell them too but I've found them to be really expensive, as they are marking up from the original purchase. I've purchased them here in AZ directly from Pacific Culvert Co located in Casa Grande AZ. .... and sometimes you can find a good deal on craigslist, but those are usually pretty weathered and beaten up. anyways, hope that helps:) Joe

+homesteadonomics Thanks a lot Joe, I'm in Flagstaff so it might just be worth the trip. We're fairly new to the off-grid lifestyle so you're channel has been great. I want to install a wet pipe system similar to yours but I'm not sure my eaves are high enough. Do you know off hand what the difference in should be?

+Crispin Wilson *difference in drop

Hi PC guy... I have poly tanks as well but also think this is a good option if you "DIY" it like I did. Not including the lid this 1100 gal cistern cost me approx 425ish to build(I have an article on this at Backwoodshome.com where I detail the plans and the costs). You could also just stack 3 - 330 gal IBCs together to get close to the same water capacity as well. Anyways, its just another option... not the best or the worst... just another option:) thanks for watching Joe

I looked around and pretty much all of the culverts i saw were like 20 foot long so they would have to be cut to even be used this way. Many years ago, I got a hold of the end of a fuel storage tank that had never been installed. Was made by Owens-Corning and was given away as scrap because it was defective. We used it as a septic tank. Now this had never had any fuel in it. I was thinking that maybe I could do something similar with one of those, however, it has been 30 years since all that took place so I have no idea if I can even lay my hands on another one. Those tanks were very hard to cut as they were double wall fiberglass but it's possible.

MotherGoose lol... no problem:) It happens... no worries either way:) Joe

I'm a new sub from the UK! What a way to introduce myself :S x

Thanks so much Richard! I've actually found that the Ames has held up very well... no leaks at all and I haven't found the reemulsify issue. But I don't claim to be an expert so I'd probably head the advice of the HR folks. However, The last time I cleaned it the rubber looked to be in good shape. I helped my friend Jason install two of these (one for him and one for his neighbor) and both are also doing well with no leaks. I can't speak to the other issues of blistering/emulsiying as I haven't been inside either one since being installed. But I'd trust the guys at HR.com as they seem to be pretty good experts in the field. I will say that AMES is not exactly cheap, so the thoroseal might be a great option. That actually was my first consideration when building mine but i wasn't sure as to it's effectiveness in sealing the spiral seam that extends all the way up the cistern. But I'm guessing it would probably be fine:) As to your other question... yes, I'm in the Tucson area (west of Sahuarita to be specific) and I got my lid from an HVAC guy named 'wayne' that I found on craigslist. It was a $100 bucks i think. But I don't know if he makes them anymore. However, several HVAC companies around Tucosn do custom sheetmetal pieces and are famliar with cistern lids. I've seen them sell from $150 to $250 depending on what you are getting (cone, flat). Check craigslist and then check HVAC companies that do custom fabrication. Also, if you look on my channel I have a video of the installation of my friend Jason's culvert if you want to check that out too. Additionally I have an article in Backwoods Home Magazine (backwoodshome.com) about my cistern install. Just search for authors and look for Joe Mooney:) Joe

Can silicone caulk be used on the spiral seam? For the floor, just use cement (no sand)?

I did a write up for Backwoods Home but off the top of my head it was about $500 at the time (no including the lid I got for it later).... but if you stay tuned I'm going to be installing another one by my shipping container shop in about a week :)

I got mine from Arizona culvert in Casa Grande Arizona. They are also listed as Pacific culvert as well. Here is the link. www.pcpipe.com/ Hope that helps:)