Back in the 80's, I had a coworker who had a few acres of land on the outskirts of town in southern New Mexico. On it, he had a pecan orchard. The orchard had it's own well. What was interesting was that he had installed a water tower for the orchard. The orchard well was powered by an old fashioned wind mill with an electric pump as backup. The windmill was strong enough to pump the water from the ground and to the tank (about 20 feet high). When I asked him why the 'antique', he said electricity costs money, the wind is free. Remember, back then, solar cells were expensive and not as good as today's. It might be an option for those who have land where the wind is fairly steady.
Actually, almost all of Oregon has a very long drought almost all summer long. Same for western Washington, that's why they have evergreen trees not so much deciduous trees. The size of cistern for this area is absolutely enormous if you are thinking of summer irrigation.
@@westerncowhand7814 That would depend upon the system used for irrigation. There, he used a buried drip system. Essentially, like a surface drip system, but buried about 3-4 inches under the surface. Because it is buried it doesn't evaporate as quickly as surface drip or sprinklers in the desert heat and can soak down to the roots. Using less water for equal results. The tank was mostly to provide pressure to get the water through the network of plumbing. The point being that if you can find a way to use water efficiently in a desert, it would probably work nearly anywhere else even better. Learn and adapt, repeat. That is what truly separates us from the other animals.
@@FelonyVideos Windmills, not wind turbines, are very simple machines that could be made from almost anything. I've seen one made from an old bicycle wheel with cardboard taped to the spokes, and a piece of rebar for a shaft, which had a fin on the end to keep it pointed into the wind. It was used to drive a couple of bicycle generators, which charged a motorcycle battery. This was hooked up to some LED lights (Chrismas lights, I think). It was a demonstration of survival techniques in a post apocalyptic world (after a many fermentation-based beverages kind of discussion). In other words, nerds gone wild! Needless to say, not a lot of money spent. Perhaps, it may inspire you to experiment yourself.
We've been on 100% rainwater for several years now, set-up videos on our channel. We use it for everything in our homestead. 5000 gal is usually enough unless we have a really dry season.
We keeps our under cement shed and blue roof covered. We also have solar water heater and solar water distiller on our cement roof along with wrought iron cage we built on the cement roof to protect from hurricanes. Along with our solar panels for our house and air conditioning. We live in 3.5 acre home on the island. We are retired and we started building our cement house 36 years ago when the economy was good paid cash. I’m a retired nurse, and we didn’t want to live in the states in a cheap wood house. I been married 36 years and we worked hard on our goals. My husband is a workaholic and goal oriented. I learn to do everything in RU-vid.
One thing I love about your Channel is that you Talk about More than Solar, (I'm all solared out at the moment lol) and there is more to surviving then just Free Energy. I need to Up my Game and Enjoy Seeing your thoughts and Opinions about other things in Self Presevervation, I need to Up my Water Game and start growing my own food in the space that I have.
We had ours installed professionally in PR. We have 2 (800) gallons and added water filters I also collect rain water in rain barells for our plants. We keep ours covered when not need to collect water.
Good one - very accurate info! We do 3 x 2500gal tanks from roof -> leaf-strainer (same as you showed) -> 300gal 1st flush -> tanks -> shallow well pump -> water worker -> 20micron -> 5micron -> Class A UV and works very well and seems perfectly safe and good tasting water! We collect / use ~18,000gal per year from 2,000sq ft of roof in Southern Oregon. This runs our home for 9 months (~2000gal/month) but May,Jul,Aug,Sep,Oct is low/no rain... but if we conserved a bit, we could go all year. We're entering year 6 of operation and it only takes yearly filter and 1-2yr UV bulb changes - pretty minimal effort. Oregon allows roof (and only roof) capture for individuals. In early years we used 400micron sock in 1st flush for sediment - but it was just a pain to clean and now we skip straight to the 20micron filter. The 20" filters last a whole year (20,000gal) with no trouble - so just change these out each year. Sediment does settle in bottom of the large 2500gal tanks and with intake 6-8" above the bottom we avoid it.
Didn't mean it as having a great system but rather wanted to contribute that rainharvest works *really well*, even if you live in a town like we do. Shallow well pumps, filters, water workers, and even UV are ordinary off-the-shelf plumbing components and the overall system is straightforward. Want to join you in trying to bring down the 'it's too complicated or unsafe or too much maintenance' factor and encourage those on the fence to give it a try :)
Roof material leeching? It's common to have a 1st flush sub-system. The idea is that after a month or 2 or 3 (or longer) dry-spell, dust and other contaminants (bird poop maybe) or shingle chemicals? (not heard of this) or forest fire soot or x,y,z can collect on the roof. When the rainy season begins you start with an empty 1st flush tube or tank that collects the 1st amount of water with the higher concentration of stuff and then the roof is clean and you let the follow on water go into the main tanks. In my case, I have a 300gal 1st flush (for 2000sq foot roof) but that's way overkill - it was just the cheap (small'ish) tank I had on hand. To get back to you're question - I don't think a roof leeches 'stuff' day by day so a washing off the roof makes the remaining water pretty darn clean, certainly safe to filter/UV for consumption. You can use a garden hose to regularly wash off you're roof as well -> 1st flush or direct to overflow. Some use Berkey's downstream for additional cleansing. *I'm no expert, not urging anyone to do anything they aren't comfortable with but absolutely sharing that we've had a great experience. One official reference if it helps - I'm in Oregon and it's encouraged by state publications and our city permits/inspects rainharvest as OK for consumption - which we did. They wanted Class A UV (stronger) instead of Class B UV for example but even though a little more expensive UV but no big deal in the scheme of things.
I have found with a leaf screen, and first flush diverter, I still get a sediment in my main collecting tank. With mild winters now in Ohio, we have collected water year round for the last few years with the house running only on rainwater. We are now in a "months long drought" with no rain in sight, so will have to haul water now for the first time.
Thanks for the video. We had 10,650 gallons of outside storage and another 3K under the crawlspace for emergencies (think February 2021) and still would watch the collection tank overflow in our NW of Houston household collection system. A couple ideas you may not have considered-we had our tanks in the shaded woods so we painted the tanks forest green but we also painted our above ground PVC piping which made it blend in AND protected it from UV damage. The other thing we learned from the purveyor of Cloud Juice out in Fredricksburg we learned about the importance of collection and holding tanks being separate, and taking the clearest water from the collection tank to keep the holding tank even cleaner.
It's my contention that treatment using Diatomaceous Earth and UV-C sterilization as antimicrobial protection in a clean well maintained rainwater catchment, storage, and distribution system is sufficient for my needs; providing exceptional quality drinking water at a very low cost. Simple filters like fine mesh screen and cotton fabric are perfectly acceptable to clarify and UV sterilize. The activated carbon filtration at the final stage is ideal to control consistent clean taste and smell but I tend to replace it within 30 days to prevent bacterial multiplication. Anyway, I'm relieved of the RO system and filthy contaminated well water.....never have been more pleased than drinking rainwater. 😊
Great job on this video. Concise and informative. I had a berkey for years until I tested the water. More ppm after the berkey than before filtering. I now use a zero pure because Science is not an opinion. Please test your water and don’t just buy a filter because someone said it was good but didn’t provide evidence. And if you still want a berkey I have one for sale cheap
Thanks for the capacity comparison for your use case. We are also in East TX and I have been trying to figure out what we will need once onsite full time. I was going to plan on 6000 potable and I already have 2000 between garden (unfiltered) water and trailer potable (just meaning I have it filtered/purified when it comes out). When we are full time, it will only be 2 adults, dogs and whatever animals we get. Helps to know that your family is under suppled at 5k. Thinking I may need upward of 10k to be safe for an extended dry summer. I am glad the shoulder seasons are far less of an issue as we do get a fair amount of rain, Spring in particular.
Recently bought a couple of spin down filters after those I have 1 1/2 inch big blue filters first one has a charcoal filter the second on houses ceramic candles these are the same filter as in the Berkey but they are shaped a bit differently Eventually after the ceramics I will put in a uv light The thing to remember about a uv is that the wather has to be clear enough that no water is being shaded by even the smallest sediment or the light might not actually hit whatever is left in the water. The big blue is a 10 inch diameter filter housing.. so they are big. They are made by Doulton filter
Great info. Didn't think about sealing every single point of entry. One suggestion. Stainless steel screen. More expensive but never degrades. And, on the pond, there is a special fish called "mosquitofish" that helps keep mosquitos knocked down.
In my part of Oregon we have rain for six months and no rain for six months. If your rain water collection is the primary water system or is a real backup system it requires alot of storage. Tanks as you can afford them is the obvious way to go. How do you protect your tanks and collector pipes in the winter.
Fortunately we don't really have to protect the pipes too much here in the winter. The pump and pipes connecting to it will be enclosed and insulated for this winter since that is new.
Would you recommend two black IBC totes or a vertical water storage tank like you have? What supplier would you recommend purchasing your storage system from? Also, do you run your water directly from your water catchment system to your pressure tank in your well house? Lastly, do you use chlorine tabs at all before drinking it or do you pass everything through your Berkey water filter? Thank you for your time.
Interesting system... Inefficient though! Collection, Filtration, Storage - you need focus. Collection is simple right - Not so much. When you collect with just simple slopes you are also collecting all the debris and soils of animal life, pollution, feces from whatever critters get on your slope system. Slow the collection of water down, turbulence just moves tons of debris with the water. Next have a rough filter, Scotch brite is a remarkable collector of debris that is easy to clean. Scotch Brite's come in many sizes. On your slope have a screen, under that have the scotch brite's, under that have a wash board system. Don't think of this system as necessarily vertical - angled is better but the basic angle should be no more than 45 deg. With any luck the world where you life has nothing else to throw at your collection. The screen diverts the large debris, the Scotch Brite's collect bits of leaves, bird feces, bugs etc. And then the washboard - you want it to divert the water over it yet have the washboard at a slight angle at right angle to the basic slope. (that angle removes the sand and grit that clogs everything if given a chance. At this point you have close to 95% of the debris filtered out. Next comes the true filtration, I would suggest a 3 stage in diminishing diameters. Get the best system you can afford here. Direct the water into the clean storage tanks. Keep the entirety of the system critter free - even mosquitos and smaller. Use micro screens where possible ( they are made of Stainless Steel and come in unbelievably fine mesh. The entrance to the storage must be clean, sealed and somewhat critter proof. If you can keep your over flo away from the ceiling of the storage1-2 inches is plenty.Condensation combined with any life form can create a hazard you do not expect. @ 2 inches from the bottom of the storage have a connection tree (large hose connection for irrigation, regular hose connection, and a small diameter connection attached to a clear poly tube that you keep attached to the storage vertically. That is your storage capacity meter.
No e explanation! I live in an rv park, but the owner is a homesteader with a similar system for his home. I am talking with him about a small set up for my spot. Fingers crossed he ok’s the idea & design.
Your first flush system needs an adjustment. Incoming water should go into a wye instead of a tee. Have the wye placed lower than the tank input level, straight side down, so when the first flush leg gets full, the water must flow up hill from the wye to the tank. This forces "heavier than water" particles to settle down into the first flush leg while clean water goes to storage. This set up also catches bits that float, like leaf fragments and bug parts, as the surface of water in the pipe is maintained above the storage line. With a tee, as you have set up, anything coming off the roof after the first flush has filled is free to be swept straight into storage.
Just want to point out that *parts* of Oregon get lots of rain. Most of Oregon does not get much rain, and *all* of Oregon gets *no* rain at all for months in the summer. Thus, for truly effective rain collection, you need enough water stored to span that dry spell.
Every place is different. Everyone is encouraged to do their own research as to the rainfall in their area. As a whole, Oregon gets more rainfall than the majority of the rest of the country sans New Hampshire and South Florida.
@@CountryLivingExperience yes, and I don't mean to imply otherwise. You said that in Oregon, because of our heavy rainfall, you don't need a lot of storage. I'm only suggesting that in fact it's the opposite. One needs a lot of storage to get through the dry period.
It's just a random idea, and I'm not sure if it's worth the power consumption or not. What about installing a circulatory pump with a filter on the storage tanks, kind of like on a cheap above ground pool to help pre-filter fine sediment and if any bugs do get in. I would assume you'd only have to run the pumps a couple of hours a day.
Our system is just like your, but we have 2 5K tanks, same set up as you. We use a German Wize VOrtex filter and then UV and standard cannister filters 5micron and 2 micron I think. We test our water once a year, it's always 99% pure and bacteria free. We've never come close to running out of water.. Arkansas has plenty of rain.
The problem with living in Oregon (we do) is that for about 3 months in the summer it basically does NOT rain at all, and can get quite hot and sunny (and hotter earlier and longer with every year that passes it seems these days...). So, if you're relying on rain water catchment as your sole source of water here, you need to size your storage capacity to take that into account. Of course you could always (maybe) contract a water truck to come and fill up your tank if you run out, but I personally wouldn't be comfortable with having to rely on that as things progress. The other thing is that summer is when we're growing most of our food for the year, so you've got to factor in water for your garden and any critters if you have any...and THAT is likely going to be the biggest problem honestly. (We're still building our home.) One thing is for sure. Your water system and methods for your food production here must be set up to optimize every drop if you're relying on rainwater collection! Drip irrigation under a layer of mulch & watering the cooler night time hours to decrease evaporation and get every drop possible down to the roots of your plants; shade cloth over crops where possible (especially those that like cooler temps and less harsh sunlight); drought hardy plant selections; getting all your starts going as early as possible while it's STILL raining so they're strong and hardy when transplanted into the garden; LOTS of organic matter in your soils and extensive use of mulch; grey water reuse on trees and where appropriate on other crops (which means totally biodegradable soaps only going down one's drain); waterless, composting toilet systems so you aren't wasting any water flushing all your fertility away where you can't get to it to use it; and just being mindful of using water very conservatively during the dry season. As it happens, we're fortunate to also have a year round (so far) spring higher up on our land, but we have SUCH restrictive water use laws in this state that we're not allowed to use that at this point. However, if we tap it I think it may qualify as a "shallow well," but we shall see. It may be that we'll "divert" the flow a bit in summer to at least water food crops and critters, but technically that's not allowed here since we don't have a water right. We're seriously considering digging water retention ponds around the place, but that I think that too has a lot of red tape and permits involved...unless we just 'don't know any better' and do so quietly under the radar. I do think that such ponds would be allowed for fire prevention/mitigation purposes by the water master, but not necessarily for any other uses, again we'll see. Lastly, we've heard mutterings of things in the works to outlaw or limit rain water harvesting off one's roof here...which I find to be incredibly shocking and wrong. SO, we've been told by those more in the know than we to hurry up and get our systems all in and hooked up so they'll be grandfathered in before such things go into effect! Last resort for us will be to dig a well, but we're hoping to avoid it. Many of our neighbors say that they're noticing their wells are producing less each year or even going dry and having to dig them deeper. One person in our area drilled 2 or maybe 3 dry holes before hitting water! If you ask me it's STUPID to limit rainwater harvesting when it rains here for 8 months straight and require people drill wells instead to drain our watershed out. Far better IMHO to allow people to use the water that hits their roofs in abundance for most of the year to tide them through the summer. Regulations...you can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em. Grrrrr...
remember that gravity can really be your friend.. With this in mind try to mount your tanks as high above your outlets as possible.. This is why cities build water towers or mount tanks as high as they are able to. This also means build your roof at a high point on your property. You will get about 40 pounds of pressure if you can mount your tanks up say 100 ft above you highest outlet.
I have small pressure pumps in the basement. I installed my own. Water comes into my basement at 40 lbs psi from gravity. When it goes through the pump, an air bladder squashes the water down under pressure and releases it to the house at 40-60 lbs. Psi. It has plenty volume. You dont want it over 60 or it may blow the lines apart, causing leaks where you glued line together.
The hydrostatic head pressure of water is 0.433 psi/foot of head. a 100 foot hydrostatic head would be needed to supply water at 40 psi after friction reduction in the pipes.
any tips or pointers for climates that are really cold in the winter? Perhaps I will have to get burry-able tanks and burry them and add heat tape to the roof, gutters, and corresponding exposed pipes?
Since we have filtration after the collection (including the berkey in the house), I am not really worried about it. Metal roofs are the best for low contamination however.
Just ordered 2 chemguard black 500 gallon tanks. Gonna build a water tower from 4" sch 40 pipe and put one up high for pressure and the otter down low to catch rainwater and water from the creek nearby. Gonna figure the rest as i go
Do you have any recommendations on systems that would be used to pump the harvested rainwater to power the home or agriculture sites? All new to me. Thank you
@@CountryLivingExperience Lowe’s has a 2500 gal tank (looks nearly identical) for $1800, which is really good since we generally see prices around $1 per gallon.
Very helpful. My question, which many people don't seem to address is about droppings on the roof? Birds, Squirrels, etc and going to leave feces / urine on the roof no matter how hard people try to keep it clean. How is all of that addressed properly to the highest degree of safety?
The multiple filters I pointed out collect a vast majority of the sediment from those things you mention. At then end of the system we have a Berkey filter to purify for drinking. Some people use a small amount of bleach in the tank or a UV light treatment system.
As a resident of SW Washington state and native Oregonian, I have a slight correction to add: Only the WESTERN parts of Washington and Oregon have plentiful rainfall. The western part of Washington's Olympic Peninsula has the highest rainfall in the Continental USA, outside of Hawaii. That said, EASTERN Washington and Oregon are high desert, and have dramatically LESS rainfall than the areas west of the Cascades. Regardless, point well taken that areas with higher rainfall averages require smaller catchment systems. Thanks!
Great video, thanks! I’m wondering how long you can safely store the water with this set up (dark tanks, screens and secure openings, Dunkits)? Do you have to do anything else or add anything else for it to last 6 months or more? maybe up to 8 months? Thinking of subtropical regions with an actual monsoon season of 4 to 5 months with the rest of the year dry.
You're welcome. I honestly don't know what the longevity of the water would be. I have never researched that. Theoretically, you can filter any water not matter how old it is.
I wonder how much roofing material choice affects the water quality.. It seems that asphalt shingles would release som toxic/damaging things as they get heat cycled and that those things would pass through any screens.. It seems like metal roofing would be a better choice if you had it to make.
Something else you can mention is to paint your tanks and all exposed plastic infrastructure. This will increase the life of your investment by protecting the plastic from the suns damaging UV rays.
Nice system, but you over fill is higher then your fill line. Shouldn’t it be lower? Once it’s fill it will be flowing back out the full line before it reaches the over feel line.
I don't know much about the subject but honestly I think your onto something, what other material would you use that is water tight, concrete seems toxic, glass seems ideal but could break it humm not sure the answers are.
@@backwardsrun you just gotta ask yourself how they would’ve done it 100 years ago. I’d say metal, wood, clay, or you could even make your own out of stone and mortar.
Proper filtration will eliminate any micro plastics. But people don’t ordinarily think of this for their garden. I’m not entirely convinced of the evidence to support micro plastics as a problem for plant based foods.
Should I build it on the high of my property? There is no structure out there. Can I send you a picture of my property so you see how it is shaped? I guess I would have to have a plumber put it together.
It all depends. You need a roof to collect it. If it is going to be too cost prohibitive to build a structure with a roof at the high point and then add a water tank, then don't do it. I might add it next to your house, collect rainwater off the existing roof, and add a pump. That will cost a lot less I am sure.
Most videos people have the white tanks, I wouldn’t have guessed that that many people were doing it wrong. I would have been on that list until I watched this video.
I'm glad it's working for right now, but you need to understand something. Rain water won't work in the future unless you treat the water. As more methane erupts from the Arctic tundra, it rises into the upper atmosphere where it traps 10 X more heat than CO2. As temperatures rise more and more methane will erupt. Methane has a life cycle of about 10 years. This means it stays in the upper atmosphere for about a decade. Then it mixes with water vapor and rains down as acid rain. In sufficient amounts, rain water will become toxic. You will need to mix the rainwater with limestone to remove the acid in the water. A PH reading will have to be monitored carefully. Be aware, too much lime is not good either. A charcoal system would help as well. Charcoal has a way of neutralizing the PH of water. Good luck.
I live in coal mining area. We get pollution from northern cities in the air too. Something made the rain actually reddish one day. I had dishes sitting in the yard. The rain fell in them. It wasnt from a well. I guess it was acid rain???
Sorry, yes. Here they are: Parts Used In This Video: Norwesco 2500 gallon Rainwater Collection Tank: www.homedepot.com/p/Norwesco-2500-Gal-Black-Vertical-Water-Tank-40631/206479621 Blue Mountain Co. Rainwater Harvest Parts: Leaf Eater: amzn.to/3F49NxR First Flush:amzn.to/3zRM28d Over Flow: amzn.to/2ZMHWC8 Tank Level Guage: amzn.to/3CWWbmb 3" PVC Pipe and elbows as needed. 1.5" PVC Pipe, 1.5" male threaded to female slip, 90 degree elbow, 1.5" DWV (Dish Washer) Trap Adapter Vent
For my pond I have stocked Gambusia Holbrooki native to the SE US and Florida for mosquito control. I don't want to be "that guy" who introduced an invasive species, and Florida already has too many ecologically detrimental invasive species unfortunately :/
A few drops of diesel fuel into a tank of water will create a thin oil layer on the water surface that kills mosquitoes. This can be an acceptable solution for irrigation water.
@@keithomelvena2354 It probably will work the same, but you'll need more of it. I think it's the oil layer that kills them, and diesel is less viscous compared to the vegetable oil. Following this logic, WD-40 should work the best - it's a very runny oil, that should create a very thin oil layer, using less oil.
@@ruslankadylak2999 The layer of oil suffocates mosquito larvae. I honestly don't think using those petroleum products would be good for garden or health?
We're talking literally about a few drops of diesel fuel. Shouldn't make much difference. But when you already have an out of hand mosquito situation, it's an easy way to kill their larva.
Try this one.....ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YOG1oe5y0iQ.html. I thought I linked it in the video cards that appear at the top of the screen when watching the video.
You need a fact check. Tucson, Arizona and Northern Arizona, where I have two homesteads, average 10" of rain each year, rains both in July and August, and 2-3 weeks in the winter. Other than that, great info.
4:45 mosquitos are not "all over the planet", many high latitude countries are mosquito free, here in the UK for instance. They are generally unable to tolerate frosty winters.
One correction. 1000 square feet of roof only collects about 623 gallons per inch of rain. (1000 ft^2)(1/12 ft) = 83.33 ft^3 (83.33 ft^3)(7.48052 gallons/ft^3) = 623.3766 gallons I allow the 23.3766 gallons for initial wetting of the collection surface and the fist-flush (10 gallons minimum for 100 ft^2 collection surface)
