Rainwater Harvesting | Collect & Store The Cleanest Rain Water From Your Roof! 

Hello everyone! I just wanted to address some of the comments on this video. First off, the purpose of this rainwater harvesting system is to collect rainwater to water my landscape, not for drinking. Nowhere in the videos title nor the video itself was it ever suggested otherwise. Secondly, where I'm located in California it is in no way illegal to collect rainwater from your rooftop for use in your landscape, in fact it's encouraged. Please see California's "Rainwater Capture Act of 2012" for more info. Now I would also like to share with you a few important notes regarding this setup. For myself, I found this smaller daisy chained barrel system to be a great low cost introduction to rainwater catchment. Moving forward my plan is to install a couple water cisterns (larger tanks) to better fit my landscaping needs. My roof which is made of asphalt shingles is not the best surface for collecting rainwater as it can leach petroleum and/or other chemicals into the water. It is for this reason that I currently only use this water for non-edible plants in my landscape. There are methods that can be applied to treat the water making it cleaner that I may employ in the future. When the time comes to replace the roof, I hope to have either concrete or clay shingles installed. This is a much more ideal water catchment surface making the water suitable for many different uses. Many folks have asked why I don't install rain gutter screens. Due to my previous experience with them I have opted to not use them as a means of keeping debris out of the gutter. I find that the small holes have a tendency to clog causing water to shed off of the roofs surface rather than collect in the gutter. Smaller particulate will also accumulate in the gutters over time requiring the removal of the screens to clean them out. Manually cleaning the roof and gutters a few times a year does a wonderful job keeping the inside of the barrels/cistern free of debris and the water clear and "clean". Thank you all for tuning into the video. I always appreciate your viewership and feedback.

Dan, I watch a ton of gardening and homesteading videos. Yours are the best. No rambling on, to the point and always informative. Great job! Love, David

In Belgium you are obligated to have a rainwater collection system in every new house, I believe since 2005. We have a 4000L well sitting under our driveway. It's used for flushing the toilets and 2 outside water taps. 2 days ago was the first time in 8 years that it ran completely dry after 6 weeks of no rain. I even have the drain of a separate garage hooked up to it so a few hours of rain will fill it up quickly, which happened yesterday.

I wish every house in the world can have something like this

I love this! Rainstorms are such a blessing. I live in an apartment and want to try out with something miniature. Love all things sustainable! Thank you for the video!

I set up two 55 gallon setups last year, and they are AWESOME! I do not have water lines to the lower portion of my property, so that barrel gets used a lot for irrigation and watering animals. It saves me tons of time and money.

I got to buy a gutter getter. Our gutters are full and I really want to invest in rain barrels! Nice tips. Our county has a sale going on for $45. I need to get gutters on the barn too. So much to do! So many goals. The overflow pipe I plan on using for the horse troughs. Very nice system.

I seen a guy who put metal mesh on the top of the gutters that only allow water or smaller debris

I have never seen such a wonderful set up. Thank you for sharing these helpful tips. I live in Virginia and it’s been raining a lot lately. Time to set up some rain barrels 💙 live well, stay happy and catch some good rain 🌧

Thanks for the help in creating a cleaner system. Great ideas for beginners, like me.

Bro. This is so genius. I live in miami and I get more rainwater in the rainy season than most. It got me to thinking that I need to recycle ♻️ my rainwater. So I did. But I did a very basic version using plastic tubs and hand buckets 🪣 to catch the rainwater-roof-runoff to water my trees and plants. Your system is tops!!! Thanks for posting.

I'm planning to do this with our home soon. I think first to install gutter filters, to keep degrees out of the gutter to begin with and using filter systems on the way day. Thank you for your informal video!

Very nice system. You are obviously a bit of a perfectionist from the looks of the water quality. Thanks for the tips.

thank you so much for making an easy to hear, easy to understand and easy to see video- just discovered your channel, can't wait to investigate more! (and see how you built this thing...)

Love it. Started my own system and during the research phase I learned that some townships encourage this and will help pay for it. On the flip side, a man in Portland was jailed for it because, and I quote...."the township owns the rain".

comments are funny . man I live in NZ and half the country has water tanks . and I live on waiheke island and ther is no mains everyone has a water tank or two for each house. pure water . tanks are like 50thousand litres plus so to last the summers . better than any town supply full of harmful chemicals like chlorine and fluoride . good job man

This tool to clean the gutter can be easily DIY with a plastic milk bottle, I guess...

Nice system, but you may want to start investing in better automation of tasks. Im currently using two 330 gallon tanks, Gutter guards, a 5 gallon first flush diverter for my 330sqft roof, and have minimal debris, Im going to work on a prefilter, and actually a pool sand filter to cycle water and prevent freezing by keeping the water moving when temperatures are below 35f outside which is only a few weeks of the year in TN. But great work! hope to see more!

This is exactly what Im looking for. Thanks 🙏

thank you for a clear and info filled video : )

Great video and great system!!!

good work. thank you for educating

I like how when you pour the water, it's almost at laminar flow. That's a good flow.

great system. Keep inspiring.

that was so cool . I love it. rain water why go to waste use it

brilliant dude... everyone must do tis...v can save sme water fr our future generations

Amazing idea! I would actually scrub the gutter with some 'soft' chemical like soap or the likes at LEAST the first time cleaning it to get rid of all that rust (maybe I'll leave white vinegar for an hour or so instead). Then I'd clean it with water then wait for the rain. I'd also install a wired filter around the gutter's filter too for extra protection!

you are very energetic and resourceful. I like your system. You may want to put covers on your gutters that allow the water without the crud in.

thanks for showing your set up!

thankyou..!! i wish can built my own rainwaterharvesting at my country!! im still doing research tho before starting my own 🤩 .. May God bless!!

superb......really.......

Great idea I love it ... i want to build rainwater harvesting ... Thank you

Nice! If you don't object : there are acrylic paints for roofs like that, which stop the toxic bitumen from polluting your water, although for the cost and application I don't have a clue. I'm hoping to install filters on mine, so it can be used for more than watering. I'm lucky in having a river in the garden, too, and a "pond" for it to fill. Water's getting to be rare especially clean, unchemically polluted (or "treated"), crystal clear water.

very helpful thanks!

Why not put a screen on top of your gutter to prevent from debris to enter lol less hassle than cleaning it

Great job sir.. I have to do the same too..

amazing job and idea .. :-)

Instead of using the gutter getter just use the leaf blower while your up there with it. I did and had the gutters clean in no time. Great vid on harvesting water.

nice 😍 god bless u.

great job

thanks good info

Can’t clean our gutters roof to high and steep need pros to get up there. I’m not breaking my neck trying to clean. Will need new roof soon so I’ll get gutter guards. Just got two barrels. Looks like I need more. Great setup you got.💪🏻🖖🏻👍🏻❤️🐾🐾🐾

I dont know if you have thought of this but you can get screening for your gutters that keep leaves and debris out and i was wondering how well those work.

It's the cleanest, best pleasure.

that's why west is best :-) i m not one of them who hate better,i appreciate better living great work,keep it up

wow great......

That water in that car Clear bowl looks so tasty I wanna drink it all.

Wonderful sharing sir,,, thanks.

I made one of those rain gutter scrapers out of a fabric softener jug I seen it on one of those hacked videos

awesome 👌👌👌

That's real cool

man I heard people get tickets for this like wtf cmon...what's the government gonna do next tax us for air?

Power spray or pressurized sprayer can also do the cleaning job?

You're so clever !!!

Is that posibble create some systems like this with big one for country who needed clean water? South Sudan and other.

Here also it rains a lot. It starts from March end. Can we use this water for washing clothes?

Good man!

nice video

in New York we would never even think about collecting rain water without a water purification system added, but other than that its a good idea, in some areas they bill you for your incoming water so if you found clever ways to hide ur collection tanks you could save a lot of money..

nice

I have a 20gallon water tub mounted on a support beam on the side that I made a self made filter. Collects tons of water every rainfall. Only use it for watering tho, don’t trust to drink it

you can do this in Germany all you want :D collecting rainwater is pretty common over here

Nice buddy

What are you using the rain water for and how are you keeping from going bad

I live in a place where it rains hard enough long enough that we just set out buckets to catch the water straight from the sky. However after storing it in air-tight containers for a few months, it developed a strong sulphuric/bad-egg smell. Any thoughts on what this is and a way we can stop it so it doesn’t stink up our greenhouse?

ive been wondering..rain is from the evaporated water right? what about the water from the exposed street sewage? it evaporates too right?

I see that you live in California. I was going to ask how you winterize this. I live on the East Coast and we have some pretty cold winters. Does anyone have any tips for having something like this in an area that gets super cold? Do you need to disassemble all your lines and drain everything before the winter each time? Do you let the water just freeze inside the barrels and than just let it thaw naturally when the weather heats up?

Genius!

Too bad this is illegal here in IL. Last time i left my coffe cup outside before rain, and woke up with swat team with his knee in my back.

Can you drink it after boiling?

How do I get potable water from rainwater? Open the lid and let it pour down from open skies? No pipes needed, but do I need an antimicrobial filter placed on inside barrel top after the rain?💧🤔💧

Woman silk panty hose works also nice for a filter. In the tanks one can pour a little sunflower oil so it seals thr top for mosquitoes. Then also pour in some colloidal silver Thanks for video

Now you need an ultraviolet light 😃

Just curious if you would give this water to your chickens? My chicken coop is right behind a 6 car pole barn w/ an aluminum roof and every day I'm lugging water back to them. It would be so ideal to have a water source back there, but I wouldn't want it to harbor any bacteria or make them sick. Thanks:)

Black Vultures sit on my roof, leaving their poop all over the place. They sit on my chimney, that their poop dripping down from it looks like icing running down. It is next to impossible cleaning their mess from my roof. You mentioned making compost tea at the end of the video. Do you drink this water? Does your system sanitize the water?

Cool. Though no way in heckfire am I personally getting on my roof 😂

Is it generally safe to drink this kind of rain water? I imagine some kind of filtering / boiling would have to happen before drinking to kill bacteria and remove contaminants?

I guess we should use this free water before flooding.

There is a product called GUTTER GUARD you put it over the top edge of your gutters it keeps leaves out of the gutter.

Nicely done. How many gallons is your capacity?

Thats a whole mission

how do you know how many gallons to flush?

make a filter film to put on your gutter to block out big leaves

A leaf guard would make your life a lot easier

That's when u all will realize that lot of rain is great to collect water and harvest it for all ur essential needs Laundry Farming Shower Rvs Cooking and drinking For your family saving and worries free Hope you all practice such .

I watched a video that was on the news a few year's ago about a man that was arrested for using rain water basically the state charged him with stealing water which I think is bullshit anyway great video thanks.

not having trees taller than your house will definitely help. Also, a rain gutter screen will help.

how often do you manually change the hose? I don't see the practicality of waiting for the chance of rain and the first 20 or so gallons to accumulate 🤔

*this man will definitely survive the Area 51 raid*

What is your roof made of?

Excellent! :-)

can you make a time machine...?

This is not so uncommon in third world countries like my own, The Maldives. At least it used to be that way ever since our ancestors had a roof over there head, but now this sustainable method is changing because our country is developing rapidly. Incredible way to save money.

Do you treat the water at all? I would imagine contamination from bird droppings would be a concern.

1:32 I thought this was a giant spider for a second,

Do you drink this water Too?

you need aluminum gutters with a screen and a metal roof

I put a new roof on the house this spring, a good quality dimensional composition . about 60 rainy days since then. i collected rainwater and tested with my TDS tester . (my tap water here in michigan 467ppm) the rainwater 2 ppm !!!!! can you believe it ?? WOW and it tastes better than my RO water that tests at 4 ppm. I believe rainwater also has other qualities ,nitrogen bonding ?? electrical ionization ? it just seems more natural.(which is almost always my default answer when it comes to what is best for your health) rainwater is an An-ion. picking up Cat-ions. (toxins ) anyone know the answer to this question. ?? what is the difference between rainwater that has jumbled in the sky vs. tap ,well or cleaned tap with RO filters ? beside the garbage in the water , is there another more complex difference.? i think there is some electrical charging . i have trouble finding anyone smart enough to know about this, most are not even able to understand we need clean water ,let alone more complex questions. even with the flint mi. and Benton harbor Mi. lessons people still trust the government . !! hard to believe people could be that brainwashed but it is true.

What about bird poo?? Do you boil ??

Damn.... your shingles must only last 2 or 3 years. Have you ever considered what toxic chemicals leach out of those shingles?