Water storage

I am considering making a rain water collection system. I want to be able to filter this water as it travels from the roof run off into the storage container. I want it to be completely off-grid with no electricity needed. I was thinking along the lines of one or more food grade 55 gal drums that catch the water from the roof drainage. Here in NM we have “canales” which are like gutters I guess. So the water is captured there and then goes into the drum via PVC pipe and fittings. Then out at the bottom of the drum via a spigot with a splitter. That way it can be piped to my plants or just drawn from the spigot.

I’m debating whether to include some sort of battery operated pump system, like an RV pump or even a large aquarium pump. I like this idea because it would give more control over the water pressure. The main problem though is what if I don’t have batteries or they die/run out. You can only store so many batteries. Then there is the issue of the best way to purify the water for drinking. I did see anothr member's post (aneyefortheshot) from earlier this year with a picture of a simple system like this (thanks!) Does anyone else capture rain water for storage or use?

 

We had that plan before when the water distribution company here had been rationing water to us - no more tap water from 10pm until 4pm. We consulted an engineer to build us a cistern or water tank to be filled with rainwater and kept for emergency use. But before we could finalize the plan, the big water distributor came in and regulated the water distribution.

However, that cistern for rain collection is a good idea since rain water is free. It can be used for irrigating the garden which consumes a lot of water. When we computed the frequency of use for the collected water, it turned out that it is only minimal. So when you install an electric pump to make it easy for you to get water from the cistern, it is convenient but you may lose in the investment since you only use it occasionally.

 

I agree because I actually collect water myself, and before I did not care to keep leaves, small sticks, etc our of it because I was going to filter it later anyway. It's not worth the hassle if you can just build a system that will do all of that for you so the water is ready for use when you need it. The things that can sink to the bottom are worth keeping out, I had small bugs floating at the top, as well as many other things. After a while, I decided to not use that method because it was disgusting, I wanted to take the more professional approach.

 

Were I come from there are a lot of people that are using these tanks. There are places that sell them really cheap and you can easily pile them up one on top of another so they don't have to take up that much space.


They end up spreading them around the garden so they have water were the need it.

 

We have an old steel drum positioned under the outlet of a gutter to catch incident precipitation. In arid areas of my country here in the tropics, some places have water pans constructed. There are large open structures made in the open and can be made of steel or concrete, even polythene to capture raindrops and have really helped pastoral communities.iI desire to acquire a collapsible tank which inflates when water is poured in.

 

In this modern world, it would be easy to use technology for collecting rainwater and directly connect it to water storage like water tanks but in emergency cases where technology is not available, a big drum or barrel under a pvc pipe connected to our rooftops would be an easy alternative to collect rainwater.

 

In this modern world, it would be easy to use technology for collecting rainwater and directly connect it to water storage like water tanks but in emergency cases where technology is not available, a big drum or barrel under a pvc pipe connected to our rooftops would be an easy alternative to collect rainwater.