Great info, I've been thinking about setting up a rain catchment system for watering plants when it's dry. I remember my grandparents had a big old wooden barrel at the side of the house catching water off the roof when I was a child.
I believe I have found someone that I used to know many years ago. I can't believe how I stumbled upon you but I'm pretty sure that it is you. None the less, becoming a homesteader here in TX and am enjoying your videos. Keep up the great work.
hi! how long does the filter last before I would need to change out the charcoal sand and pea gravel also would this work if I made a rain barrel size filter with the same ingredients
Do you make your activated charcoal or do you buy it? We're looking for it in that quantity and are not seeing it. When we do find it in a larger quantity cost prohibitive.
Great filter, the design has been around for some time and they work great, but I’m not sure that it will be able to handle the water coming off your roof. Those filters are designed to be fed quite a bit slower than your roof is going to deliver and the space between the top of your material and the top of the bucket doesn’t allow for much excess water. If my math is right and the dimensions you gave on a previous video of the shed are correct (16’X8’ roof) then the harvested water (gal) = catch area (ft squared) X rainfall depth (in) X conversion factor (0.623) sooooooo 16X8=128 X .31in (rainfall for Lebanon, OH on May 21, 2016) X 0.623 = 25.51 gal or 26 gals. Now depending on how fast the rain falls you’re going to get that water faster or slower. In the case of May 21st you received almost all your rain between midnight and 3 am - 3 hours. So taking 25 gallons and dividing by 3 you get 8.6 gallons per min from your roof.. check my math but if I’m right you’re going to have activated charcoal all over the place and in your tote as it flows over the top. One more thing.. if the water is for the animals then they can drink rainwater you just need to filter out the aggregate from the shingles and anything else that might clog your faucet. They’ll be fine. Not picking at you or playing I know better just passing on what I think might help. God Bless.
Your going to loose a lot of water, the animals will be fine with straight rainwater, just get out the aggregate from the shingles and anything else that gets caught up in the water. a fine mesh strainer would be more than enough.. and much much cheaper than even the diverter.
Love your Co-host, chip off the block. Why did you clean the material separate? I would think you might combine then all and filter it straight out of the 5 gal. I am think on utilizing this for my chickens and garden. Also I would like to thank you and your family for the vedio's. We have torn down the our pool and add an enclosed garden 26' x 26'.
Great system :) I put a little pool outside for my dogs. My daughter freaked out about them being in rain water lol. I said that is way better than what came out of the hose
Nice job! I can't see that filter being a problem. Cows drink out of dirty streams all the time and chickens will drink out of puddles. That water will be way cleaner for them.
Cows could drink the roof water, but you would still want to keep most of those solids out of your rain collection system. It would just cause issues down the road.
I'm hoping to put at least one gutter on my cabin (metal roof) and use a first flush system, and have the water after the first flush going into an IBC tank that will actually flush our toilet. OR, make a gray water filter that will flush the toilet. The IBC water can be used for animals and gardens. Yeah, big plans...lol Maybe by fall! Who knows? Things always take longer than I think they will. Looking forward to seeing your system in place and working. I'd be tempted to run a water hose on the roof just to watch the water go into the rain catchment...LOL
I like it! I can see if you make your own, that you'd want to rinse it out because of the possibility of lye. However if you bought food grade I wouldn't see why you'd need to. --I look forward to the next in this series :)
:) That is really cool BFH, my original comment was that if you bought it food grade at the store then you probably wouldn't have to rinse the charcoal. I do agree making your own you would want to.
Hi Brad, We make charcoal every Wednesday over at the woodland where I'm learning the old ways which we then sell to the camp site next door. Helps raise funds . Before we start the next burn we empty the previous week's charcoal and then sieve it. The fines then go for biochar. I've used some on my own garden this year for the first time. I'm the guinea pig. We're really interested to see how this goes. Please keep us up to date. I'm trying to get our group to post more videos, please look out for Coppicewood College. Our rain water will come off a zinc roof, once filtered I wonder if that would be good or bad for the animals?
Thanks, I will check it out. For you to use the biochar in the garden you need to inoculate it with a fertilizer first- When our char is done, we soak it for a few hour in a worm compost tea. If you don't the char can actually take out the nutrients in your soil...
+Big Family Homestead I made a mix with chicken manure, left it for few days and then laid it in the bottom of the potato trench. They were a very late sowing but they seem to be really quick sprouting. To be honest, I didn't know then about the soaking but did it on a hunch. Watch this space.
Oh I so needed this. I have several rain barrels I will be installing and a big concern was the roofs with asphalt shingles. Great idea thanks for sharing. One question would you screen the top of the bucket or just pick out any debris such as leaves and sticks that you might get?
Any videos of this in action? I have a rain collection system and know that when rain is coming off the roof it comes a lot all at once, do you think putting this filter there and slowing that flow will create a backup of the water (it will take significant amount of time for water to flow through the filter) or do you have some way to capture this water before the filter so you don't lose it?
nice filtration system. do you think it would work well for other debris? like twigs and leaves and stuff. we are planning on putting water catchment systems off our out buildings for animal usage and potentially human usage in a worst case senerio (like if something happens to our well pump). Caleb had waay to much fun for the ending lol. my daughter eva got a kick out of him!
Hmm I would think that you would need a big bowl to place on top. Filled with medium gravel to filter out the leaves & such before entering your system. Just m,y 2 cents...LOL
Im making this in my office, but when the water hits the sand it became muddy/cloudy. Do I have to clean the sand? and how can you clean it? cos I already did clean it but the result is still the same. pls help me.
Can anyone confirm that these charcoal filters are sufficient to remove the hydrocarbons and whatever other nasties might be coming off of an asphalt shingle roof when it rains? Thank you for this video.
Hmmm! The picture looks like a cat to me. Hmmm! Good filter though. I have been using one for years and the only thing it does not filter is bacteria and not much chance of that. God Bless
Great info, I've been thinking about setting up a rain catchment system for watering plants when it's dry. I remember my grandparents had a big old wooden barrel at the side of the house catching water off the roof when I was a child.
I believe I have found someone that I used to know many years ago. I can't believe how I stumbled upon you but I'm pretty sure that it is you. None the less, becoming a homesteader here in TX and am enjoying your videos. Keep up the great work.
hi! how long does the filter last before I would need to change out the charcoal sand and pea gravel also would this work if I made a rain barrel size filter with the same ingredients
I'm wondering this also
Hey Brad and Caleb. Great Vid, as ever !
Don't forget the overflow hole and hose, for when it buckets down rain.
God bless y'all, Simon.
Yup! Ironically, we have not been able to finish the project as it's been raining like crazy the past few day!
Do you make your activated charcoal or do you buy it? We're looking for it in that quantity and are not seeing it. When we do find it in a larger quantity cost prohibitive.
A cool filter looking forward to ops check when it rains!
Great filter, the design has been around for some time and they work great, but I’m not sure that it will be able to handle the water coming off your roof. Those filters are designed to be fed quite a bit slower than your roof is going to deliver and the space between the top of your material and the top of the bucket doesn’t allow for much excess water. If my math is right and the dimensions you gave on a previous video of the shed are correct (16’X8’ roof) then the harvested water (gal) = catch area (ft squared) X rainfall depth (in) X conversion factor (0.623) sooooooo 16X8=128 X .31in (rainfall for Lebanon, OH on May 21, 2016) X 0.623 = 25.51 gal or 26 gals. Now depending on how fast the rain falls you’re going to get that water faster or slower. In the case of May 21st you received almost all your rain between midnight and 3 am - 3 hours. So taking 25 gallons and dividing by 3 you get 8.6 gallons per min from your roof.. check my math but if I’m right you’re going to have activated charcoal all over the place and in your tote as it flows over the top. One more thing.. if the water is for the animals then they can drink rainwater you just need to filter out the aggregate from the shingles and anything else that might clog your faucet. They’ll be fine. Not picking at you or playing I know better just passing on what I think might help. God Bless.
True, we will have a diverter as an overflow... the issue for us, as is most of the time is budget, and a 5 gallon bucket was in the budget ;)
Your going to loose a lot of water, the animals will be fine with straight rainwater, just get out the aggregate from the shingles and anything else that gets caught up in the water. a fine mesh strainer would be more than enough.. and much much cheaper than even the diverter.
Do we need to change the soil from time to time?
Love your Co-host, chip off the block.
Why did you clean the material separate? I would think you might combine then all and filter it straight out of the 5 gal. I am think on utilizing this for my chickens and garden.
Also
I would like to thank you and your family for the vedio's. We have torn down the our pool and add an enclosed garden 26' x 26'.
Great system :) I put a little pool outside for my dogs. My daughter freaked out about them being in rain water lol. I said that is way better than what came out of the hose
Nice job! I can't see that filter being a problem. Cows drink out of dirty streams all the time and chickens will drink out of puddles. That water will be way cleaner for them.
Cows could drink the roof water, but you would still want to keep most of those solids out of your rain collection system. It would just cause issues down the road.
Caleb is a keeper!! Great job kiddo. oh, yeah, you to Dad:) Thanks for sharing.
This is such a good tutorial
Nice job Caleb, also like the filter.
Hello,
Thank you for the video.
How does it work with big rains? Won’t it overflow? What’s your experience with that? Any tips?
Cheers
Only problem with this setup is when it's a downpour the water will overflow your bucket because it can't flow fast enough through all that material.
lol love it kids are adorable! love the idea
I have 5 boys myself, if you ever get tired of Caleb you can send him my way! I just love that kid!
Well done Caleb!
I'm hoping to put at least one gutter on my cabin (metal roof) and use a first flush system, and have the water after the first flush going into an IBC tank that will actually flush our toilet. OR, make a gray water filter that will flush the toilet. The IBC water can be used for animals and gardens. Yeah, big plans...lol Maybe by fall! Who knows? Things always take longer than I think they will. Looking forward to seeing your system in place and working. I'd be tempted to run a water hose on the roof just to watch the water go into the rain catchment...LOL
Your assistant is adorable....I love the shifty smirk. :)
Thanks P ;)
Wonderful tutorial!!
How do you attach the filter to the water reservoir?
hay Clair where do the milk come out at its missing from the drawing
I like it! I can see if you make your own, that you'd want to rinse it out because of the possibility of lye. However if you bought food grade I wouldn't see why you'd need to. --I look forward to the next in this series :)
You rinse it to get the dust out.
The gravel and sand I get, I was just commenting on the store bought food grade activated charcoal.
It was not store bought, I made it... we have a video ;)
:) That is really cool BFH, my original comment was that if you bought it food grade at the store then you probably wouldn't have to rinse the charcoal. I do agree making your own you would want to.
Nice vid. Anxious to see how it turns out.
Love your channel and your family.
Thanks Roxy!
Hi Brad,
We make charcoal every Wednesday over at the woodland where I'm learning the old ways which we then sell to the camp site next door. Helps raise funds . Before we start the next burn we empty the previous week's charcoal and then sieve it. The fines then go for biochar. I've used some on my own garden this year for the first time. I'm the guinea pig. We're really interested to see how this goes. Please keep us up to date.
I'm trying to get our group to post more videos, please look out for Coppicewood College.
Our rain water will come off a zinc roof, once filtered I wonder if that would be good or bad for the animals?
Thanks, I will check it out. For you to use the biochar in the garden you need to inoculate it with a fertilizer first- When our char is done, we soak it for a few hour in a worm compost tea. If you don't the char can actually take out the nutrients in your soil...
+Big Family Homestead I made a mix with chicken manure, left it for few days and then laid it in the bottom of the potato trench. They were a very late sowing but they seem to be really quick sprouting. To be honest, I didn't know then about the soaking but did it on a hunch. Watch this space.
nice
Oh I so needed this. I have several rain barrels I will be installing and a big concern was the roofs with asphalt shingles. Great idea thanks for sharing. One question would you screen the top of the bucket or just pick out any debris such as leaves and sticks that you might get?
Anything can work, I have used cut up old T-shirts...
Your videos are very Informative and motivating.
have a fantastic day. Best regards Frugal Homesteading
Isn't it crazy that it's illegal to collect rain water in some states?
It is.
The Cautious Chef yes, but if you think about it, it is kinda like making moonshine
I know it’s probably cause the government wants people to pay for water so they get more money and we don’t get free water😡
Liberal states
Any videos of this in action?
I have a rain collection system and know that when rain is coming off the roof it comes a lot all at once, do you think putting this filter there and slowing that flow will create a backup of the water (it will take significant amount of time for water to flow through the filter) or do you have some way to capture this water before the filter so you don't lose it?
I will have to use an overflow, I'm pretty sure the filter will not keep up in an OK rain...
+Big Family Homestead yeah here in South Florida I filled up 100 gallon tank in less than 30 minutes
nice filtration system. do you think it would work well for other debris? like twigs and leaves and stuff. we are planning on putting water catchment systems off our out buildings for animal usage and potentially human usage in a worst case senerio (like if something happens to our well pump). Caleb had waay to much fun for the ending lol. my daughter eva got a kick out of him!
The idea is to put something over the top like an old t-shirt or screen to keep out the debris... Caleb clearly loves the camera ;)
+Big Family Homestead okay, good to know!
That young man has energy in reserve! Lol 👍 great video!
ok I'm just gonna ask this but the charcoal. ....where do ya get it or is it like the kind ya cook with and chopped up???
You make it! ua-cam.com/video/HB5hpZ3GI5s/v-deo.html
+Big Family Homestead Thanks Brad
Great idea. Great video.
Thank you very much!
You need to stick with Caleb. He is very smart in water engineering. He can teach you a lot.
HA! So true ;)
Very cool!
what do you guessamate your gpm on your filter ?
No good idea, but a guess would be 3???
Hmm I would think that you would need a big bowl to place on top. Filled with medium gravel to filter out the leaves & such before entering your system. Just m,y 2 cents...LOL
The plan is to use an old T-shirt ;)
Im making this in my office, but when the water hits the sand it became muddy/cloudy. Do I have to clean the sand? and how can you clean it? cos I already did clean it but the result is still the same. pls help me.
Yes, you have to clean the sand. The easiest way I know of is slosh it around in a t-shirt while running water through it till clear.
what kind of sand is that?
Can anyone confirm that these charcoal filters are sufficient to remove the hydrocarbons and whatever other nasties might be coming off of an asphalt shingle roof when it rains? Thank you for this video.
Don’t use asphalt rain water to drink
THEIRS A HOLE IN THE BUCKET DEAR LIZA DEAR LIZA LOL LOL lets see who knows that reference
Well fix it dear Henry, dear Henry.🙂
Mark Erickson Sr
name the song ?
Tres Cool...I was so making faces with him at the end...true story
why is the hole to the side?
That's to fit onto the storage tank better...
getting prepared for the apocalypse
Your kid mugging at the end is the BEST part!!!
ok, I ask youtube a? and your name pops up go figure. thanks brother
My whole concern with this wood be birds pooping on the roof and you end up with tape worms, or you animals. I guess if you drink it boil it first.
Oh yeah, if it is you, you guys nicknamed me "Tick". :)
Love the facial expressions at the end. 💕 😵
Oh I forgot. If you wanted the water for human consumption just add an ultraviolet light. God Bless
Good idea, however I am trying to do this without electric ;) Thanks!
Hmmm! The picture looks like a cat to me. Hmmm! Good filter though. I have been using one for years and the only thing it does not filter is bacteria and not much chance of that. God Bless
Very cool, thanks Joe!
Waste