Every rural house is set up this way in Australia. Colorbond steel or similar provides the best drinking water. Never let mosquitoes get in the tanks, our tanks have fine stainless steel mesh screens.
He was my Permaculture professor at Oregon State.... He's classes are amazing, he's so insightful., and most importantly engaging ... and basically a World Boss on Permaculture. Thanks you again for being an amazing professor, Andrew. You've changed my view and perceptions on how we can make a better world. ~ A grateful former student
I use a water catchment here on Hawai'i island. I have a similar method to harvest water. As an extra filter to prevent fine sludge, I use two nylon knee-high stockings catch any fine dirt from entering the tank that passes by the first flush. It works to keep the USDA grade tank lining fairly clean. I use a simple toilet float to lift the house inlet flow hose. It keeps the inlet hose off the tank floor. It prevents pumping in any rubbish collected on the tank floor into the pressure tank. Next I use a filtration system that uses, rope 20u, carbon 5u, UV light, and calcite, to filter the water to drink. All at 50psi. My tank is corrugated steel covered with a black nylon mesh cover. No leaves or trees around the gutters. On long sunny days, I use a small amount of bleach to reduce algae growth. The amount of rainfall depends on the maintenance needed.
@@sagieschwartz6249 You would only use plain bleach when your tank water looks greenish. About a cup per 10,000 gallons. Bleach will dissapate within a few hours after applied. Just paddle it in good to kill the algae and any bacteria.
@@sagieschwartz6249 At the ratios needed to stop and prevent algae growth, bleach-treated water is safe for drinking or irrigation purposes. Additionally, the bleach breaks down very quickly.
If you add some steps from the German standard DIN1989 for rainwater harvesting, you’ll notice pre-filtration, calmed inlet, overflow siphon and floating suction, all great ideas to keep water in the tank clean and sludge to a minimum.
Simple and easy to understand. Great video! It's crazy to think how much rainwater just flows down the streets in cities and into the sewers. Worse yet the same cities then have water restrictions when the supply is low.
@@zayvier69 Exactly, weird how people believe water disappears when it touches the ground. Also, humans do not want anything to do with water that builds up on roofs where a lot of polution falls down on, such as from exhaust fumes. Don't drink that stuff please.. don't hurt yourself! Water needs high level treatment before humans should use it.
@@zayvier69 yes but also flooding. As new developments go into suburban areas, more roofs and cement go in and cause massive runoff. Water floods systems and low areas in rainy times, then when it’s needed later, it’s pulled out of reservoirs or wells, unless it already flowed to the sea. Reservoirs have high evaporation, so catching so water this way will save water as well as individual homeowners money.
A swirl filter, like used in aquaponics, could be used just before the tank to replace the "first flush" and filter out all of the solids and make it easy to dump the build up. Its basically a barrel with a pipe inlet that feeds the incoming water through the side and down to the bottom of the barrel then another pipe that is pointed upward in the center of the barrel that then goes down from the very top rim of the barrel (the water level) and makes a 90 degree turn in the middle of the barrel to the outgoing water. water fills in bottom, fills up to the top where only a thin layer of the cleanest water gets through
When building my new house, i incorporated flat concrete roof to catch rain and act as a roof top balcony for recreation. I also have 6 ground level storage tanks, which are all connected by underground piping, spread out around the house to more conveniently collect rainwater. The rainwater is then pumped through a pressure tower sand filter to supply water to my 3 storey house. So i am basically self sufficient. Cheers.
Literally every house in the sertão (a dry region in Brazil) is like this. Since water can be expensive, people store rainwater for months, sometimes even years lol.
I Use two 2500 Gallon storage tanks for my aquaculture operation and i just adapted a pool vacuum for cleaning the bottoms of the tanks once a year. Works very good and is dirt cheap.
I have seen/watched dozens of videos and read as many articles on rain harvesting... By Far this short video has/ IS THEE Best description of How the system works. Pure basics.. I started with twelve 55 gallon barrels not knowing the 1st clean - out, or about algae buildup from the sun...I Definitely do now. Since my first attempt with 55's, I have graduated to the IBC totes (275 gallon). Hopefully my New system will have 12 totes.
How long do you store water? I'm in the Pacific Northwest, which is effectively a Mediterranean climate at this point. We can go 3-4 months with practically no rain, but it pretty much rains all the rest of the time. I'd like to be able to store water through the summer but I'm worried about it going bad.
@@titosrevenger Water cannot go “bad” as such while being stored inside a tank. It can be contaminated if organic matter gets into it, which provides food for bacteria. Have first flush diverters and strainers installed, which prevent foreign debris from getting into the storage tanks. Ideally use inground cisterns, which keeps the water cool. Don’t allow light to reach the water! That would allow algae to grow. Let fresh rain water flow through the tanks when they are full during rainy season. I use water, which has been stored for sometimes 8 months or so, and no problems. Of course I use activated carbon filters and a UV sterilizer. I use the rain water for everything including drinking. Thanks for asking!
In Brazil a non-profit created a rainwater catchment cistern for our semi-arid region that was so successful that it became a government program. Almost a million were built in the last 20 years.
What a great method for presenting information. This is the first video (and of yours) Ive seen like this and am looking forward to more. Love the drawing techniques and callouts. Looks like engineering drawings. Thanks Andrew!
Here in Seattle, we get about 40 ( one meter) of rain per year, but have a seasonal draught in the summer lasting 3-4 months. Being a frugal person, I despise pouring water on the ground and then buying citiwater. So for twenty five years or so I have collected rainwater and used zero citiwater. But being frugal, my rainwater collection system is simple and frugal as well. I have a 600 gallon steel tank I bought thirty years ago from a metal surplus junkyard for $30 or so. It originally contained an aircraft engine for shipping by the military! I also have six 50 gallon plastic barrels in my basement that I picked up for nothing over the years, and a bunch of five gallon plastic buckets used to store water as well. The barrels in the basement are filled with the best water collected during rainstorms and such. I use one downspout to fill the 600 gallon tank, and two other downspouts to fill two fifty gallon plastic barrels. Water from the downspouts goes through a window screen before emptying in the tank/barrels. First flush rain is just diverted manually onto the ground, and when it is running clean, is diverted into the barrels/tank. When full, the outdoor barrels are covered with a steel top to keep insects/sunlight out. The steel tank is covered with plywood unless it is being filled. I bring water into the house for use in five gallon buckets. If needed, I'll pour water from one bucket into another through a bath towel to filter it. So no pumping or elaborate equipment is used or desired. During the summer draught, I'll minimize clothes washing by sorting out towels and such that are dried and saved for washing until the rains return. Clothes drying is done on a clothesline. A considerable amount of water is used watering a small garden. I don't use a regular toilet, a massive water waster. I live alone, having never married or had children. So I am free to pursue my hobbies and interests as I may choose, and using rainwater is a hobby for me.
@@andrealaphilippe5926 Not your style, obviously. In the past few days, we've had rainfall than has filled up all my water storage capacity, which will more than meet my needs until the fall rainy season arrives as of August 23rd. So I am remaining independent of citiwater for yet another year! That includes all the water I need for my garden. And just as this style does not suit you, it suits me. Thank you for your comment.
Absolutely superb, Andrew, thank you! I will be doing this (my wife and I have been discussing doing so for months) and sharing your video far and wide.
Hi. Great video. Few more recommendations from a water treatment automation engineer: Add a sand filter on output. Just simple one, made of pipe and clean sand is enough (create easy access to clean/replace filter easily). If You plan to use water for drinking purposes, definitely use some sterilization agent (Chlorine, UL light etc), ideally on the water still in the tank. Clean water tank regularly. If possible, put one valve on the side of the tank, few cm from the bottom. Use that valve as output valve. Second valve shall be placed in the lowest part of the tank, and used to rinse out the dirt, that accumulates on the bottom of the tank.
Good luck to you, Andrew. We're monts away from building our rainwater harvesting system, and your info has been very useful. Cheers from northern Spain.
I have no idea about any of this but i tried to really listen and understand. I have never seen someone write and draw so neatly. You are such an intelligent person. How did you become so extremely smart. I kinda got lost in your teaching because I was admiring all the drawings. 😂. Truly incredible
thanks, this was really useful and comprehensive. Im just designing our water harvesting system and there were many elements I had not considered. As our system is purely for watering the garden im going to place the tap at the very bottom to reduce build up of sludge
Working on my rainwater catchment on our 576 sf house in Tennessee! We’re designing all of our 5 acre farm from that starting point. Everything above the exit point of the totes will be food forest. Everything below it will be our gravity-fed drip irrigation annual vegetable beds for personal and commercial use, as well as nursery and greenhouse. Trying to make everything as passive as possible!
Sounds like a great plan! We have 6 acres in Northeast Oklahoma. Need to set up two large tanks, one from the cow barn and one from the horse staple. Metal roofs. Learning so much from Andrew.
Here in Aotearoa/New Zealand collecting roof water is very common. In fact, I have never been connected to city water. I collect about 65,000 litres of water at any given time.
Raise the storage elevation for gravity flowing. Search for storing the rainwater at ceiling level to benefit gravity flowing, as well as coping with winterizing.
Isn't it easier to just have covered gutters that keep things like leaves from the gutters? The one I had installed, 5 years ago, works great and I am surrounded by a dozen 100 year old trees (oaks, maple and and two pines) in an 1/3 acre lot. The water collected in barrels seems just fine. Will be adding the same to my separate cottage, since we just went through a rare severe drought. Much of the state is still under severe or extreme. Glad I just ran into this channel., while watching the current episode.
You should take a look at Green Dream Project’s videos! They did a giant earthbag cistern and one of the first things they built on their land was an awesome rainwater harvesting system. I’ll be building out in Colorado soon myself and I’m looking forward to putting some the methods I’ve seen in your videos to the test. Found your channel through Paani’s “Drought to Prosperity” video - I’ve been fantasizing about seeing these kind of watershed development projects happen across the Southwest (AZ/NM/CO) ever since.
We just bought 40 acres out in Colorado but it’s not lush, it’s desert. Have you seen anything on how to create a permaculture in this type of environment? I have years yet to get the land ready before we start building a house so I have a LOT of research to do.
Don't take it the wrong way, but green dream project has a horrible rain harvesting system, Lots of mistakes in that system, 100% of all the water I use is rain water, my pumping system runs on 12v , pumping system is fully sustainable running on wind and solar, Way better videos on this topic.
Look into local laws regarding rain collecting, I belive Colorado is one of the only states that places a cap on the legal amount you can collect, punishable by fines. Until 2016 it was completely illegal for some reason
Well, drinking it as a human is not advisable at all. So, all life except for humans then. Why? Well, because water treatment is very very complicated. Hundreds of dangerous chemical compounds are contained within rainwater. So, unless you are dirt-poor, you should not drink rainwater. Let the professionals with giant facilities, high level machinery to inspect the quality of the water and academic knowledge about water treatment do their job. Rainwater is for plants. Drinking water is for drinking!
@@Habib_Osman Grew up on spring water in the Appalachians that came from 300 feet down. Test came back well balanced and no pollutants. We used rainwater to wash clothes and bath in. The spring water was piped into the house and barn. Appropriate use.
@@allonesame6467 I would even drink that water. I can totally imagine using it/being connected to the mountain and its water. I would do the same.. Also, I think it is highly unlikely you would ever get ill because of using it BUT I've read some research about water/rain and It seems to me it is pretty much impossible to truly clean and test water. Read the english wiki about polutants (fijnstof we call that) for example, scary and mindblowing. I'm Dutch and our water is known for its world leading quality (no additives, no chlorine, no fluoride), and still I kinda don't trust it.
@@allonesame6467 I kind of regret my alarmist tone. Its just that polutants come in such a crazy number of possible types and kinds. Also rain is so unpredictable.. where did the exact rain that just dropped condense from originally? It seems to me everywhere has to contain everything to some degree, as clowds and air travel the planet. A Study I (admittedly partially) read also found that paks were found in rain everywhere in the USA. Also microplastics literally in the middle of the grand canyon.. yeah.
Been nomading with my bf for three years now. Have gotten pretty efficient at it. Packing the car for another excursion and watching this to empower me with the knowledge to build a sustainable little abode one day. Not that I’m bored of traveling AT ALL, it’s just my life has just been much much more empowering and better for my self sufficiency than I could ever imagine. Feels like we can do anything. Yay to life skills!
Thanks for the info. I'm planning to collect rainwater off the house for watering a large garden space. The initial, large tank will feed down to the center of the garden space where a solar pump setup will bring the water into a smaller tank placed on a small tower. From there, the idea is that we'll be able to gravity feed the entire garden from this center tower.
Regarding algae growth you can always do a PH alteration. For example if you use it for irrigation you can reduce the PH down to 5 and you won't have any problem with algae. Also you can protect the top from excessive heat by adding special paint or reflective metal.
This is an excellent video on the subject. Very clear and interesting explanation. Thank you Andrew. I'm looking forward stopping paying for water and collecting and using roof water for my house.
Love your videos. Permaculture quick and simple. About the lightproofing though. I watched an old course with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton. Especially Geoff thinks that algae can have positive effects on the water and do not necessarily reduce the quality. However it is important to have the outlet connect to the middle of the tank and never to the surface of the water, so no algae are pulled out with the water. Just to give a perspective, everything else would have been done the same of course.
This should be MANDATED into EVERY NEW house build. It is up to municipalities to institute such a program. The harvested water could be used for landscaping watering ... and other uses. I would think it would cost at least 8 to 9 grand to set up a system for each house.
Having grown up in New Zealand on a farm I fully recognise the basics of Andrew's suggestions although we had an in-ground concrete water tank & water pump but none of the screening, first flush etc stuff. We used our 12,000 gallon water tank for everything the usual household requires and it worked just fine. I think one of the beauties of an in-ground concrete water tank is that water's kept cool, dark & is impervious to critters, thus keeping the water healthy for drinking, cooking and batheing purposes. All of our neighbours had similar setups with a few using bore water supply.
Where do I even start!!! I'm so excited to find this kind of content with the level of knowledge, articulation, and artistry. I'm a builder by trade, specializing in off grid, and sustainable construction. Strawbale, Rammed Earth, Shipping container, ect. Your videos are concise, informative, artistic and articulate. You are camera and audio aware ( which unfortunately is rare on UA-cam). I'm excited to watch the rest of your content. Super cool use of the "reverse" white board. I've never seen that before. Thanks for all your hard work on these videos and I look forward to the next one. Cheers Cappie
I live in Rural Kentucky and while my water comes from a hill side spring this helps a lot. A first flush should help clean out the fine sediment. The rest I got right so far. My overflow feeds my pond and animals. overflow after that goes back into the brook where the spring originally fed. So just borrowing water as needed basically. I have a 2 stage filter and a UV light to make it potable. My next off grid house I will use rain water though, so again this helps greatly. Thanks so much for this video.
On Hawaii's Big Island people have been collecting rain water for eons. Thats how we got our water for years. Really drives home the message DONT WASTE WATER.
Very clear and easy to understand. Great video on setting up a rain water harvesting system. There will be more or a desire for this in the near future
From experience I find that leaf screens can not handle the high flow rates here in Florida, a great deal of water deflects off the unit rather than going through the screen. The first flush unit I have is minimal in effectiveness. The ball that seals off the first flush diverter once it is full, actually is forced to the bottom of the unit. This prevents sealing off that first water coming into the system, which is the dirty water one does not want. The manufacturer of the first flush provides a slow release or slow drain device for the bottom of the vertical. I find even the largest orifice for the device plugs up with the first rain coming off a polycarbonate greenhouse roof. One should consider a secondary filtration and the use of an agent to kill any germs, pathogens, etc. As collected rain water should never be consumed without further processing.
my personal noob answer to more water flow would be, bigger diameter rinse as well as first fall with leaf screen so basicly bigger everithing or more outlets lets say 2x on left down corner and right upper one, scale it to your needs :)
I agree with you. Secondary filtering is necessary. I just installed such a system on mine, the water changed from yellow to clear! You can see the video on my channel… cheers!
Most leaf diverters are poorly designed with unacceptable mesh angles of 35 degrees plus mesh doesn't allow water to flow between the mesh and the debris, a flushing necessity. Some leaf diverters even retain some water! You also shouldn't use leaf diverters that have a coarse outer filter mesh as this will allow a variety of large debris to fall through that will block the inner mosquito proof screen and of course most debris is washed from the gutter during heavy rain! The first flush diverters with the dripper are high maintenance and have unacceptable yield losses. You can make your own manual emptying system and automate it to empty at set intervals by fitting a battery powered tap timer to a horizontal length of drain pipe. Don't fit it to a vertical drain pipe as grit etc will settle on the internals.
in my part of australia we allways have a floating ball in the 1st flush 75mm pipe. mine captures about 20 ltrs then auto shuts off with having a tap at the bottom I drain it off with a hose or fill 3 buckets at my leisure its of great comfort when away from home to know this fail safe system works as it has for my 70 odd yrs on my rural property which runs on rainwater only !!!
Thanks for the video. Metal roof, new gutters with cisterns coming soon. All is well here at high mountain desert plateau hideout NM except for fires and drought.
Thank you so much for this video! You answered every question I ever had about rainwater harvesting and inspired me to create a system for my off-grid uses.
Something important to consider is that even if your system is perfect and keeps out all infectants like bugs or anything like dirt, you'll still need to both PURIFY AND FILTER your water before drinking, as rainwater is not safe to drink even straight out of the sky anymore because of "forever chemicals" that stay in your body and build up, causing cancer and other issues later in life.
For a small cost you could dump the water first into a smaller tank with a pump pulling the water out going into a filter system. The storage tank could hold cleaner water which can be further filtered as the water is used.
While _well_ out of work, and yet confronted by an overgrown North London garden (with ALL the tools one needed buried within it), I discovered the magical properties of a _large_ rain-water butt. Chopping down my original border covering of COMFREY, I stuffed it into both my composting site, and also the rainwater butt. This produced 'comfrey tea' which smelled like goat's piss but was the elixir of life to my salads, pulses, and root crops flourishing in the orchard. The lowpoint in the garden became a pond which filled itself in late spring with around 10,000 froglets, each the size of a 5p piece. The pond stood beneath a plum tree which broke all its main branches under the weight of the fruit it bore.
An idea would be to have 2 outlets at the bottom. One as a clean-out at the bottom, and a regular outlet a little higher for use. It's okay to have two... Geoff Lawton utilizes algae as part of his system to clean the water... The nice thing about growing vines over a tank is that it cools it as well as reduces the chance of algae if that is your goal.
Art Ludwig innovated a tank system with 2 outlets like you mention. I let algae grow in tanks for irrigation, but I would not want algae in a potable system.
@@amillison I believe Geoff advocated it for potable water to remove certain chemicals. His had the algae that clings to the sides rather than the free floating algae. Wanted to see if I could get a better answer than demurred one. I think a lot of Geoff but I would like more info, personally. When he's right, it's pretty useful, too...
@@b_uppy I have exactly the same question regarding the algae as a cleaning mechanism from Geoff's recommendations! I think he also encourages a tiny bit of light to enter the tank so that the algae can grow.
@@tomatao. I believe he used translucent containers, they had plenty of algae clinging to the sides. It was to remove the (ammonia?/nitrates?) from water that may remain despite the '1st flush' diverter. Built up bird and bat poop is usually called 'guano'. 'Manure' is typically used for land bound creatures.
Can you make a video on vaccum water pump and how it can be used in commercial and residential case for fulfilling water pumping and electricity generation. THANKS
My system just collects water off the roof into a 600 gallon tank which is only used for watering the trees and plants in the garden. people often ask how much water i get its easy to work out, rule of thumb take the footprint of your collection roof and divide in half that will give you gallons per inch of rain. so 1000 sq foot roof footprint will get you about 500 gallons at 4.5L per gallon per inch of rain, where i live we can get that in one rain storm in june/july so it fills fast.
Hi, thanks for the videos, very informative! I have one question, can you define or point to where to define “clean atmosphere”, what variables and thresholds define that? Thanks!
Exactly, for the plants. Not for humans, we rather use professionally treated water to prevent taking in hundreds of dangerous chemicals that are very very challenging to filter out.
Every rural house is set up this way in Australia. Colorbond steel or similar provides the best drinking water. Never let mosquitoes get in the tanks, our tanks have fine stainless steel mesh screens.
Makes sense
In Germany as well.
@@biggsdarklighter0473 Where in Germany has every rural house cisterns or tanks pls?
Same in Brazil
I thought rainwater was still considered unsafe due to bacteria and other possible pollutants. Does everyone boil the water before drinking it?
He was my Permaculture professor at Oregon State.... He's classes are amazing, he's so insightful., and most importantly engaging ... and basically a World Boss on Permaculture.
Thanks you again for being an amazing professor, Andrew. You've changed my view and perceptions on how we can make a better world.
~ A grateful former student
Thanks. That means a lot. And I totally remember you Leslie Dean and wish you al the best :-)
I noticed a lot of students had a hard time understanding the paradigm shift.
What an amazing testimony.
Keep it up Prof.
Go beavers!
This is nothing new , it's been going on for at least 100 years in Australia.
Im about to start my farm in iran, and i cant tell you how much your videos helped me, thanks alot✌️
Good luck and I wish your farm much success.
May The Lord provide you everything you need in your endeavours.
how's the farm? and I hope you are still safe, salam from diaspora in columbus, ohio
wow and i am gonna start a farm in somalia
Good luck!
I use a water catchment here on Hawai'i island. I have a similar method to harvest water. As an extra filter to prevent fine sludge, I use two nylon knee-high stockings catch any fine dirt from entering the tank that passes by the first flush. It works to keep the USDA grade tank lining fairly clean. I use a simple toilet float to lift the house inlet flow hose. It keeps the inlet hose off the tank floor. It prevents pumping in any rubbish collected on the tank floor into the pressure tank. Next I use a filtration system that uses, rope 20u, carbon 5u, UV light, and calcite, to filter the water to drink. All at 50psi. My tank is corrugated steel covered with a black nylon mesh cover. No leaves or trees around the gutters. On long sunny days, I use a small amount of bleach to reduce algae growth. The amount of rainfall depends on the maintenance needed.
Thanks for that information. But could you tell me what is “rope“ of which you use 20u- and what is a unit in this case?
@@leliad7602 I'm referring to a rope filter that filters out sediment down to 20 microns.
How does the bleach rinse out?
@@sagieschwartz6249 You would only use plain bleach when your tank water looks greenish. About a cup per 10,000 gallons. Bleach will dissapate within a few hours after applied. Just paddle it in good to kill the algae and any bacteria.
@@sagieschwartz6249 At the ratios needed to stop and prevent algae growth, bleach-treated water is safe for drinking or irrigation purposes. Additionally, the bleach breaks down very quickly.
If you add some steps from the German standard DIN1989 for rainwater harvesting, you’ll notice pre-filtration, calmed inlet, overflow siphon and floating suction, all great ideas to keep water in the tank clean and sludge to a minimum.
Simple and easy to understand. Great video! It's crazy to think how much rainwater just flows down the streets in cities and into the sewers. Worse yet the same cities then have water restrictions when the supply is low.
Isn’t this rainwater runoff flowing back among the contours of the land and towards the reservoirs and aquifers to replenish them?
@@zayvier69 Exactly, weird how people believe water disappears when it touches the ground. Also, humans do not want anything to do with water that builds up on roofs where a lot of polution falls down on, such as from exhaust fumes. Don't drink that stuff please.. don't hurt yourself! Water needs high level treatment before humans should use it.
@@zayvier69 yes but also flooding. As new developments go into suburban areas, more roofs and cement go in and cause massive runoff. Water floods systems and low areas in rainy times, then when it’s needed later, it’s pulled out of reservoirs or wells, unless it already flowed to the sea. Reservoirs have high evaporation, so catching so water this way will save water as well as individual homeowners money.
A swirl filter, like used in aquaponics, could be used just before the tank to replace the "first flush" and filter out all of the solids and make it easy to dump the build up. Its basically a barrel with a pipe inlet that feeds the incoming water through the side and down to the bottom of the barrel then another pipe that is pointed upward in the center of the barrel that then goes down from the very top rim of the barrel (the water level) and makes a 90 degree turn in the middle of the barrel to the outgoing water. water fills in bottom, fills up to the top where only a thin layer of the cleanest water gets through
When building my new house, i incorporated flat concrete roof to catch rain and act as a roof top balcony for recreation. I also have 6 ground level storage tanks, which are all connected by underground piping, spread out around the house to more conveniently collect rainwater. The rainwater is then pumped through a pressure tower sand filter to supply water to my 3 storey house. So i am basically self sufficient. Cheers.
Been on rainwater’s collection for 27 years. Love it
Literally every house in the sertão (a dry region in Brazil) is like this. Since water can be expensive, people store rainwater for months, sometimes even years lol.
I Use two 2500 Gallon storage tanks for my aquaculture operation and i just adapted a pool vacuum for cleaning the bottoms of the tanks once a year. Works very good and is dirt cheap.
I have seen/watched dozens of videos and read as many articles on rain harvesting...
By Far this short video has/ IS THEE Best description of How the system works.
Pure basics..
I started with twelve 55 gallon barrels not knowing the 1st clean - out, or about algae buildup from the sun...I Definitely do now. Since my first attempt with 55's, I have graduated to the IBC totes (275 gallon).
Hopefully my New system will have 12 totes.
Your videos are AMAZING. Thank you!
You are so welcome! Thank you for the support! :)
I am on 100% rain water useage in my New Mexico mountain home for 9 years now. Blue gold indeed!
How long do you store water? I'm in the Pacific Northwest, which is effectively a Mediterranean climate at this point. We can go 3-4 months with practically no rain, but it pretty much rains all the rest of the time. I'd like to be able to store water through the summer but I'm worried about it going bad.
@@titosrevenger Water cannot go “bad” as such while being stored inside a tank. It can be contaminated if organic matter gets into it, which provides food for bacteria. Have first flush diverters and strainers installed, which prevent foreign debris from getting into the storage tanks. Ideally use inground cisterns, which keeps the water cool. Don’t allow light to reach the water! That would allow algae to grow. Let fresh rain water flow through the tanks when they are full during rainy season. I use water, which has been stored for sometimes 8 months or so, and no problems. Of course I use activated carbon filters and a UV sterilizer. I use the rain water for everything including drinking. Thanks for asking!
Thank you for the useful information! Greetings from Romania 🇷🇴
The abundance of your garden is so impressive
I love the idea of the drop-down tube for the inlet.
You're a really good teacher Andrew Millison! Thank-you for these videos 👏 🙏🙏
In Brazil a non-profit created a rainwater catchment cistern for our semi-arid region that was so successful that it became a government program.
Almost a million were built in the last 20 years.
Please tell us more or provide a link to the information.Thanks!
What a great method for presenting information. This is the first video (and of yours) Ive seen like this and am looking forward to more. Love the drawing techniques and callouts. Looks like engineering drawings. Thanks Andrew!
Andrew, I love your channel! I've learned so much from you. Hope you continue teaching folks for a long time.
Hi Dear Andrew Millison your presentation (video) is always the best
Thank you
Here in Seattle, we get about 40 ( one meter) of rain per year, but have a seasonal draught in the summer lasting 3-4 months.
Being a frugal person, I despise pouring water on the ground and then buying citiwater. So for twenty five years or so I have collected rainwater and used zero citiwater.
But being frugal, my rainwater collection system is simple and frugal as well. I have a 600 gallon steel tank I bought thirty years ago from a metal surplus junkyard for $30 or so. It originally contained an aircraft engine for shipping by the military! I also have six 50 gallon plastic barrels in my basement that I picked up for nothing over the years, and a bunch of five gallon plastic buckets used to store water as well. The barrels in the basement are filled with the best water collected during rainstorms and such.
I use one downspout to fill the 600 gallon tank, and two other downspouts to fill two fifty gallon plastic barrels. Water from the downspouts goes through a window screen before emptying in the tank/barrels. First flush rain is just diverted manually onto the ground, and when it is running clean, is diverted into the barrels/tank.
When full, the outdoor barrels are covered with a steel top to keep insects/sunlight out. The steel tank is covered with plywood unless it is being filled.
I bring water into the house for use in five gallon buckets. If needed, I'll pour water from one bucket into another through a bath towel to filter it. So no pumping or elaborate equipment is used or desired.
During the summer draught, I'll minimize clothes washing by sorting out towels and such that are dried and saved for washing until the rains return. Clothes drying is done on a clothesline.
A considerable amount of water is used watering a small garden.
I don't use a regular toilet, a massive water waster.
I live alone, having never married or had children. So I am free to pursue my hobbies and interests as I may choose, and using rainwater is a hobby for me.
Sounds miserable to me..
@@andrealaphilippe5926
Not your style, obviously.
In the past few days, we've had rainfall than has filled up all my water storage capacity, which will more than meet my needs until the fall rainy season arrives as of August 23rd.
So I am remaining independent of citiwater for yet another year! That includes all the water I need for my garden.
And just as this style does not suit you, it suits me.
Thank you for your comment.
EXCELLENT instruction.....the best I've seen yet.
Great to hear, I'm so glad it was helpful!
Absolutely superb, Andrew, thank you! I will be doing this (my wife and I have been discussing doing so for months) and sharing your video far and wide.
We have 5000 gallons of rain water in our system. I'm posting videos of the system build now.
Hi. Great video.
Few more recommendations from a water treatment automation engineer:
Add a sand filter on output. Just simple one, made of pipe and clean sand is enough (create easy access to clean/replace filter easily).
If You plan to use water for drinking purposes, definitely use some sterilization agent (Chlorine, UL light etc), ideally on the water still in the tank.
Clean water tank regularly.
If possible, put one valve on the side of the tank, few cm from the bottom. Use that valve as output valve. Second valve shall be placed in the lowest part of the tank, and used to rinse out the dirt, that accumulates on the bottom of the tank.
Good luck to you, Andrew. We're monts away from building our rainwater harvesting system, and your info has been very useful. Cheers from northern Spain.
I have no idea about any of this but i tried to really listen and understand. I have never seen someone write and draw so neatly. You are such an intelligent person. How did you become so extremely smart. I kinda got lost in your teaching because I was admiring all the drawings. 😂. Truly incredible
thanks, this was really useful and comprehensive. Im just designing our water harvesting system and there were many elements I had not considered. As our system is purely for watering the garden im going to place the tap at the very bottom to reduce build up of sludge
Working on my rainwater catchment on our 576 sf house in Tennessee!
We’re designing all of our 5 acre farm from that starting point. Everything above the exit point of the totes will be food forest. Everything below it will be our gravity-fed drip irrigation annual vegetable beds for personal and commercial use, as well as nursery and greenhouse.
Trying to make everything as passive as possible!
Sounds like a great plan! We have 6 acres in Northeast Oklahoma. Need to set up two large tanks, one from the cow barn and one from the horse staple. Metal roofs. Learning so much from Andrew.
We have 5000 gallons of rain water in our system. I'm posting videos of the system build now.
Here in Aotearoa/New Zealand collecting roof water is very common. In fact, I have never been connected to city water. I collect about 65,000 litres of water at any given time.
Many thanks. I've been pondering this for months, and have five 55 gallon drums ready to be set up. Ten thumbs up! If I had that many...
Overflow into wicking beds, natural swimming pools/ ponds, garden irrigation/swale system
Raise the storage elevation for gravity flowing. Search for storing the rainwater at ceiling level to benefit gravity flowing, as well as coping with winterizing.
Your channel is gold for me...
Isn't it easier to just have covered gutters that keep things like leaves from the gutters? The one I had installed, 5 years ago, works great and I am surrounded by a dozen 100 year old trees (oaks, maple and and two pines) in an 1/3 acre lot. The water collected in barrels seems just fine. Will be adding the same to my separate cottage, since we just went through a rare severe drought. Much of the state is still under severe or extreme. Glad I just ran into this channel., while watching the current episode.
I show a covered gutter at 1:39. It is a good idea as well.
Most clear video of basics on subject. Researching your other videos. Thank you
You should take a look at Green Dream Project’s videos! They did a giant earthbag cistern and one of the first things they built on their land was an awesome rainwater harvesting system. I’ll be building out in Colorado soon myself and I’m looking forward to putting some the methods I’ve seen in your videos to the test. Found your channel through Paani’s “Drought to Prosperity” video - I’ve been fantasizing
about seeing these kind of watershed development projects happen across the Southwest (AZ/NM/CO) ever since.
We just bought 40 acres out in Colorado but it’s not lush, it’s desert. Have you seen anything on how to create a permaculture in this type of environment? I have years yet to get the land ready before we start building a house so I have a LOT of research to do.
@@ogadlogadl490 YT channel :polyculture farms dryland permaculture, could be something for you
Edit: 1 polyculture too much
@@tottycrypt9006 thank you will check it out!
Don't take it the wrong way, but green dream project has a horrible rain harvesting system, Lots of mistakes in that system, 100% of all the water I use is rain water, my pumping system runs on 12v , pumping system is fully sustainable running on wind and solar, Way better videos on this topic.
Look into local laws regarding rain collecting, I belive Colorado is one of the only states that places a cap on the legal amount you can collect, punishable by fines. Until 2016 it was completely illegal for some reason
Andrew, I love your presentation style and the information you are sharing! Thank you for doing this great work! 👍🙏❤️😊
Love what you do! --Mother Earth-- Not a resource--She is the Source of All Life. Respect.
Well, drinking it as a human is not advisable at all. So, all life except for humans then. Why? Well, because water treatment is very very complicated. Hundreds of dangerous chemical compounds are contained within rainwater. So, unless you are dirt-poor, you should not drink rainwater. Let the professionals with giant facilities, high level machinery to inspect the quality of the water and academic knowledge about water treatment do their job. Rainwater is for plants. Drinking water is for drinking!
@@Habib_Osman Grew up on spring water in the Appalachians that came from 300 feet down. Test came back well balanced and no pollutants. We used rainwater to wash clothes and bath in. The spring water was piped into the house and barn. Appropriate use.
@@allonesame6467 I would even drink that water. I can totally imagine using it/being connected to the mountain and its water. I would do the same.. Also, I think it is highly unlikely you would ever get ill because of using it BUT I've read some research about water/rain and It seems to me it is pretty much impossible to truly clean and test water. Read the english wiki about polutants (fijnstof we call that) for example, scary and mindblowing. I'm Dutch and our water is known for its world leading quality (no additives, no chlorine, no fluoride), and still I kinda don't trust it.
@@allonesame6467 I kind of regret my alarmist tone. Its just that polutants come in such a crazy number of possible types and kinds. Also rain is so unpredictable.. where did the exact rain that just dropped condense from originally? It seems to me everywhere has to contain everything to some degree, as clowds and air travel the planet. A Study I (admittedly partially) read also found that paks were found in rain everywhere in the USA. Also microplastics literally in the middle of the grand canyon.. yeah.
@@Habib_Osman All salient points. Agree about rainwater, and it contains little to no minerals.
Been nomading with my bf for three years now. Have gotten pretty efficient at it. Packing the car for another excursion and watching this to empower me with the knowledge to build a sustainable little abode one day. Not that I’m bored of traveling AT ALL, it’s just my life has just been much much more empowering and better for my self sufficiency than I could ever imagine. Feels like we can do anything. Yay to life skills!
My well water recycling plan.
Permaculture Ponds.
Hydroloop for Grey Water.
BioRock for Sewage.
That's a lot of extra work drawing like you did. It's a very nice illustration of what your talking about.
Instead of a big tank I have 2 heavily mulched hugelkultur garden beds. They hold all the roof water and stay damp enough for weeks between rains.
This is how i garden as well!
You made this video real easy to understand. Thank you for the valuable information
Thanks for the info. I'm planning to collect rainwater off the house for watering a large garden space. The initial, large tank will feed down to the center of the garden space where a solar pump setup will bring the water into a smaller tank placed on a small tower. From there, the idea is that we'll be able to gravity feed the entire garden from this center tower.
Regarding algae growth you can always do a PH alteration. For example if you use it for irrigation you can reduce the PH down to 5 and you won't have any problem with algae. Also you can protect the top from excessive heat by adding special paint or reflective metal.
tin foil hat for the tank XD
Or just add crayfish
Best video ever! Your a very good instructor
Thanks, may the good comes to you
Thank you for sharing this valuable information that I can now supplement on my future rain catchment system.
Wow! I am amazed by the quality of both idea and presentation. This is a really nicely done work, sir.
Thank you! Cheers!
This is an excellent video on the subject. Very clear and interesting explanation. Thank you Andrew. I'm looking forward stopping paying for water and collecting and using roof water for my house.
You're very welcome! Glad it was helpful!
I came for the art (and the backwards writing) , but I stayed for the awesome information.
Love your videos. Permaculture quick and simple. About the lightproofing though. I watched an old course with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton. Especially Geoff thinks that algae can have positive effects on the water and do not necessarily reduce the quality. However it is important to have the outlet connect to the middle of the tank and never to the surface of the water, so no algae are pulled out with the water. Just to give a perspective, everything else would have been done the same of course.
This should be MANDATED into EVERY NEW house build. It is up to municipalities to institute such a program. The harvested water could be used for landscaping watering ... and other uses. I would think it would cost at least 8 to 9 grand to set up a system for each house.
Rainwater catchment, plus wells, plus grey water recycling would be huge. So much less water being used
Having grown up in New Zealand on a farm I fully recognise the basics of Andrew's suggestions although we had an in-ground concrete water tank & water pump but none of the screening, first flush etc stuff. We used our 12,000 gallon water tank for everything the usual household requires and it worked just fine. I think one of the beauties of an in-ground concrete water tank is that water's kept cool, dark & is impervious to critters, thus keeping the water healthy for drinking, cooking and batheing purposes. All of our neighbours had similar setups with a few using bore water supply.
It’s illegal to catch rainwater in my state
@@scottydu81 In New Zealand its illegal to smoke and also to scratch your arse (probably)
Thanks - helps me explain this concept to others!
I get excited when I see this channel bell notification. Mollison said to plan for water first before anything else. Love this ❤️
We have 5000 gallons of rain water in our system. I'm posting videos of the system build now.
Where do I even start!!! I'm so excited to find this kind of content with the level of knowledge, articulation, and artistry. I'm a builder by trade, specializing in off grid, and sustainable construction. Strawbale, Rammed Earth, Shipping container, ect. Your videos are concise, informative, artistic and articulate. You are camera and audio aware ( which unfortunately is rare on UA-cam). I'm excited to watch the rest of your content. Super cool use of the "reverse" white board. I've never seen that before. Thanks for all your hard work on these videos and I look forward to the next one. Cheers Cappie
I live in Rural Kentucky and while my water comes from a hill side spring this helps a lot. A first flush should help clean out the fine sediment. The rest I got right so far. My overflow feeds my pond and animals. overflow after that goes back into the brook where the spring originally fed. So just borrowing water as needed basically. I have a 2 stage filter and a UV light to make it potable. My next off grid house I will use rain water though, so again this helps greatly. Thanks so much for this video.
We have 5000 gallons of rain water in our system. I'm posting videos of the system build now.
On Hawaii's Big Island people have been collecting rain water for eons. Thats how we got our water for years. Really drives home the message DONT WASTE WATER.
Outstanding Video, this was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you...
Glad it was helpful!
Such a creative video! Good job.
Thanks!
Incrrdibly helpful. Thank you!
Very clear and easy to understand. Great video on setting up a rain water harvesting system. There will be more or a desire for this in the near future
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching! :)
From experience I find that leaf screens can not handle the high flow rates here in Florida, a great deal of water deflects off the unit rather than going through the screen. The first flush unit I have is minimal in effectiveness. The ball that seals off the first flush diverter once it is full, actually is forced to the bottom of the unit. This prevents sealing off that first water coming into the system, which is the dirty water one does not want. The manufacturer of the first flush provides a slow release or slow drain device for the bottom of the vertical. I find even the largest orifice for the device plugs up with the first rain coming off a polycarbonate greenhouse roof.
One should consider a secondary filtration and the use of an agent to kill any germs, pathogens, etc. As collected rain water should never be consumed without further processing.
my personal noob answer to more water flow would be, bigger diameter rinse as well as first fall with leaf screen
so basicly bigger everithing or more outlets lets say 2x on left down corner and right upper one, scale it to your needs :)
Great info, thank you
I agree with you. Secondary filtering is necessary. I just installed such a system on mine, the water changed from yellow to clear! You can see the video on my channel… cheers!
Most leaf diverters are poorly designed with unacceptable mesh angles of 35 degrees plus mesh doesn't allow water to flow between the mesh and the debris, a flushing necessity. Some leaf diverters even retain some water! You also shouldn't use leaf diverters that have a coarse outer filter mesh as this will allow a variety of large debris to fall through that will block the inner mosquito proof screen and of course most debris is washed from the gutter during heavy rain! The first flush diverters with the dripper are high maintenance and have unacceptable yield losses. You can make your own manual emptying system and automate it to empty at set intervals by fitting a battery powered tap timer to a horizontal length of drain pipe. Don't fit it to a vertical drain pipe as grit etc will settle on the internals.
Entertaining and informative, I think you touched all the bases and did a wonderful job of it. Thanks for the video! Play through
We have 5000 gallons of rain water in our system. I'm posting videos of the system build now.
in my part of australia we allways have a floating ball in the 1st flush 75mm pipe. mine captures about 20 ltrs then auto shuts off with having a tap at the bottom I drain it off with a hose or fill 3 buckets at my leisure its of great comfort when away from home to know this fail safe system works as it has for my 70 odd yrs on my rural property which runs on rainwater only !!!
As always, your videos are super informative and insightful! I'm new to permaculture design and your content is tremendously beneficial!
Thanks! I'm so glad you're enjoying my channel :)
Andrew, I am enjoying your videos. Have you done anything yet on the bermuda limestone roofs and cisterns? Thanks Martin
Super inspired by this channel. Thanks for the good work and sharing.
Very good. New building owner must use Zisternen in germay. For garden water or toilet.
You have done it. Best explained and to the point
Thanks for the video. Metal roof, new gutters with cisterns coming soon. All is well here at high mountain desert plateau hideout NM except for fires and drought.
The idea of water tanks (which are usually pretty ugly) being used for ivy and screening is one of those V8 DUH moments. Never thought of this!
Thank you so much for this video! You answered every question I ever had about rainwater harvesting and inspired me to create a system for my off-grid uses.
You're welcome! Glad I could help!
Writing in the glass is an amazing idea👁👄👁 this blew my mind🤣🤣 awesome!!
Something important to consider is that even if your system is perfect and keeps out all infectants like bugs or anything like dirt, you'll still need to both PURIFY AND FILTER your water before drinking, as rainwater is not safe to drink even straight out of the sky anymore because of "forever chemicals" that stay in your body and build up, causing cancer and other issues later in life.
For a small cost you could dump the water first into a smaller tank with a pump pulling the water out going into a filter system. The storage tank could hold cleaner water which can be further filtered as the water is used.
While _well_ out of work, and yet confronted by an overgrown North London garden (with ALL the tools one needed buried within it), I discovered the magical properties of a _large_ rain-water butt. Chopping down my original border covering of COMFREY, I stuffed it into both my composting site, and also the rainwater butt. This produced 'comfrey tea' which smelled like goat's piss but was the elixir of life to my salads, pulses, and root crops flourishing in the orchard. The lowpoint in the garden became a pond which filled itself in late spring with around 10,000 froglets, each the size of a 5p piece. The pond stood beneath a plum tree which broke all its main branches under the weight of the fruit it bore.
Sir you are a blessing to humanity and a genius, at some point i would love to invite you to himachal pradesh in india for a little awareness help 🙏
An idea would be to have 2 outlets at the bottom. One as a clean-out at the bottom, and a regular outlet a little higher for use.
It's okay to have two...
Geoff Lawton utilizes algae as part of his system to clean the water...
The nice thing about growing vines over a tank is that it cools it as well as reduces the chance of algae if that is your goal.
Art Ludwig innovated a tank system with 2 outlets like you mention.
I let algae grow in tanks for irrigation, but I would not want algae in a potable system.
@@amillison
I believe Geoff advocated it for potable water to remove certain chemicals. His had the algae that clings to the sides rather than the free floating algae.
Wanted to see if I could get a better answer than demurred one. I think a lot of Geoff but I would like more info, personally. When he's right, it's pretty useful, too...
@@b_uppy I have exactly the same question regarding the algae as a cleaning mechanism from Geoff's recommendations! I think he also encourages a tiny bit of light to enter the tank so that the algae can grow.
@@tomatao.
I believe he used translucent containers, they had plenty of algae clinging to the sides. It was to remove the (ammonia?/nitrates?) from water that may remain despite the '1st flush' diverter.
Built up bird and bat poop is usually called 'guano'.
'Manure' is typically used for land bound creatures.
@@b_uppy Yep, I'm familiar with the theory. Removing particulates like manure. I just have the same question as you regarding wanting more info
Always great!!
Why thank you!! :)
OMG!! you're amazing!! Thank you Andrew for making this video!
GREAT STUFF. THANKS. CHEERS FROM NYC!
Can you make a video on vaccum water pump and how it can be used in commercial and residential case for fulfilling water pumping and electricity generation. THANKS
I'm an Andrew Millison fan
Thanks for the info. Also, you are a good artist.
We have 5000 gallons of rain water in our system. I'm posting videos of the system build now.
Another awesome video! Thanks very much for sharing, Andrew.
Love the videos, how to you utilize snow so more of the spring thaw stays on the land?
Fantastic. Thank you for this wonderful tutorial.
Love it!
Thank you for the Simple instructions... Love your drawings. Keep on keepin on dear man, Stay Well everyone :)
This dude is awesome.
My system just collects water off the roof into a 600 gallon tank which is only used for watering the trees and plants in the garden. people often ask how much water i get its easy to work out, rule of thumb take the footprint of your collection roof and divide in half that will give you gallons per inch of rain. so 1000 sq foot roof footprint will get you about 500 gallons at 4.5L per gallon per inch of rain, where i live we can get that in one rain storm in june/july so it fills fast.
Hi, thanks for the videos, very informative! I have one question, can you define or point to where to define “clean atmosphere”, what variables and thresholds define that? Thanks!
Awesome job in your presentation
I’m very impressed by your skill of writing in reverse 👏👏
Well, thank you! I'll let you in on a little secret though (I'm not writing in reverse!) ;)
@@amillison 😂😂 so it’s your acting/editing skills I should be impressed with?
Here in Spain we put them under ground and in 3 overflow units for the best results
Superb video. Really inspiring!
Got plAstic 55 gallon drums in line , works great. Love rain water for plants!
Exactly, for the plants. Not for humans, we rather use professionally treated water to prevent taking in hundreds of dangerous chemicals that are very very challenging to filter out.
We've been doing that in PR since I was a young boy and before my time.