We have 4 set up now, and 2 55 gallon barrels. Right now, we have about 1200-1500 gallons stored. My husband builds a roof over them to gather water. We are 100% off grid, with no well. We don't have a home on the property yet. We stay in a tent, so, we've had to be creative in water catchment. 😊
Love this, good work and thanks for an honest, fun video. It feels to me, especially in an a parched region, that you can never have too much storage. Every rainfall leaves me with a an atmosphere of regret as my storage overflows (leaving me short a few weeks later). Thanks for the inspiration ☺️
We've purchased numerous of the 275 gallon units at auctions and estate sales from $35 -$50. Once our gardens are done for the season we drain them and leave the tank valves open. We also use cinder block bases. The higher the tank, the higher your pressure.
We been thinking of getting some of these and actually got some white barrels for the purpose of collecting water. You should do a video of how you hooked yours up and run your lines.
I recommend using PEX tubing instead of metal for your lines. PET scan withstand freezing and swell I think to three times its normal size without bursting
great hints! We just purchased a seasonal cottage in NY state and the town water is turned off in the winter and we are not allowed to drill for a well. This is a great solution for being able to use the cottage in the winter! Thanks!
I got a 3,000 gallon poly Bailiff tank on craigslist by searching "water tank". I traded a 5'x10' utility trailer for it. I also got a blue poly 1,000 gallon tank for free with a crack in the bottom. I think I'll set it up and pour 3" thick concrete on the bottom as a new floor.
Homesteaders always talk about the water storage and catchment, but you NEVER see them talk about how they keep it from freezing in the winter . I wish more homesteaders would cover that aspect of not just storing but keeping it functional in winter or cold climates.
Another hint for freeze protection. HDPE (high density polyethylene) plastic is produced by extrusion. It is not brittle like PVC. If you can find HDPE pipe/tubing for the diameter pipes you want, it is probably better than steel tubing. I have HDPE tubing that runs from a well/pump house to several no freeze water troughs. They have brass shut off valves. The brass valves ruptured last winter during a deep freeze, but the HDPE was fine. Because it is exuded, it can expand, making it pretty good for standing up to water turning to ice inside the tube.
Awesome ideas. On Facebook Marketplace I have been seeing a lot of these for sale for $45 a pop. Nice to know that it is a great deal after all. Will start looking into starting buying them now.
In case anyone's wondering: To treat large container of unpotable water. Add chlorine bleach, trial and error will tell you how much to add. Since it's already contaminated, I'd add at least 1/2 gal. or more then seal and allow to set a couple weeks, before use. It only takes 3 drops bleach per gal. water mixed and allowed to set one hour to make unpotable water potable and suitable for drinking. Also if you're using a water heater, run all your drinking water through a water heater before drinking. I get city water and I run my water through my water heater then 5 filters before drinking. In a year around three of those filters get quiet dirty, but the water I get to drink is delicious and taste as good as any bottled water.
Bless you Bro, I ordered some seeds from you and they came here fast and I am very thankful. Can you please do a video on how you connected the totes together? I would like to just see as we are moving off grid soon and it seem as if your system is very efficient. Thank you in advance and thank you for your channel, you are one of the positive influences that has led us to make the decision to go off grid (eastern ozarks). Bless you
Thanks for the Video clip! Excuse me for chiming in, I would appreciate your thoughts. Have you ever tried - Proutklarton Protecting Aqua Plan (erm, check it on google should be there)? It is a good one of a kind guide for getting prepared for a mega drought without the hard work. Ive heard some decent things about it and my friend Sam at very last got excellent success with it.
Great Video clip! Excuse me for chiming in, I am interested in your opinion. Have you ever tried - Proutklarton Surviving Technics Plan (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now)? It is a smashing one off product for learning how to survive any crisis minus the headache. Ive heard some amazing things about it and my friend finally got excellent success with it.
Thank you for sharing. I was a a local farm store today and they wanted $375 for those. I just found some on Facebook market place for $100! Hope I can get 3 🙏🏼
This would be a huge concern of mine with used tanks. I would not use one that had been used for chemicals. Not for human drinking water or animal drinking water. The chemicals can leach into the plastic and remain their. I also think if the water stayed in the tanks long enough, that the water would begin to taste like plastic. Bottled water that you buy in the store sure will taste like plastic if you keep it too long.
I understand you drain the lines, but do you ever have to drain the tanks in anticipation of a long freeze? I had some 55 gallon tanks years ago that froze, and cracked as a result. But not sure how long it takes an IBC to freeze or a 1550 tank. We later drained our 55 gallon tanks half way and the remaining tanks did not crack after that. If you can do a video to show how you drain the pipes, and even your set up...would love to see that. Thanks!
Hi we only get rain only 2 months a year, we run out of water all the time. All the black tank you have all have pesticides in them so we don,t have the water to clean them out. As we live in australia. We have a tank like that for our toilet and use our dam water witch is not drinkable. Thank you for shering
We enjoy your channel. Thanks for passing along such useful information! Most of the IBC totes that we've found are missing the discharge valve, which is a nonstandard fitting. Can you recommend an inexpensive source for those? Thanks again for all that you do.
An American Homestead Yes! Perhaps California treachery... Adapting a suitable valve is difficult! The valves are available, but pricey. The totes, (sans valve) run around $100. We must also be VERY cautious and be sure to obtain totes that contained food grade ingredients. (corn syrup is a good one) Some totes contain various industrial "Methyl-Ethyl-Death"... We tried one that contained soy sauce & couldn't completely remove the "essence". It's good for irrigation though.
We've used gator lock fittings as well. Look at those. When I did a search, I found a few different ones for around $20. Gator locks were around $10 I think. Tim can tell you for sure. He might comment in a bit.
Hi, Thank you for sharing this video with us. It is helpful. Could you please share what paint you used to paint your tanks (brand, kind, etc.)? How is the paint holding up? Does it chip/flake/crack/peel anywhere? Can i use a dark brown paint rather than black and have a similar effect? Also, I noticed that when that you have the tanks mounted on cinder blocks. Is this to help with gravity feeding the water? Where it seems there is no support underneath the middle of the tank, does the tank or frame sag in the middle, under the tank, where there is no support? Any suggestions for any improvements to your current system that you would currently recommend, considering over 4 years has passed since this video. We purchased 3 food grade IBC tanks for off grid water storage. We will be using this water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening...just about every use you can imagine for water. Our winter climate gets quite a lot of snow, and our temperatures range from about -5 to -25 degrees Celsius. Not quite sure how to keep the water running in the winter months, but hoping some more helpful you-tubers like yourself have some ideas to share regarding this necessity. Any recommendations at all, further to what is in your video? Thanks, so much. We look forward to hearing from you.
We have dark colored 55 gallon tanks under our roof drain spouts collecting rain water. How do you keep the water from smelling or getting yellow ??? We use it mainly for gardening, bird bath and sometimes in the toilet. Anything to save the high cost of city water.
Add chlorine bleach, trial and error will tell you how much to add. Since it's already contaminated, I add 1/2 gal. or more then seal and allow to set a couple weeks, before use. It only takes 3 drops bleach per gal. water mixed and allowed to set one hour to make unpotable water potable and suitable for drinking. Also if you're using a water heater, run all your drinking water through a water heater before drinking. I get city water and I run my water through my water heater then 5 filters before drinking. In a year around three of those filters get quiet dirty, but the water I get to drink is delicious and taste as good as any bottled water.
We only use containers that contained food or chlorine with can be cleaned. We wash them out at the local car wash. We stay away from petroleum products.
My IBC tote has sprung a leek about 1/3 of the way up the tank, a 2" slit, any suggestions on what could repair this? I would buy those tanks all day for $40., they are about $100-$150 here:)
I would try to drain/dry and use JB Weld, available at wally. Then even JB Weld a piece of plastic patch on the outside of it. I'm guessing you don't have the equipment to 'sonically weld' the plastic. ;)
Zach, I hope you're getting paid from UA-cam for this video as under the video are offered many water storage tank products. If they are going to ride your coat tails, they should be paying for it. Love all your different types of videos, thank you!!!
Does the plastic that the totes are made of not crack when the water freezes? Does the black paint not cause the water to get too hot in the summer. I understand that the black paint discourages algae and slime, but does not stop it. So how do you clean it out? I know from barrels of water and livestock tanks, that it takes some scrubbing to get it off. I don't see how you can do that with those tanks. If you are just watering the garden, it may not be a problem, but for drinking, I think it would be. The same for these big cisterns that people have for their drinking water.
Our drinking water comes only from our 160 ft well. The rest of the water in these tanks are used for gardens, livestock, and washing dishes and clothes. Water for dishes is heated up and used with anti-bacterial soaps. I haven't had a water bill in 4 years!
Add chlorine bleach, trial and error will tell you how much to add. Since it's already contaminated, I'd add at least 1/2 gal. or more then seal and allow to set a couple weeks, before use. It only takes 3 drops bleach per gal. water mixed and allowed to set one hour to make unpotable water potable and suitable for drinking. Also if you're using a water heater, run all your drinking water through a water heater before drinking. I get city water and I run my water through my water heater then 5 filters before drinking. In a year around three of those filters get quiet dirty, but the water I get to drink is delicious and taste as good as any bottled water.
Wow. I'd be worried about used totes having chemical residue. Can't wash that out. Also, some comments have comments and they look highly suspicious for being scams and/or data gatherers. (If you read them you'll find them very worrisome as well. I'd steer well clear of clicking on those.)
We have 4 set up now, and 2 55 gallon barrels. Right now, we have about 1200-1500 gallons stored. My husband builds a roof over them to gather water. We are 100% off grid, with no well. We don't have a home on the property yet. We stay in a tent, so, we've had to be creative in water catchment. 😊
Love this, good work and thanks for an honest, fun video. It feels to me, especially in an a parched region, that you can never have too much storage. Every rainfall leaves me with a an atmosphere of regret as my storage overflows (leaving me short a few weeks later). Thanks for the inspiration ☺️
We've purchased numerous of the 275 gallon units at auctions and estate sales from $35 -$50. Once our gardens are done for the season we drain them and leave the tank valves open. We also use cinder block bases. The higher the tank, the higher your pressure.
We been thinking of getting some of these and actually got some white barrels for the purpose of collecting water. You should do a video of how you hooked yours up and run your lines.
This is a must have for me this year! I had a huge drought and I could not water my crops and my well almost dried up. Great video!
I recommend using PEX tubing instead of metal for your lines. PET scan withstand freezing and swell I think to three times its normal size without bursting
great hints! We just purchased a seasonal cottage in NY state and the town water is turned off in the winter and we are not allowed to drill for a well. This is a great solution for being able to use the cottage in the winter! Thanks!
Thanks for the advice. I was freaking out about how much these cost
I got a 3,000 gallon poly Bailiff tank on craigslist by searching "water tank". I traded a 5'x10' utility trailer for it. I also got a blue poly 1,000 gallon tank for free with a crack in the bottom. I think I'll set it up and pour 3" thick concrete on the bottom as a new floor.
Homesteaders always talk about the water storage and catchment, but you NEVER see them talk about how they keep it from freezing in the winter .
I wish more homesteaders would cover that aspect of not just storing but keeping it functional in winter or cold climates.
They sell covers for water barrels
Another hint for freeze protection. HDPE (high density polyethylene) plastic is produced by extrusion. It is not brittle like PVC. If you can find HDPE pipe/tubing for the diameter pipes you want, it is probably better than steel tubing. I have HDPE tubing that runs from a well/pump house to several no freeze water troughs. They have brass shut off valves. The brass valves ruptured last winter during a deep freeze, but the HDPE was fine. Because it is exuded, it can expand, making it pretty good for standing up to water turning to ice inside the tube.
Just went to Craigslist and found a few. Thanks for the tip!
Awesome ideas. On Facebook Marketplace I have been seeing a lot of these for sale for $45 a pop. Nice to know that it is a great deal after all. Will start looking into starting buying them now.
Thank you for posting this video. People really need to be water \ wise.
I'm all about water my friend.
GOD'S JOY.
In case anyone's wondering: To treat large container of unpotable water. Add chlorine bleach, trial and error will tell you how much to add. Since it's already contaminated, I'd add at least 1/2 gal. or more then seal and allow to set a couple weeks, before use. It only takes 3 drops bleach per gal. water mixed and allowed to set one hour to make unpotable water potable and suitable for drinking. Also if you're using a water heater, run all your drinking water through a water heater before drinking. I get city water and I run my water through my water heater then 5 filters before drinking. In a year around three of those filters get quiet dirty, but the water I get to drink is delicious and taste as good as any bottled water.
Bless you Bro, I ordered some seeds from you and they came here fast and I am very thankful. Can you please do a video on how you connected the totes together? I would like to just see as we are moving off grid soon and it seem as if your system is very efficient. Thank you in advance and thank you for your channel, you are one of the positive influences that has led us to make the decision to go off grid (eastern ozarks). Bless you
Thanks for the Video clip! Excuse me for chiming in, I would appreciate your thoughts. Have you ever tried - Proutklarton Protecting Aqua Plan (erm, check it on google should be there)? It is a good one of a kind guide for getting prepared for a mega drought without the hard work. Ive heard some decent things about it and my friend Sam at very last got excellent success with it.
Great Video clip! Excuse me for chiming in, I am interested in your opinion. Have you ever tried - Proutklarton Surviving Technics Plan (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now)? It is a smashing one off product for learning how to survive any crisis minus the headache. Ive heard some amazing things about it and my friend finally got excellent success with it.
Cute...😍
Nice way to start your video..🤗🙏
I like the cinder block idea..👍
Thank you 😊
Water is life..✊😌
Thank you for sharing. I was a a local farm store today and they wanted $375 for those. I just found some on Facebook market place for $100! Hope I can get 3 🙏🏼
A lot of these tanks are used for herbicide and pesticides as well (tank is usually white or clear plastic) so just be careful where they come from.
This would be a huge concern of mine with used tanks. I would not use one that had been used for chemicals. Not for human drinking water or animal drinking water. The chemicals can leach into the plastic and remain their. I also think if the water stayed in the tanks long enough, that the water would begin to taste like plastic. Bottled water that you buy in the store sure will taste like plastic if you keep it too long.
I understand you drain the lines, but do you ever have to drain the tanks in anticipation of a long freeze? I had some 55 gallon tanks years ago that froze, and cracked as a result. But not sure how long it takes an IBC to freeze or a 1550 tank.
We later drained our 55 gallon tanks half way and the remaining tanks did not crack after that. If you can do a video to show how you drain the pipes, and even your set up...would love to see that. Thanks!
Thank you. I appreciate learning from you.
Hi we only get rain only 2 months a year, we run out of water all the time. All the black tank you have all have pesticides in them so we don,t have the water to clean them out. As we live in australia. We have a tank like that for our toilet and use our dam water witch is not drinkable. Thank you for shering
Outstanding videos...real content and no fluff!! God bless!
We enjoy your channel. Thanks for passing along such useful information!
Most of the IBC totes that we've found are missing the discharge valve, which is a nonstandard fitting. Can you recommend an inexpensive source for those?
Thanks again for all that you do.
WOW! Are you saying the handle/valve at the bottom was missing?
Do a search for "IBC tote valves" on google. That should get you started. :)
An American Homestead
Yes! Perhaps California treachery... Adapting a suitable valve is difficult! The valves are available, but pricey. The totes, (sans valve) run around $100.
We must also be VERY cautious and be sure to obtain totes that contained food grade ingredients. (corn syrup is a good one) Some totes contain various industrial "Methyl-Ethyl-Death"...
We tried one that contained soy sauce & couldn't completely remove the "essence". It's good for irrigation though.
We've used gator lock fittings as well. Look at those. When I did a search, I found a few different ones for around $20. Gator locks were around $10 I think. Tim can tell you for sure. He might comment in a bit.
Thanks a Million! We're always looking for ways to save.
Thanks for the tips i seen one of those tanks its white in colour i will go figure out if i can use it for water.
Do you have a video showing how you hooked this up in all the ways you use it? And do you have a well also for when it freezes?
If you drain the lines in the winter what do you do for water ?
Hi, Thank you for sharing this video with us. It is helpful. Could you please share what paint you used to paint your tanks (brand, kind, etc.)? How is the paint holding up? Does it chip/flake/crack/peel anywhere? Can i use a dark brown paint rather than black and have a similar effect? Also, I noticed that when that you have the tanks mounted on cinder blocks. Is this to help with gravity feeding the water? Where it seems there is no support underneath the middle of the tank, does the tank or frame sag in the middle, under the tank, where there is no support? Any suggestions for any improvements to your current system that you would currently recommend, considering over 4 years has passed since this video. We purchased 3 food grade IBC tanks for off grid water storage. We will be using this water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, washing, gardening...just about every use you can imagine for water. Our winter climate gets quite a lot of snow, and our temperatures range from about -5 to -25 degrees Celsius. Not quite sure how to keep the water running in the winter months, but hoping some more helpful you-tubers like yourself have some ideas to share regarding this necessity. Any recommendations at all, further to what is in your video? Thanks, so much. We look forward to hearing from you.
Yummy! 😋 I'd like to live next to a Little Debbie factory! 😉😄😅
We have dark colored 55 gallon tanks under our roof drain spouts collecting rain water. How do you keep the water from smelling or getting yellow ??? We use it mainly for gardening, bird bath and sometimes in the toilet. Anything to save the high cost of city water.
Add chlorine bleach, trial and error will tell you how much to add. Since it's already contaminated, I add 1/2 gal. or more then seal and allow to set a couple weeks, before use. It only takes 3 drops bleach per gal. water mixed and allowed to set one hour to make unpotable water potable and suitable for drinking. Also if you're using a water heater, run all your drinking water through a water heater before drinking. I get city water and I run my water through my water heater then 5 filters before drinking. In a year around three of those filters get quiet dirty, but the water I get to drink is delicious and taste as good as any bottled water.
How do you clean the honey out? The bonus honey is awesome!
On a warm day you can open the valve and drain the honey then go to the car wash and rinse the inside with the pressure nozzle.
How do you keep them from freezing in the winter?
With large containers. They don't freeze unless it gets real cold.
Just to keep it in zones, locally, the used IBC Totes run from $195 up.
We only use containers that contained food or chlorine with can be cleaned. We wash them out at the local car wash. We stay away from petroleum products.
What kind of paint did you use to paint them with and did you use rattle can or pressure sprayer?
Rustolium makes a spray paint for plastic that works well. It takes 5 1/2 cans per tank.
Did you have to purchase the the metal cage or do the totes come with them ?
comes with it.
Do you have to be careful with what paint you use to paint black? Doesn't it leach thru the plastic??
How do you clean out the tanks?
Tanks for the useful tips...
yeah tsc in my town has them for 299.99 for 275 gallon.
With a 5000k water storage, how do you keep it from FREEZING during Winter Months ??
What do you do when winter comes does the tanks freeze
Alida Hall
Wondering the same , picking up 2 in the :am
This is a great video; thank you!
Hello you made a vid about your well. What is the name of the company you used
The pump is called the Simple Pump
what kind of paint did you use to paint the tanks
The ones I found on Craigslist had "enzymes" in them--associated with hydroponic gardening, though alleged to have been pressure-washed out.
My IBC tote has sprung a leek about 1/3 of the way up the tank, a 2" slit, any suggestions on what could repair this? I would buy those tanks all day for $40., they are about $100-$150 here:)
I would try to drain/dry and use JB Weld, available at wally. Then even JB Weld a piece of plastic patch on the outside of it. I'm guessing you don't have the equipment to 'sonically weld' the plastic. ;)
Are you concerned about chemicals leaching from the paint into the plastic?
my hunting dog is the best phone holder, lol. (I'm watching on a mobile phone)
Thank you!
you have a couple of water wells why are they not your main source of water ?
Rain water is soft. Well water is hard. Ask a woman which she prefers on skin and hair. LOL. We use both.
how do u keep them from freezing??
other then draining. also what paint did u use to paint??
They will freeze. Just drain the lines you have if any and all will be well. Any black paint will work.
I need help with a water catchment off a Quonset in the OzArks.
I am stuck, and children's services is messing with us.
Please ABAH send me help!
Zach, I hope you're getting paid from UA-cam for this video as under the video are offered many water storage tank products. If they are going to ride your coat tails, they should be paying for it.
Love all your different types of videos, thank you!!!
Does the plastic that the totes are made of not crack when the water freezes? Does the black paint not cause the water to get too hot in the summer. I understand that the black paint discourages algae and slime, but does not stop it. So how do you clean it out? I know from barrels of water and livestock tanks, that it takes some scrubbing to get it off. I don't see how you can do that with those tanks. If you are just watering the garden, it may not be a problem, but for drinking, I think it would be. The same for these big cisterns that people have for their drinking water.
Our drinking water comes only from our 160 ft well. The rest of the water in these tanks are used for gardens, livestock, and washing dishes and clothes. Water for dishes is heated up and used with anti-bacterial soaps. I haven't had a water bill in 4 years!
Add chlorine bleach, trial and error will tell you how much to add. Since it's already contaminated, I'd add at least 1/2 gal. or more then seal and allow to set a couple weeks, before use. It only takes 3 drops bleach per gal. water mixed and allowed to set one hour to make unpotable water potable and suitable for drinking. Also if you're using a water heater, run all your drinking water through a water heater before drinking. I get city water and I run my water through my water heater then 5 filters before drinking. In a year around three of those filters get quiet dirty, but the water I get to drink is delicious and taste as good as any bottled water.
thanks
those totes are consistently $20-$40 in my area on craigslist.
Everyone in my area charges a $ / gal. capacity. 😠😢😭
thank you I found it
10* Absolutely!!!!!
Wow. I'd be worried about used totes having chemical residue. Can't wash that out.
Also, some comments have comments and they look highly suspicious for being scams and/or data gatherers. (If you read them you'll find them very worrisome as well. I'd steer well clear of clicking on those.)
To all....just make sure you wash out the IBS container before using it......
We pay 60 to 80 dollars for a tote
If you get tank could sale to people
there is NO way I would stand next to or lean on those tanks in their current setup... death trap
I can get these for free.