I know that my comment is way too late , but I thought you should know this , for the past couple weeks I went back and watched also (liked) each and every one of your videos and maaaan .....I was amazed with your skills and ingenuity in problem solving , customizing , building , making .... you name it .... these words comes from a person that knows his way with tools and good at using his hands .... learned a lot from your builds ... Thank you.
Good video. Made great sense too. Gathering water off the roof reminded me of my grandfather's country gas station in upstate NY back in the early 1950's. He had a leader from a roof gutter feeding a 55 gallon drum with rain water for using it in car batteries because it was naturally distilled. I got in trouble with him one day when I put a corn cob in it from one of our back yard picnics. Never did that again.
haha... I can feel you there... I once pulled the float out of a cattle trough because I couldn't figure out what was floating in there... my grandpa wasn't too pleased ;)
José Duarte thanks Jose! I try my best but am not able to cover all the info out there...so always do your research regarding catchment and treatment options that work best for you😀
I totally love all your videos. I have incorporated a ton of your projects on my property in south Florida. Keep up the fantastic work and teaching. Thanks
Great information am going to Tanzania this summer on a study abroad program. I am going to share this video with my friends as a way to capture water 💦 safely thx👍🏾👏🏾
I really want to move somewhere warm. Living in the PNW is getting old. So I keep sharing your thoughts and videos with my husband. I follow you on Instagram and just added you to my UA-cam list. Thanks for documenting this
I saw once rain drift harvesting I think it was called, it allowed maximum vertical use of the land available by hanging taught strung windbreak netting 6ft tall and as long as your space allowed. With the bottom of the netting and the straining wire/cord close to the ground positioned in the middle of cheap plastic half round guttering (like used on a roof) it collected loads of rain with very cheap materials. Just posts, wire/cord , netting and guttering. Have a look and see what I mean, it would look like a very long meandering volleyball net! Or similar. it’s another option you might like to try maybe. Slightly envious of the sun there at the moment I must say All the very best to you all and a great video thank you👍
Mike outside most of the time thanks Mike! I’ve seen systems like that for collecting fog/dew...but it would be interesting for rain too! It would be more resilient in the wind too than a solid tarp😀👍
I know you've touched on a lot of those topics in other videos. Would be good for a refresher/ update on how your systems are working, and have the info in a single series. Thanks for all your great tips.
I will update on most of my setups probably through the rest of these rainwater oriented videos. I probably won't update the rainwater garden area until monsoons though... which is when I will maybe do some updates on the house system as thats when the rain is falling most ;)
Other than some commercial buildings, there are pretty much no flat roof buildings here in Mississippi. I don't know if it is because we just get too much rain or what. Good information, Joe!
I like the tarp & the patio collection ideas... Simple & pretty much anyone can do them. I’ve got to figure out a good way to collect from our metal building. The ribs are really deep, and I’m thinking a trough at the bottom may/may not work. Would have to build it as the building is assembled & find some way to ensure the water wouldn’t seep into the surface at all. Things to ponder! Great video as always, thanks!
thanks Steff! I think the patio idea might work well for your building... I have a similar structure near me and I have often thought if they guttered the area where the metal met the slab... they'd be able to collect runoff
awesome... I was afraid that part have been boring for a lot of folks... basically being too 'school like' ...lol... but I'm glad you got some interest out of it. I like those kinds of things... the closer look of what composes the roofs :D
Hi Joe, I wanted to thank you for your info regarding standing seam installer Sam. I hired him and he is installing this week. Im having to work out of the area while he is installing it but planning to fly in for the big reveal next weekend. Im so excited to see it and start collecting rain water in the future. Thanks again 👍
You have a significant amount of roof areas space.. I would think that you would want to try to figure out some kind of a tarp that you can roll out from the peaks of it. Where you could utilize some of the water off of the existing surface areas. Perhaps with a roll-out tarp, that can self store on the Peaks or perhaps easily removable during the dry seasons. This would give you essentially the same volume of water yet made significant amount more potable and usable for vegetables. that's just kind of a thought..
the plant roove are perfect for collecting and they clean the water as well. depeding on what plants ,sand and structure under it to let water go true faster. We had it at our family home.
yes, I think they are a really great surface for homes... and they even have great thermal benefits too :) I was mostly referring to the fact that some of the purpose of the roof would be to keep some of the water on the roof soil for the plants too... so not 100% for collection purposes. But yes, I'm sure they can collect quite a bit too:)
I have thought about that... I saw a set up in Chile i think , for collecting fog...very cool! but here we get fog and that kind of humidity so rarely that I don't know if it would be worth setting up
Another wonderful video. Please don't apologize for your videos. You do a awesome job of putting out quite educational videos. You have experiences most of us don;'t have. I personally have learned allot from you. At 72 I have learned much from your projects. Who says you cant teach an ole fart new tricks.
Joe, very interesting as always, even for us in countries where we have an abundance of water. With the strange weather we get now we are seeing summers where a hosepipe ban is a common feature and your tips for garden use makes sense anywhere in the world. Kind regards from a chilly UK.
thanks Tony! you know what, it's actually been chilly hear for a change.. so I feel you! as for water usage in the garden... yes it can be helpful anywhere in the world... part of me wishes I could be in a place where I could just dig a hole and a pond would just appear...but I know that with everything there is a mix of good and bad...lol... thats why I'm committed to use splitting our climates (warm dry AZ weather to use in return for some UK rain and cool foggy days :)
Good day from South Africa 🇿🇦. Love your channel and must say your techniques for collecting water is very interesting. I live in Cape Town and we are now going through one of the worst droughts ever, thus collecting as much rainwater as possible is absolutely a must!!! Keep up the good work, I’m hooked. Regards, Awee van der Merwe (Not a difficult name at all to pronounce for you guys, hahaha!!!)
Hi Awee! Yes, that one might be a bit difficult for me to get right the first time...lol :) Very cool to hear from SA! And I recently just heard about the drought down there and the Cape Town situation. Wow! I hope that you guys will get a relief of rain soon that will help out your reservoirs. I'm guessing even if you do get some much needed rain, that Cape Town residents will be very enthusiastic about continuing the development of rainwater harvesting systems both for residences and maybe even municipally too. Best wishes and Prayers for you guys down there:) Joe
Yep, I'm thinking fern forest area that is moist near constantly. I work with a lot of wildland guys and they say if there are two homes in fire danger they'll spend there efforts on the non flammable roof homes first... because it doesnt matter how much is cleared around the wood roofed home in regard to the embers that will inevitably fall
Bumble Bee Junction thanks Mark! Yes, the billboard tarp is a great system that was very cheap and easy for anyone to do....however, my wife was really concerned when I said I was going to place a billboard tarp on the property...lol...I ensured her it would be not really visible from the ground level😂
Super vid and some GREAT ideas about different ways to collect the water. Have you seen the vids on the dew harvesting done in south America? just big sails that collect the dew in the mornings and direct down to trough and then into holding containers. Know that they use to use the sails on old ships to rig up and collect rain water when on long voyages. So many ways to harvest water and even using nature to purify too.
Gregory Thomas absolutely! It is in my planned topics to cover for this series! Everything from the roof and downspouts to filtering, storage and pumping
As usual, great content. I think, a lot of the time it goes back to common sense, as to where to collect from. I think that another risk in collecting from the flat roof that you showed is that they never tend to fully drain, and you may end up with some stagnant water, also more surface contamination - think bird droppings, trapped rodents, rotting leaves etc
thanks Wayne! yes, common sense is a huge part when deciding harvesting components. I like to say you can probably harvest off of anything... just depends on how much you want to treat and filter
great footage and explanation of all the roof types. always nice to see your work. rain water collection never looked so satisfying until i found your channel lol
awww thanks! it is so cool to see a full tank or pond after a rain! Just wish I had more time and funds to do even more with it...lol... but for now I gotta take it little by little :D
ha, dont we all need more time and funds :P seeing your creations allows me to get some great ideas if i ever happen to own my own property, because i love projects like this.
Nicely done presentation Joe. We do take our water off the roof for drinking and it is an asphalt roof. We have a first flush and the cool water we get in the NW should be, in my opinion, adequate for consumption through a ceramic filter or distillation. I wouldn't recommend drinking water off a shingle roof if the water was warm due to the breakdown heat has on materials and may get precipitate in the water, the universal solvent. If concerned, one can send off a sample to a water analysis lab to find all the contaminants if he/she were concerned for a few hundred dollars. Like you said "at your own risk". I have been a water treatment plant operator for several years and know it would be a good idea to test the water for contaminants. We have been doing it for years and haven't died yet but one never knows the long term residual effects of different source waters.
Awesome Mr. Rain! I couldn't have said it better... sounds like you guys are well into the game too :) Thanks for checking it out... more to come on on this topic!
Seeing your greenhouse always makes me smile. I love it. I wondered if you ever consider collecting dew? I’m from the Netherlands and we are always (as a country) struggling to keep the water away so I have no hands on experience but from what I have read and seen it is a great option and for a guy like you, with your creative skills and hands on attitude it could be a nice challenge to make it work/work better.
Noeraldin Kabam hi noeraldin! Thanks! I have looked into dew collection ideas but our environment is so dry that we rarely get much dew or fog. It would be too much input for not enough harvested. Also, great to hear from the Netherlands 🇳🇱!!!
Great video! Thank you 👍 I met with someone who specializes in rain harvesting and they were OK with asphalt roof for drinking water. I wasn't. Not sure what to do since a metal roof is not cheap. Thanks again for helping us all out with your expertise
It all depends on each individual person, their roof surface and what they are comfortable with... and able to filter. Some surfaces are more idea than others in regards to imparting things to the water. My only concern with asphalt is the oils washing into the water. That's not to say it can't be used... but just that it would require a more intensive filtering. Down here in AZ it gets hot and water off of asphalt shingle roofs will have a small film of oil on the top of the water from the asphalt. Maybe in other areas of the country that isn't the case. But in any regard.. each person just has to figure what it right for them and do their own research on their roof. My opinions were more of an overview... and just an opinion...lol... not right or wrong... just my thoughts ;)
Personally I would think asphalt shingles have a lot of fiberglass in them, as they get old those fibers are going to be coming off. I bet if you look in a microscope of a water drop, you might see the fiberglass.
This subject fascinates me. Are you the only one around you who collects like you do? Where did you start your search for the various methods? Thanks for anything you can do on this subject!
Hi MD, I'm not the only one around here who collects rainwater... but most don't do it as their primary source of water like I do. However, my wifes grandparents have been collecting rainwater for 40-50 years now. As for info... a lot was me just asking folks, doing internet research and then just figuring a lot out on my own through trial and error..lol
K L thanks Kim! The shop has become a good spot for me to work in! Not totally finished quite yet but pretty soon...aww...who am I kidding it’ll never be totally finished...😉
Here in Colorado and many other areas I’ve visited the municipality has developed a storm water tax, or fee we pay monthly based on the square footage of our “hard surfaces” (roof,decking, driveways, and sidewalks) the sales pitch sold to voters was that it would help maintain sewers and drainage ditches in town, but the kicker is they strongly discourage us from collecting rainwater, claiming it increases the mosquito population, and thus the threat of malaria. We are allowed to have ponds in our yards though. Fight the “rain tax” if your officials get the same “great idea” ours did.
start your land search as soon as you can.. that's actually one of the most fun parts... .just looking at potential places to live and figuring the pros and cons of each :D
Great video again. I was thinking about soil cement as a relatively low cost solution for a large scale water harvesting collection surface, fed into swales, then into a shallow "settlement area"(an area that would spread out and slow down the water, allowing for heavier particles to settle out), through a screen, then ultimately overflowing into an in-ground concrete cistern.
haha...yes! that is something I've really been considering as a cost effective solution. Obviously a concrete pad would work great too..but it's way more expensive than stabilizing the soil or compacted ground to use as your surface! I like the idea of eventually diverting to a cistern too!
So... I'm getting a small shed (12x24) to live in. I wasn't sure what to do for roofing, even though I had plans to 'collect water' for other use. Watching this video helped me make up my mind on what roofing material to use. So... I'm wondering: Any more info going to be shared? I would really like to see where you go from this video.
I can't believe I never found your channel before.. (ive been doing vids for years) New sub here.. Lots of info for me to look over.. Looks like I will be here a while,,, lol..
Great video and overview of rainwater harvesting. I see that you don't let hippies in your workshop. but just to let you know this hippie is a happy happy. And by the way you still need a new hat
One downside to rain water collection system is bird crap contamination. The upside of a living room is the any bird droppings is used by the plants as fertilizer. The water may end up being safer than that collected from other sources. Still it is a good idea to disinfect the water with UV radiation or serious filtration.
Have you ever thought about using a ram pump to pump water into a water tower for so you can use gravity instead of electricity to water your plants for example?
Sceme1991 yes I have but from the research I’ve done is that you have to have a certain amount of distance in relation to the water and the pump being able to pump vertically. Most of my garden plants and other trees are downhill from my storage so I have elevation already built in. But it is something I’d like to explore for my rainwater garden area😀👍
Back on your video from last year, the piano stool. How did you cut the angles of the legs? Not the bottom parts that you dipped in paint which was an awesome idea, but the top part that welds to the shaft the seat screws in. Please help me out, I'm stuck at that part and don't want to waste metal. wasn't cheap LOL
Another awesome video, thank you so much, Joe!!!! Question about the concrete patio/driveway: does concrete have toxins? I'm assuming it does, but I don't know, on our dream layout we plan to harvest from concrete sidewalks primarily for pasture irrigation and possibly animals' water, but we assumed for the animals we would need a filter system. It would certainly be an excellent source for rainwater and I loved the gutters you had installed! Very best wishes always!
littleflower1826 hi LF.... I would be more worried about anything on the concrete than the concrete itself. Many cisterns and municipal water systems use concrete for storage. But with that said I would always filter before use😀👍
....continued.... many ranchers and agriculture setups use concrete for animals with no effects as well. They are more capable is using less than clean elevated than we are...muddy ponds, streams , etc.
Thanks Ron! ps... do you ever watch parks and rec? ron1 and ron2 reminds me of ron swanson talking about tammy1 and tammy2....lol! if you haven't seen it then it won't make sense ;)
homesteadonomics I haven’t seen that Joe, I’ll check it out. I once had 2 girlfriends in a row named Kathy... To my family they became Kathy1 & 2. 😃. Just a little anecdote. 😜🤠
Not sure what your elevation difference is across your property but have you ever looked into hydraulic ram pumps for transferring water from location to location? I recently discovered these pumps and they run with no power needed but do need a little bit of elevation change in order to work from my understanding.
Matt White The biggest problem with ram pumps is that there is a lot of wastage with them. Only a fraction of the water that flows through them actually gets pumped. They're great when you have a creek or stream you want to pump from as the wastage just goes back into the creek/stream. They're not good where every drop counts, such as in his setup. You also need a decent bit of drop before the pump for it to operate.
both good points... yes, I have thought about them... very cool! seen some on wranglerstars channel and a couple others. Super awesome set up... but Tallman1128 makes a good point for the stream aspect and the water usage. If I had the land set up then for sure yes... but currently most of my setup is via hoses and small elevation changes where as I can siphon from one to another where there is just a few feet of elevation change :)
Logic Bob thanks bob! I’ve been in my home 9 years now...yes most all contaminants can be filtered out but it is dependent on what is being filtered. For example dirt and sediment is easy to filter than say oils off a asphalt roof...so yes, anything can be filtered but somethings will require much more intensive and expensive filtering than others to make Water safe
If going to filter it before drinking, why can't one collect from any surface? Better question might be ... what kind of filtering will allow one to drinking water collected from all roofs?
Thanks John! Camp trailer will be coming as soon as I can get the money from the CEO... er I mean wife...lol... she wants to see how the taxes finish out before allowing me any new project funds. that's why I was trying to sell my knife and leather sheath in the last video... little fund building haha
Rob Olson I don’t doubt that...this is just more of a generalized thoughts on the different options. I just sided with caution on anything that could potentially allow oil/hydrocarbon contact. I’m sure they are many that have success with all sorts of roofs coupled with proper filtration. Thanks for watching😀👍
By the way, I'm getting quotes for a metal roof. Thanks for the info. Did you change from a corrugated style to a standing seam? What color white did you go with? I heard there are 3 choices of white. Thanks again and I will post a video after the install. 🙂
JOE TRY A TRAP SYSTEM LIKE THE ONE ON YOUR TRUCK ONLY MAKE IT ON THE TOP OF YOUR EVES AND HAVE A CENSOR DETECT RAIN AND IT ROLLS OUT LIKE A RV AWNING YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? THOSE ARE LIKE 10 FOR.99 ON EBAY, NOT THAT YOU WOULD NEED THAT MANY AND A VERY SIMPLE SOLAR PANEL CAN POWER IT. YOU KNOW LIKE ONE OF THOSE CHEAP SOLAR PATH WAY LIGHTS YOU CAN GET ANYWHERE. LOVE THE PLACE CANDIS AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE TREES AND THE BEES IF YOU STILL HAVE SOME. THE BEES ARE A COOL THING, YOUR VERY OWN POLLINATORS FOR FREE TOO HAAHA JUST ASKING OLD ONE LEGGED JOSEPH T RETIRED NAVY
Is there such a thing as a sediment filter to collect rainwater that collects in a stream? The stream is dirty and we don't want to put this water directly in a tank as it might fill the tank with dirt. I noticed there is such a thing as a sediment bag. That is close but I want to use the sediment bag to filter the sediment out of a low spot and pump it in a tank, as oppose to pump dirty water in it. Hopefully the sediment just keep flowing, while clean water goes in a tank.
I know that my comment is way too late , but I thought you should know this , for the past couple weeks I went back and watched also (liked) each and every one of your videos and maaaan .....I was amazed with your skills and ingenuity in problem solving , customizing , building , making .... you name it .... these words comes from a person that knows his way with tools and good at using his hands .... learned a lot from your builds ... Thank you.
Good video. Made great sense too.
Gathering water off the roof reminded me of my grandfather's country gas station in upstate NY back in the early 1950's. He had a leader from a roof gutter feeding a 55 gallon drum with rain water for using it in car batteries because it was naturally distilled. I got in trouble with him one day when I put a corn cob in it from one of our back yard picnics. Never did that again.
haha... I can feel you there... I once pulled the float out of a cattle trough because I couldn't figure out what was floating in there... my grandpa wasn't too pleased ;)
The Crazies out there and there are alot!! Lol nice video Joe
Mad Max yes sir there are! Too many.....😉
Thank you for educating us on safe water.
José Duarte thanks Jose! I try my best but am not able to cover all the info out there...so always do your research regarding catchment and treatment options that work best for you😀
Comprise. Nothing is comprised of anything. The whole comprises the parts. Great resource. Thanks. Shared with others.
p51nion yes, I’m definitely not a master of words😂 👍
I love how your videos are all substance, no filler. Really great info in this vid. Thank you for sharing your real world experience!
This is a great addition to your other rain water harvesting videos.
thanks Jessica.. hoping to have many more on rainwater this year!
I totally love all your videos. I have incorporated a ton of your projects on my property in south Florida. Keep up the fantastic work and teaching. Thanks
Great information am going to Tanzania this summer on a study abroad program. I am going to share this video with my friends as a way to capture water 💦 safely thx👍🏾👏🏾
Thanks Fadsad! Have a great time in Tanzania for your program! Sounds exciting :D
I really want to move somewhere warm. Living in the PNW is getting old. So I keep sharing your thoughts and videos with my husband. I follow you on Instagram and just added you to my UA-cam list. Thanks for documenting this
I saw once rain drift harvesting I think it was called, it allowed maximum vertical use of the land available by hanging taught strung windbreak netting 6ft tall and as long as your space allowed.
With the bottom of the netting and the straining wire/cord close to the ground positioned in the middle of cheap plastic half round guttering (like used on a roof) it collected loads of rain with very cheap materials.
Just posts, wire/cord , netting and guttering. Have a look and see what I mean, it would look like a very long meandering volleyball net! Or similar. it’s another option you might like to try maybe.
Slightly envious of the sun there at the moment I must say
All the very best to you all and a great video thank you👍
Mike outside most of the time thanks Mike! I’ve seen systems like that for collecting fog/dew...but it would be interesting for rain too! It would be more resilient in the wind too than a solid tarp😀👍
I know you've touched on a lot of those topics in other videos. Would be good for a refresher/ update on how your systems are working, and have the info in a single series. Thanks for all your great tips.
I will update on most of my setups probably through the rest of these rainwater oriented videos. I probably won't update the rainwater garden area until monsoons though... which is when I will maybe do some updates on the house system as thats when the rain is falling most ;)
Other than some commercial buildings, there are pretty much no flat roof buildings here in Mississippi. I don't know if it is because we just get too much rain or what. Good information, Joe!
I definitely like the water videos very interesting and informative thanks
thanks Daniel! looking to have many more on rainwater this year!
I like the tarp & the patio collection ideas... Simple & pretty much anyone can do them. I’ve got to figure out a good way to collect from our metal building. The ribs are really deep, and I’m thinking a trough at the bottom may/may not work. Would have to build it as the building is assembled & find some way to ensure the water wouldn’t seep into the surface at all. Things to ponder!
Great video as always, thanks!
thanks Steff! I think the patio idea might work well for your building... I have a similar structure near me and I have often thought if they guttered the area where the metal met the slab... they'd be able to collect runoff
Lots of excellent information! Thanks for sharing.
thanks Larry!
I liked the close up shots of the various roof surfaces
awesome... I was afraid that part have been boring for a lot of folks... basically being too 'school like' ...lol... but I'm glad you got some interest out of it. I like those kinds of things... the closer look of what composes the roofs :D
Sweet video Joe, thanks for sharing.
Philip Colton thanks for checking it out Philip!
Hi Joe, I wanted to thank you for your info regarding standing seam installer Sam. I hired him and he is installing this week. Im having to work out of the area while he is installing it but planning to fly in for the big reveal next weekend. Im so excited to see it and start collecting rain water in the future. Thanks again 👍
You have a significant amount of roof areas space..
I would think that you would want to try to figure out some kind of a tarp that you can roll out from the peaks of it. Where you could utilize some of the water off of the existing surface areas.
Perhaps with a roll-out tarp, that can self store on the Peaks or perhaps easily removable during the dry seasons.
This would give you essentially the same volume of water yet made significant amount more potable and usable for vegetables.
that's just kind of a thought..
I definitely want to develop the tarp idea further for both capturing more volume as well as a clean usable water too :D
the plant roove are perfect for collecting and they clean the water as well. depeding on what plants ,sand and structure under it to let water go true faster. We had it at our family home.
i forgot to asked , how about nets put up on an angel to collect water?.
yes, I think they are a really great surface for homes... and they even have great thermal benefits too :) I was mostly referring to the fact that some of the purpose of the roof would be to keep some of the water on the roof soil for the plants too... so not 100% for collection purposes. But yes, I'm sure they can collect quite a bit too:)
I have thought about that... I saw a set up in Chile i think , for collecting fog...very cool! but here we get fog and that kind of humidity so rarely that I don't know if it would be worth setting up
Another brilliant day starts with your brilliant video... respect
SOUNAK BANERJEE thanks so much Sounak! 😀
This is great information for something I've been thinking about.
Awesome! great to hear... planning several more vids like this on all aspects of harvesting rain :)
Your shop looks great! Gotta love water running in the desert, thanks for the info.
yes, running water in the desert is just so awesome... if I could have a permanent stream...even a tricking one it would be so awesome :D
homesteadonomics how's the aquifer there?
Another wonderful video. Please don't apologize for your videos. You do a awesome job of putting out quite educational videos. You have experiences most of us don;'t have. I personally have learned allot from you. At 72 I have learned much from your projects. Who says you cant teach an ole fart new tricks.
Cool Hand Luke aka Sgt. Billy thanks so much Billy...I appreciate that! Glad you like the videos...I try to get better with each one😀
Joe, very interesting as always, even for us in countries where we have an abundance of water. With the strange weather we get now we are seeing summers where a hosepipe ban is a common feature and your tips for garden use makes sense anywhere in the world. Kind regards from a chilly UK.
thanks Tony! you know what, it's actually been chilly hear for a change.. so I feel you! as for water usage in the garden... yes it can be helpful anywhere in the world... part of me wishes I could be in a place where I could just dig a hole and a pond would just appear...but I know that with everything there is a mix of good and bad...lol... thats why I'm committed to use splitting our climates (warm dry AZ weather to use in return for some UK rain and cool foggy days :)
This video was very nice, since you present many different types of techniques we can implement. Thank you!
Good day from South Africa 🇿🇦. Love your channel and must say your techniques for collecting water is very interesting. I live in Cape Town and we are now going through one of the worst droughts ever, thus collecting as much rainwater as possible is absolutely a must!!! Keep up the good work, I’m hooked. Regards, Awee van der Merwe (Not a difficult name at all to pronounce for you guys, hahaha!!!)
Awee Van der Merwe good luck with the drought
Spicy bits Thank you very much 🙏🏻
Awee Van der Merwe, The world has taken notice of Cape Town's situation, and we are praying!
Mark Langenkamp Thank you very much for your prayers, we appeciate it!!!
Hi Awee! Yes, that one might be a bit difficult for me to get right the first time...lol :) Very cool to hear from SA! And I recently just heard about the drought down there and the Cape Town situation. Wow! I hope that you guys will get a relief of rain soon that will help out your reservoirs. I'm guessing even if you do get some much needed rain, that Cape Town residents will be very enthusiastic about continuing the development of rainwater harvesting systems both for residences and maybe even municipally too.
Best wishes and Prayers for you guys down there:)
Joe
Thank you. I enjoy your videos.
Paul Murphy thanks Paul!
Good video. Lots of good information on rainwater collection that I never thought of before.
thanks MAF! :)
Great idea's Joe. Love the catchment videos.
thanks!! more to come!
even in western WA in summer, wood shingles =kindling great video
Yep, I'm thinking fern forest area that is moist near constantly. I work with a lot of wildland guys and they say if there are two homes in fire danger they'll spend there efforts on the non flammable roof homes first... because it doesnt matter how much is cleared around the wood roofed home in regard to the embers that will inevitably fall
That was fascinating. So many creative ways to collect water. Great job.
thanks!
Really interesting! Keep sharing things like this.
thanks Judy! will do!
Really awesome video neighbor. I have a lot to learn. Cheers! Chris.
thanks Chris!!
Joe
Great info and ideas for collecting rainwater. Another video well done! :) Thanks!
Great video, love your projects, also on a farm in the North West of South Africa.
Lots of interesting tid-bits, thank you for sharing... I like the sign vinyl ... Hope all is well with you and yours...
Bumble Bee Junction thanks Mark! Yes, the billboard tarp is a great system that was very cheap and easy for anyone to do....however, my wife was really concerned when I said I was going to place a billboard tarp on the property...lol...I ensured her it would be not really visible from the ground level😂
Super vid and some GREAT ideas about different ways to collect the water. Have you seen the vids on the dew harvesting done in south America? just big sails that collect the dew in the mornings and direct down to trough and then into holding containers. Know that they use to use the sails on old ships to rig up and collect rain water when on long voyages. So many ways to harvest water and even using nature to purify too.
Very interesting and informative.thank you .
thank you TL Scotsman! :)
A lot of great ways to harvest rainwater! Thanks so much!
Would it be possible to see how you pump/filter/distribute the gathered water?
Gregory Thomas absolutely! It is in my planned topics to cover for this series! Everything from the roof and downspouts to filtering, storage and pumping
Kewl beans!
As usual, great content.
I think, a lot of the time it goes back to common sense, as to where to collect from.
I think that another risk in collecting from the flat roof that you showed is that they never tend to fully drain, and you may end up with some stagnant water, also more surface contamination - think bird droppings, trapped rodents, rotting leaves etc
thanks Wayne! yes, common sense is a huge part when deciding harvesting components. I like to say you can probably harvest off of anything... just depends on how much you want to treat and filter
homesteadonomics absolutely, horses for courses.
Another great video with lots of interesting information thanks my friend!!!
great footage and explanation of all the roof types. always nice to see your work. rain water collection never looked so satisfying until i found your channel lol
awww thanks! it is so cool to see a full tank or pond after a rain! Just wish I had more time and funds to do even more with it...lol... but for now I gotta take it little by little :D
ha, dont we all need more time and funds :P seeing your creations allows me to get some great ideas if i ever happen to own my own property, because i love projects like this.
Amazing video! Thanks for the info. More on alternative and temp options would be great too👍🏻
thanks! Yes, for sure... want to develop those much more in the future :)
Nicely done presentation Joe. We do take our water off the roof for drinking and it is an asphalt roof. We have a first flush and the cool water we get in the NW should be, in my opinion, adequate for consumption through a ceramic filter or distillation. I wouldn't recommend drinking water off a shingle roof if the water was warm due to the breakdown heat has on materials and may get precipitate in the water, the universal solvent. If concerned, one can send off a sample to a water analysis lab to find all the contaminants if he/she were concerned for a few hundred dollars. Like you said "at your own risk". I have been a water treatment plant operator for several years and know it would be a good idea to test the water for contaminants. We have been doing it for years and haven't died yet but one never knows the long term residual effects of different source waters.
Awesome Mr. Rain! I couldn't have said it better... sounds like you guys are well into the game too :)
Thanks for checking it out... more to come on on this topic!
Thanks! This is GOLD. Greetings from England
great to hear from England! thanks so much :D
Seeing your greenhouse always makes me smile. I love it.
I wondered if you ever consider collecting dew? I’m from the Netherlands and we are always (as a country) struggling to keep the water away so I have no hands on experience but from what I have read and seen it is a great option and for a guy like you, with your creative skills and hands on attitude it could be a nice challenge to make it work/work better.
Noeraldin Kabam hi noeraldin! Thanks! I have looked into dew collection ideas but our environment is so dry that we rarely get much dew or fog. It would be too much input for not enough harvested. Also, great to hear from the Netherlands 🇳🇱!!!
Great video! Thank you 👍
I met with someone who specializes in rain harvesting and they were OK with asphalt roof for drinking water.
I wasn't. Not sure what to do since a metal roof is not cheap.
Thanks again for helping us all out with your expertise
A&M says not to use water as potable until after the third year for shingle roofs
It all depends on each individual person, their roof surface and what they are comfortable with... and able to filter. Some surfaces are more idea than others in regards to imparting things to the water. My only concern with asphalt is the oils washing into the water. That's not to say it can't be used... but just that it would require a more intensive filtering. Down here in AZ it gets hot and water off of asphalt shingle roofs will have a small film of oil on the top of the water from the asphalt. Maybe in other areas of the country that isn't the case. But in any regard.. each person just has to figure what it right for them and do their own research on their roof. My opinions were more of an overview... and just an opinion...lol... not right or wrong... just my thoughts ;)
"...more ideal than others..". my fingers...lol
Personally I would think asphalt shingles have a lot of fiberglass in them, as they get old those fibers are going to be coming off. I bet if you look in a microscope of a water drop, you might see the fiberglass.
You got a truck! That's awesome man!
yep... used nissan truck... after my 06 jetta tdi died... about 300k so it gave me a good run:)
This subject fascinates me. Are you the only one around you who collects like you do? Where did you start your search for the various methods? Thanks for anything you can do on this subject!
Hi MD,
I'm not the only one around here who collects rainwater... but most don't do it as their primary source of water like I do. However, my wifes grandparents have been collecting rainwater for 40-50 years now. As for info... a lot was me just asking folks, doing internet research and then just figuring a lot out on my own through trial and error..lol
Hey Joe, thanks for the water updates, very interesting. Dean in Fountain Hills, ( Near Scottsdale )
Great information Joe! Keep up the great work. 👍
BTW, i like the sign in back of shop.
Joe it was very interesting. Keep charging. Bear Down!
Thanks Henry!
btw... not looking good for the basketball stuff right now :(
Great stuff as always Joe! Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
thanks Steve! Cheers to you as well :D
Joe
Great and informative video.
thanks Daniel! more ideas for when you make the big final move down here ;)
homesteadonomics just four more months to go.
Awesome techniques.
thanks LG!
Great video Joe, shop looks good as well. Keep up the good work mate.
Cheers
Kim
K L thanks Kim! The shop has become a good spot for me to work in! Not totally finished quite yet but pretty soon...aww...who am I kidding it’ll never be totally finished...😉
Thanks for sharing.
bowlmeoverva thanks for checking it out😀
,wow, thank you, it gave me lots of ideas.
Pj Cramer thanks PJ!
Here in Colorado and many other areas I’ve visited the municipality has developed a storm water tax, or fee we pay monthly based on the square footage of our “hard surfaces” (roof,decking, driveways, and sidewalks) the sales pitch sold to voters was that it would help maintain sewers and drainage ditches in town, but the kicker is they strongly discourage us from collecting rainwater, claiming it increases the mosquito population, and thus the threat of malaria. We are allowed to have ponds in our yards though. Fight the “rain tax” if your officials get the same “great idea” ours did.
Tim Goodwin oh man...I don’t like the sounds of that. Sometimes ‘common sense’ legislation is proposed by those that have the least 😂
Interesting. Thanks
Thanks 8:39 have to per now lol. I need to move out the city to try some of your ideas.
start your land search as soon as you can.. that's actually one of the most fun parts... .just looking at potential places to live and figuring the pros and cons of each :D
Great video again. I was thinking about soil cement as a relatively low cost solution for a large scale water harvesting collection surface, fed into swales, then into a shallow "settlement area"(an area that would spread out and slow down the water, allowing for heavier particles to settle out), through a screen, then ultimately overflowing into an in-ground concrete cistern.
haha...yes! that is something I've really been considering as a cost effective solution. Obviously a concrete pad would work great too..but it's way more expensive than stabilizing the soil or compacted ground to use as your surface! I like the idea of eventually diverting to a cistern too!
So... I'm getting a small shed (12x24) to live in. I wasn't sure what to do for roofing, even though I had plans to 'collect water' for other use. Watching this video helped me make up my mind on what roofing material to use. So... I'm wondering: Any more info going to be shared? I would really like to see where you go from this video.
One type of roofing you did not mention is MFM Peel and Seal self stick roofing for low slope roofs.
Interesting
I can't believe I never found your channel before.. (ive been doing vids for years) New sub here.. Lots of info for me to look over.. Looks like I will be here a while,,, lol..
deserthorizons thanks! Just subbed you back👍😀
Potable water should have filters and a UV light (very important). Great video!
thanks for checking it out Shanna :)
Great ideas, thanks for the video! : )
thanks for watching JJo!
Great video and overview of rainwater harvesting. I see that you don't let hippies in your workshop. but just to let you know this hippie is a happy happy. And by the way you still need a new hat
Nice Video
One downside to rain water collection system is bird crap contamination. The upside of a living room is the any bird droppings is used by the plants as fertilizer. The water may end up being safer than that collected from other sources. Still it is a good idea to disinfect the water with UV radiation or serious filtration.
Hey Joe, just wanted to say great video. - Jeff
Thanks Jeff! just checked out your water update video... good stuff...lots coming along!
So I need to cover my asphalt shingles with a big tarp or greenhouse plastic to be able to reasonably consider it potable
Nice video Joe! Thanks for sharing.😎👍JP
thanks JP! I see you changed the channel name.. gonna go check it out :D
You're very welcome Joe! yeah i wanted to make a channel to put all my different interests in one place 😎
Thank you sir for you're great work I appreciate your work
Sir from where do you provide electricity
I like it
Have you ever thought about using a ram pump to pump water into a water tower for so you can use gravity instead of electricity to water your plants for example?
Sceme1991 yes I have but from the research I’ve done is that you have to have a certain amount of distance in relation to the water and the pump being able to pump vertically. Most of my garden plants and other trees are downhill from my storage so I have elevation already built in. But it is something I’d like to explore for my rainwater garden area😀👍
Really good video, thank you. Question, can you, or do you, treat the water to drink it at all?
JediDean thanks! Yes I do drink and use if for household use as well. I do filter it through a ceramic berkey water filter first 😀👍
Great video. Do you have one on how you filter your water to drink? Do you use a uv light to filter or some other way? Is rain water hard or soft?
Back on your video from last year, the piano stool. How did you cut the angles of the legs? Not the bottom parts that you dipped in paint which was an awesome idea, but the top part that welds to the shaft the seat screws in. Please help me out, I'm stuck at that part and don't want to waste metal. wasn't cheap LOL
In St Croix USVI they use some sort of paint over plywood and almost everyone has a cistern
Another awesome video, thank you so much, Joe!!!! Question about the concrete patio/driveway: does concrete have toxins? I'm assuming it does, but I don't know, on our dream layout we plan to harvest from concrete sidewalks primarily for pasture irrigation and possibly animals' water, but we assumed for the animals we would need a filter system. It would certainly be an excellent source for rainwater and I loved the gutters you had installed! Very best wishes always!
littleflower1826 hi LF.... I would be more worried about anything on the concrete than the concrete itself. Many cisterns and municipal water systems use concrete for storage. But with that said I would always filter before use😀👍
....continued.... many ranchers and agriculture setups use concrete for animals with no effects as well. They are more capable is using less than clean elevated than we are...muddy ponds, streams , etc.
Thank you, Joe! Excellent point, thank you so much!!!!
Thanks Joe! Ron1
Thanks Ron!
ps... do you ever watch parks and rec? ron1 and ron2 reminds me of ron swanson talking about tammy1 and tammy2....lol! if you haven't seen it then it won't make sense ;)
homesteadonomics I haven’t seen that Joe, I’ll check it out. I once had 2 girlfriends in a row named Kathy... To my family they became Kathy1 & 2. 😃. Just a little anecdote. 😜🤠
lol!!!
Not sure what your elevation difference is across your property but have you ever looked into hydraulic ram pumps for transferring water from location to location? I recently discovered these pumps and they run with no power needed but do need a little bit of elevation change in order to work from my understanding.
Matt White The biggest problem with ram pumps is that there is a lot of wastage with them. Only a fraction of the water that flows through them actually gets pumped. They're great when you have a creek or stream you want to pump from as the wastage just goes back into the creek/stream. They're not good where every drop counts, such as in his setup. You also need a decent bit of drop before the pump for it to operate.
both good points... yes, I have thought about them... very cool! seen some on wranglerstars channel and a couple others. Super awesome set up... but Tallman1128 makes a good point for the stream aspect and the water usage. If I had the land set up then for sure yes... but currently most of my setup is via hoses and small elevation changes where as I can siphon from one to another where there is just a few feet of elevation change :)
Great video, as always. Can't most of the contaminants that you're concerned about be filtered out? Also, how many years have you been in your home?
Logic Bob thanks bob! I’ve been in my home 9 years now...yes most all contaminants can be filtered out but it is dependent on what is being filtered. For example dirt and sediment is easy to filter than say oils off a asphalt roof...so yes, anything can be filtered but somethings will require much more intensive and expensive filtering than others to make Water safe
Water garden = solid
thanks!
If going to filter it before drinking, why can't one collect from any surface? Better question might be ... what kind of filtering will allow one to drinking water collected from all roofs?
Wow long time no hear from you. Have you heard of the Tesla PVC shingles. Get two birds one stone. The main surface is glass.
yes I have heard of them... but no personal experience with them. but certainly a great idea! :)
Great info. Keep up the vids. How about that camp trailer?
Thanks John! Camp trailer will be coming as soon as I can get the money from the CEO... er I mean wife...lol... she wants to see how the taxes finish out before allowing me any new project funds. that's why I was trying to sell my knife and leather sheath in the last video... little fund building haha
What about water that runs off of solar panels that are installed on a roof?
Thank u so much do u have solar panels videos?
Actually, studies done on the water quality of asphalt shingle runoff found it to be "surprisingly" clean.
Rob Olson I don’t doubt that...this is just more of a generalized thoughts on the different options. I just sided with caution on anything that could potentially allow oil/hydrocarbon contact. I’m sure they are many that have success with all sorts of roofs coupled with proper filtration. Thanks for watching😀👍
By the way, I'm getting quotes for a metal roof. Thanks for the info.
Did you change from a corrugated style to a standing seam?
What color white did you go with? I heard there are 3 choices of white.
Thanks again and I will post a video after the install. 🙂
JOE TRY A TRAP SYSTEM LIKE THE ONE ON YOUR TRUCK ONLY MAKE IT ON THE TOP OF YOUR EVES AND HAVE A CENSOR DETECT RAIN AND IT ROLLS OUT LIKE A RV AWNING YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? THOSE ARE LIKE 10 FOR.99 ON EBAY, NOT THAT YOU WOULD NEED THAT MANY AND A VERY SIMPLE SOLAR PANEL CAN POWER IT. YOU KNOW LIKE ONE OF THOSE CHEAP SOLAR PATH WAY LIGHTS YOU CAN GET ANYWHERE. LOVE THE PLACE CANDIS AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE TREES AND THE BEES IF YOU STILL HAVE SOME. THE BEES ARE A COOL THING, YOUR VERY OWN POLLINATORS FOR FREE TOO HAAHA JUST ASKING OLD ONE LEGGED JOSEPH T RETIRED NAVY
Just a curiosity.
What is the square footage of your home roof in your largest collection set up?
How often are your main storage tanks completely full?
Is there such a thing as a sediment filter to collect rainwater that collects in a stream? The stream is dirty and we don't want to put this water directly in a tank as it might fill the tank with dirt. I noticed there is such a thing as a sediment bag. That is close but I want to use the sediment bag to filter the sediment out of a low spot and pump it in a tank, as oppose to pump dirty water in it. Hopefully the sediment just keep flowing, while clean water goes in a tank.