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momskeeztoo

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I went to a rain collection workshop put on by one of the local watershed coalitions and PSU to learn about building a system for the garden. 

Grabbed the supplies and ended up building one of the back of the shed. Used up some scrap wood from my old projects for the base. I’d like to build a similar unit down at the big garden, but I’m still working on ideas of how to build a big enough collection funnel to be worth it. 

 

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18 hours ago, toast21602 said:

I went to a rain collection workshop put on by one of the local watershed coalitions and PSU to learn about building a system for the garden. 

Grabbed the supplies and ended up building one of the back of the shed. Used up some scrap wood from my old projects for the base. I’d like to build a similar unit down at the big garden, but I’m still working on ideas of how to build a big enough collection funnel to be worth it. 

 

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Your rain barrel looks almost the same as the one that I built a few years ago. It collects rain off of half of my detached two car garage. I've never run out of water even before the past two years of monsoon rains. My garden is 100+ ft. from my hose bib and my garden is in front of my garage so it helps not having to drag the hose out or carry watering cans back and forth. I use it to fill watering cans. I need a new hose so I might cut the old one shorter and use that to water the garden.

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(The tree in from of it has now been cut down. Too close to the garage foundation.)

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20 hours ago, toast21602 said:

I went to a rain collection workshop put on by one of the local watershed coalitions and PSU to learn about building a system for the garden. 

Grabbed the supplies and ended up building one of the back of the shed. Used up some scrap wood from my old projects for the base. I’d like to build a similar unit down at the big garden, but I’m still working on ideas of how to build a big enough collection funnel to be worth it. 

 

ADAB6E32-45CB-43DA-9CE2-BC5A8D73EE9E.jpeg

7FD61E19-81FD-4D88-9A7D-BCB97930118F.jpeg

41253C1B-8C98-456C-9018-ABC007A6BBC5.jpeg

Why didn't you add cross-members in the front and back?  Looks like it could collapse sideways.

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6 minutes ago, toast21602 said:

It withheld my scientific ‘push test’. Thanks for the concern. 

With 55 gallons of water plus the barrel, spigot, etc. the whole thing weighs just about 500 pounds. You won't need the shelf brackets to hold it on the stand but some cross braces might not be a bad idea.

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5 minutes ago, trackbiker said:

With 55 gallons of water plus the barrel, spigot, etc. the whole thing weighs just about 500 pounds. You won't need the shelf brackets to hold it on the stand but some cross braces might not be a bad idea.

Sure, assuming its filled all of the time I know I wouldn't need them. The problem is it gets super windy on top of my little hill and shit gets blown from my yard if it isn't held in place in some way. If it is empty, it will end up taking flight. Here's hoping for some rain to fill it..

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Here's a dumb question - is there enough water pressure coming out of the barrel to use one of these with a sprinkler?  My house has a 16 zone sprinkler system that was put in by the previous owners and I never use it because its so wasteful (water and $), but there are a couple gardens and maybe one area of lawn that I'd like to water occasionally and this could be a nice solution.

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Just now, toast21602 said:

Sure, assuming its filled all of the time I know I wouldn't need them. The problem is it gets super windy on top of my little hill and shit gets blown from my yard if it isn't held in place in some way. If it is empty, it will end up taking flight. Here's hoping for some rain to fill it..

You'll be surprised how fast it will fill up just from half of your shed roof. You may get to see it tonight if the thunder storms they're calling for happen.

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3 minutes ago, NMSKI said:

Here's a dumb question - is there enough water pressure coming out of the barrel to use one of these with a sprinkler?  My house has a 16 zone sprinkler system that was put in by the previous owners and I never use it because its so wasteful (water and $), but there are a couple gardens and maybe one area of lawn that I'd like to water occasionally and this could be a nice solution.

Gravity feed, no. Need a pump.

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25 minutes ago, Schif said:

Question: How does the water hold up in the barrel? Does anything seem to grow in it or does it stay clear? 

My barrel is actually blue. I painted it white to match the garage siding. The water that comes out of it is crystal clear. The hose from the gutter diverter to the barrel gets some green around the top just inside the barrel that I noticed when I empty it in the fall. I wouldn't drink it but it's fine for watering the plants.

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1 hour ago, Schif said:

Question: How does the water hold up in the barrel? Does anything seem to grow in it or does it stay clear? 

I guess it depends how often it is being used? I also have two mesh screen drain catches. One at the top of the downspout, and one directly in the top of the barrel to catch any debris. No issues so far for the first day 😃

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I have a 2500 gallon white water tank at work, that we pull alot of water out of daily, but still manages to grow algae.  not a super big deal as we arent trying to drink this water or water plants with it.  The blue is supposed to help with algae, black is supposed to be ok too.  i added a black tank this year.  i will post my scientific findings on algae between the two tanks at the end of the year to let you know. 

 My actual serious question is, can this become a breeding ground for mosquitoes?

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3 minutes ago, JFskiDan said:

I have a 2500 gallon white water tank at work, that we pull alot of water out of daily, but still manages to grow algae.  not a super big deal as we arent trying to drink this water or water plants with it.  The blue is supposed to help with algae, black is supposed to be ok too.  i added a black tank this year.  i will post my scientific findings on algae between the two tanks at the end of the year to let you know. 

 My actual serious question is, can this become a breeding ground for mosquitoes?

Not sure what you're using it for but if you want to stop algea from growing just throw a cup of bleach in once in a while. (Don't do this for watering plants!)

My rain barrel has a diverter hose from a rain spout. It would be pretty hard for a mosquito to find it's way to the barrel and if it did it has a screen I made from window screen material at the end of the hose. I have plastic wrapped around the hose at the inlet of the barrel to keep bugs and dirt out.

For anyone interested in making a rain barrel I got one of these for about $18.00 for the diverter including the hose. It works great and when the barrel is full the water just runs down the downspout.

Rain Barrel Diverter

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