Rain Barrels

[jimmycthemd]

Ok, I've been poking through this forum for a few days (I'm new to prepping and to this forum) and have seen lots of threads on water treatment, etc., but haven't stumbled on suburban water collection yet so here goes.
I live in a subdivision that has a nazi-style homeowners association. My work requires that I live close to town. I have a military background (as well as Boy Scouts) and the first thing I thought about was a water source. I do live within about a mile of a river but that means leaving my home/family to go get the water. I came up with a dual-purpose plan. I started buying rainwater collection barrels from my local Home Depot. Although they're pricey, they pass the muster for the homeowner's association and I've noticed that several of my neighbors have them so I blend in. I opted for 85 gal barrels. To treat the water, I have an MSR MiniWorks EX (up to 500 gal) and a spare filter. This also doubles as a portable unit so, if I need to bug out, it can go with me. Eventually, I'm going to either buy a Berkey filter for larger quantities of water or make my own.
Another reason I went for the rainwater collection barrels is that they can serve double-duty for irrigating my blueberry bushes. I'll eventually have 5 of the barrels (5 downspouts on my house) and keep at least two of them in reserve for emergencies. I'll rotate which ones remain full to keep the water relatively fresh. I'm planning on a timeline (starting short to keep it from overwhelming me) and have enough food in the house at any given time for about 3 weeks. I figure that about 170 gallons of water will last three of us about two weeks. After that, it's to the river. I'll expand the water supply as time and money permits but at least it's a start. Because of the homeowner's association (and my wife) I can't use the 'ugly' blue/white barrels that come cheaper. I'll keep posting as I find more ideas.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Well, HOAs and survival are at opposite ends and a contradiction. Can't say much good bout that. It's too bad ya can't get the cheap barrels but with the HOA i'm suprised you can have any as most in our area dont allow them so my friends and co-workers say. It sounds as though you have a filter plan which is good. If you can show pics without busting OPSEC I'd be interested in seeing it.
Whats the plan for hauling water from the river?
Don't let any of this overwhelm you, eat that steak one bite at a time, some weeks between time and money my bites are real small and aint got no sauce neither.
Just think bout what ya said up there. You have 3weeks for YOUR family now. Dude thats awesome!!

[BioG8r]

As Matt said you're on your way, Would it be possible to put one in ground and place a second on top? Nothing like a little night digging to keep the HOA guessing! Also a barrel or five in the garage could be a great thing. They could be of the white cheap variety. Just some thoughts.
Again as Matt insinuated three weeks is a heck of alot more than most folks have on hand.

[jimmycthemd]

River Plan

Unfortunately the area by the river is pretty populated. So far the plan is to simply drive to the river at dusk or dawn and fill up some 5gal buckets and bring them back to the house for processing. They're small enough to carry and also hide in the back of the SUV. I have a 19yo son that can fill the buckets while I stand guard (yes, I will be armed). There are walking trails by the river so I've scouted some of the less travelled areas. About another couple of miles away there's a dirt road that leads to the river (dead ends) but I don't like that one since there's only one entrance/exit route. Too easy to get trapped back there. This is an area that I need to do some more specific planning on and have been thinking about it.
When I get back to the house I have a two-stage water filtering plan (still have to procure the pieces-parts). The first stage is to remove the physical particles and some/most of the chemicals. A top bucket with a 1 inch hole in the bottom with some river rock and a layer of pea gravel about 3 inches deep. Then 5 inches of sand and 3 inches of charcoal (natural) and another 4 inches of sand. This sits on top of another bucket with a 4 inch diameter hole in the top. Once the water is filtered through this I'll either use a similar setup with a Berkey (or similar brand) .2 micron filter to remove any remaining bacteria/protozoa or my MSR filter if I haven't built the Berkey type filter yet. Total cost of the pre-filter is less than $15. This is what we used in scouts when I was a kid. We used charcoal left over from the campfires and sandy soil from the surrounding area then boiled the water.

[MustangGal]

Can you install a "decorative" water feature or an above ground swimming pool? Both of those items would be additional water storage. Not perfect, but a whole heck of a lot better than a treck to the river.

[jimmycthemd]

Can you install a "decorative" water feature or an abover ground swimming pool? Both of those items would be additional water storage. Not perfect, but a whole heck of a lot better than a treck to the river.

My back yard is too small for a swimming pool but the 'decorative' water feature would definately pass the HOA and, more importantly, my wife's inspections LOL.

[MustangGal]

While you were installing the water feature, you could also do some extra digging, if needed, without arousing undue interest.

[jimmycthemd]

I'll have to do some 'shopping' around and see what plans are avaialable. I'll also have to investigate how to get the water out of the buried tank. I'm assuming no electricity so probably a hand pump of some sort would be in order. I'm VERY familiar with the old shallow well hand pumps (had one as a kid...had to go across the road with a bucket to hand-pump drinking water) but it will have to fit with the plan for the water decoration. Givin that is's a water decoration, it shouldn't be too hard. I'll also have to think about how often to empty/refill to keep the water relatively fresh.

[SeldomSeenSlim]

A few things that might spark some ideas.

1) There are water cubes (200gal plastic container in a metal mesh support) folks around here use to haul water. They are light enough empty that you can move it yourself and will likely fit in your SUV. A friend hauls water with one in an old Isuzu SUV and it's pretty small. I don't know the exact dimensions offhand.

2) You might consider a small cistern in the backyard. I have 2 large plastic cisterns on my property, but they come in all sorts of sizes and configurations. Above ground and buried. Here's a link that might help. http://www.tank-depot.com/default.aspx (I have not dealt with this company so not recommending them. Just an example.)

3) If you can get a low, wide tank that is say 4' tall, putting 2' in the ground and mounding dirt around it then planting some bushes, roses, etc around it would conceal it from the HOA.

4) You might consider a 12vdc pressure pump. These are commonly used in RV's and travel trailers. I have one on my house (24vdc) to pressurize from my cistern and the 12vdc for sprayers out in the fields. ShurFlo is the brand that I use. Simple to plumb, designed to run off a vehicle and if you shut off your main line to grid tied water, you could backfeed the house by connecting to any existing cold water line and have running water instead of hauling buckets.

5) I would fill the cistern with clean water only. Not rain water off the roof. With no light they keep bad bugs from propagating, but adding unclean water will negate that. If you ran a line to the cistern with a float valve, then you could pump water from the cistern for the garden for now or into the house if needed. This way you are constantly rotating the water as a matter of course. Not having to remember something or make big changes if grid water goes down. One less thing to have to worry about if things go bad.

[jimmycthemd]

All these are good ideas. I'm going to do some landscaping in that area pretty soon and will try to incorporate some of the ideas into the plan. I've only got one of the rain barrels installed so far but have two more in the back of my truck primed and ready to go. Two more will be purchased within the next couple of weeks. I spent considerable time researching them before pulling the trigger so I'll look at the plastic cisterns as well as the 'decorative' water fixture and see what fits best and I can afford. A couple of quotes from the IT business:

1) There's never time to do it right but always seems to be enough time to do it over.
2) Good, fast or cheap....pick two.


Plenty of things to think about. Not paralysis from analysis, just wanna do it right the first time :-)

[goatlady]

The main drawback to driving to the river for water is fuel expendature plus making yourself a prime target going, coming and there. FAr better to do as you are thinking about and figure out a way to be creative with your water storage on your property.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

The main drawback to driving to the river for water is fuel expendature plus making yourself a prime target going, coming and there. FAr better to do as you are thinking about and figure out a way to be creative with your water storage on your property.

Yep if we have to go fetch water, doubtful but if, we are doing it at night with a deer cart one toting and one covering and if i have more one will be on overwatch as it's not that far to the source

[jimmycthemd]

Picture of rain barrel



I had a request for a picture of the rain barrel so here it is. It holds 85 gallons and fills up in about two good rains. The top has an area that doubles as a planter. I plan to put a few day neutral strawberry plants in each one. They bear fruit through most of the summer.