rainwater storage questions and ideas

9 years ago

I have a 30 X 40 pole barn. It does have gutters and downspouts.

I calculated that based on my area's average rainfall of almost 40 inches, I could collect 30,000 gallons of rainwater annually.

I'd use this mostly for various "outdoor" needs - watering plants and maybe washing cars etc.

I figure that continual usage of water means I probably couldn't realistically collect more than about 15,000 gallons at any one time - it would build up over winter (fall/winter rainfall is slightly less than spring/summer) and be used on and off in spring through early fall.

My idea was to route both downspouts (one on each side) into a large tank - however the cost of 15,000 gallon storage tanks is INSANE! I could buy a new CAR for what they cost.

I'd prefer underground, which is more expensive, but could fit a long tank along the wall inside the barn if need be (wife says it would be too ugly outside and I agree).

Any ideas on how to get that much storage capacity without spending five figures?

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Comments (5)

renais1
9 years ago
Even in our desert environment 30000 gallons of water only costs us about $150. In our area, folks do the same math you did in your posting, and then decide it is not worth it to build storage. What I do is establish plants which can immediately use the flow from my roofs, and let the rain go right into the ground.
Renais
wyndyacre
9 years ago
Maybe you could find a source for used smaller tanks of some kind...perhaps food grade plastic...and string them together in series to store a certain amount of water. It seems that trying to store massive amounts of water is not very practical even if is an ecological sound idea. But you could store enough to hand water trees and gardens etc.
You would need to empty out the tanks and store them dry for the winter anyway, if they are above ground (unless your pole barn is heated!) as the tanks of water would freeze and then split.
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Depends how you disperse your rain water after it is in the barrels, but if dipping buckets or watering cans into them, it is preferred to have one 55 gallon drum full rather than 3 of them one third full. There is the matter of getting the water OUT. It isn't just leaning over the side (and 55 gallons are tall) but lifting the water gets harder the further down you have to dip. We have 5 rain water plastic storage containers. All but one is a 55 gallon drum, we got them all free. One is under a downspout. It has a faucet and hose at the bottom. When it seems like it will rain or is raining heavily, we will run the water through the hose to another 55 gallon barrel. Those are both completely open on the top. Two others are backup storage. Water is run via hose from the first into those when the secondary one is full. They only have a small opening, so the water in them has to be siphoned back into their more open neighbor to use it. The fifth is a large sturdy wheeled garbage container, maybe 70 gallon size. Hubby carries water in 5 gallon buckets out to this container which is by my vegetable gardens. I dip into there to water plants. Slow but except for the faucet we attached to the bottom of the barrel under the downspout, it was all free. So this is our part to save the planet and not waste water, as we don't actually pay for our water supply per se. On the plus side, you get more exercise and you never worry that you have left the hose running. :-) Marcia
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hairmetal4ever
9 years ago
Here is an idea.

Heating a pole barn is expensive (but not as much as as GH).

However, if you can scale down your needs a bit, you can get rainwater tanks that are more like 3000 gallons for a more reasonable price. If you really want to go gung-ho start with one and maybe add a second one later. Wall off a small part of the barn just a bit bigger than the tank and heat that area just to freezing. That way you can still "hide" that ugly tank (I know all about spousal units objecting to "ugly" things in the yard!)

If you walled off a room within the barn, added R-35 insulation, and made it maybe 12' X 12' or so, you could fit a tank in there and heat it with a fairly small heater for not a huge amount of cash - especially since the thermal mass of the water in the tank itself will moderate the temperature fluctuations even more than the insulation would.

Not a cheap project but much cheaper than a $20,000 underground 15,000G water tank!
barrie2m_(6a, central PA)
9 years ago
When I was a youth we had a cistern to supply our water for all needs including drinking water. It was an underground block structure and was mainly filled by spouting rain water although in dry months my father hauled tanks of water from a nearby city source to replenish it. Neighbors would comment on how great the flavor was although now I suspect it was the bird crap that gave it a distinctive flavor. A similar block structure with a modern film bladder and cover should not be very expensive.
What I presently have as an emergency fallback water source is a lined pool. It has a 22 mil. plastic liner that was just over $100 and the pool is only 2 ft. deep. I have no cover over it so water evaporates, leaves fall into it and frogs breed in it. I built a bridge over the narrow section of the kidney shape pool and also a water fall which it used to pump water onto to circulate and filter. The pool serves as emergency water only b/c the costs of continually running any pump are too great. I tend to agree with Renias although I have used the pool water on different occasions when I had no other water.
sand_mueller
9 years ago
I use 55 gallon drums; six of them for house and greenhouse. Not really much water but very handy for compost tea and gravity fed watering.

rainwater storage questions and ideas

Comments (5)

renais1

wyndyacre

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