Hello there,
Wet weather and incoming visits from in-laws have been keeping us busy around the house in our post-Christmas rush to organize the basement and tuck away the holiday decorations. I hope any of you reading this have already put up anything that you don't intend to leave out until next year, because at this point I think the Christmas lights have grown roots on the gutters. At least in my mind, because I just don't want to think about it anymore.
BUT, I have rain barrels. Oh, good lord, do I have rain barrels. After the first set of tanks were a no-show on their delivery date and I heard nothing from the shipper (a fella by the name of Mike out of somewhere in Pennsylvania... almost sounds shady, doesn't it?) I arranged to buy several barrels from a guy in the next county who had a stash. And then Mike showed up at my door with the tanks in tow and asked where I wanted them. Apparently, the operative word was WHERE because WHEN i wanted them was days before. Now, I have the daunting task ahead of me to mount and support 1200 gallons of rain water storage about the house. A lot? Yes, but too much? Probably not since this is for the garden and chickens (and us, if needs be, of course) and I believe that at the peak in the summer this will be good to get us through a dry spell. Of course, this is more than I intended but I finnegled good prices and can still put it all to use so there's no point in complaining.
Tomorrow I'll put up pictures and document my.... journey? saga? feat? Of establishing methods to functionally store your rain water barrels. Remember, keeping them high enough to get a 5 gallon bucket underneath means a world of difference in convenience later on when you go draw from it. But, it also means a world of difference in the inconvenience of putting it up.
Ok, K's at work, I'm off today and the house still needs work. I will tell you how it goes tomorrow.
Keep in mind that only the bottom of your tansport bucket needs to be below the lowest water level in your storage tank to initiate a siphon with a flex hose. Your discharge hose needs only long enough to reach the bottom of your transport bucket. You might be able to excavate a fill site near your discharge easier than elevate several storage tanks using a cascade manifold.
ReplyDeleteExcellent idea! Since I'm only going to be able to fill up behind our garden timbers most of the way -- the balancing act between the cost of getting 2 cubic yards and change of gravel delivered and picking it up in the truck is frustrating -- and I'm sure that after a year or two the stands that I've elected to build in lieu of cinder blocks and mortar will ultimately settled some, meeting in the middle with excavating is very likely.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking that Jesse (for non-relatives, that's my sister) could use the same approach of raising her rain barrel some with blocking and excavating if needs be to gain easier access. I'm sure that would offer peace of mind rather than raising 500 lb.s of water up two feet with little ones running around the backyard.
Naw, the height of a single cinder block is good enough. I just need to get a watering can under mine. Some spray paint the color of the rain barrel and perennial plantings around the base of the barrel will disguise the blocks a bit.
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