My next project was to find and install an effective rainwater harvesting system on my property. It’s always bugged me that I have to fill my pool and irrigate our garden with public water – all while the rainwater washed away. I determined to find a solution to that challenge.

I got to talking to Michael Stark from www.starkenvironmental.com, who gave me some great ideas and talked about his services. Me being a dyed-in-the-wool DIY’er, however, I just had to figure out a system I could build myself and install. The biggest challenge was the barrell itself – too big to buy online, and the local options seemed unnecessarily expensive. Then a friend turned me on to a local manufacturer who had surplus barrels they would sell. Now I was getting somewhere!

I contacted the company and picked up my first barrel for $5.00. Then, I turned to the DIY’er’s best friend, big orange, for the plumbing. I replaced my downspout along the garage near the garden with some 2″ PVC piping.

homemade baby!

(note – the downspout pipe in this photo is the one attached to the gutter. The other two are feeders for my solar pool heating system).

Then, I placed the barrel below on a pad that was there. Cement blocks or pavers in the ground would work also.

You can easily see the piping arrangement – the water fills the barrel and begins overflowing into the existing buried water line. Works like a charm! I also bought a second barrel (visible on right) which I’ll connect to the first barrel with a cross-pipe to double my capacity to 110 gallons. I used epoxy to affix the drain tube and screwed on a 1/2 inch brass hose bib. Venting is handled because it’s open at the gutter drain. Oh, and I popped a mesh gutter drain cover in up there to minimize the debris flowing into the downspout.

That’s in – my first rainwater harvesting effort. So far, so good. If you want any other details feel free to contact me. As always, as your Realtor I will give you advice on “green” projects around the home you are purchasing or own!