storing water run off

[vickie]

We are thinking about putting a tank in the ground to catch the water from the roof of a 60x30 building. This would be used for watering animals and for emergancy for us. I have a 250 gl. tank. Would i need bigger? or maybe two. What would you do? Vickie

[CSA again]

If you leave it on top of the ground , you wan't have to pump it out ( gravity works for free )...I did this on my small barn and ran it to the greenhouse to a 250 gal tank. got gold fish and frogs in it.use the water for my plants

60 x 30 will be a huge amount of water ... ever thought about a small pond ... can get a pond liner , store a few thousand gallions and raise some catfish for the freeazer. I've been wanting to do that with a larger building I own.

good luck with what ever you do ....and post the pictures for us to see.

[pheasantplucker]

I've seen some forumlas that tell you how many gallons of water will be generated from different sized roofs, based on "x" amount of rain. For example a 12 x 20 roof receiving a .25 inch of rain, might yield "X" number of gallons. If you look on the web, there are probably things out there that will tell you. Your roof looks pretty big. Bet you'll be surprised at how much water it will catch.

[Common Tator]

If you put it underground, with a hand pump like this one:http://www.lehmans.com/store/Water__...__900402?Args=

Or much cheaper, this: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=1318

Surrounded with potted plants and antiques to make it look decorative rather than functional.


You can have your water storage out of sight and out of mind until needed. I would hate to have the state snooping around if they make water storage illegal like Colorado did.

[vickie]

I want it underground because i don't want to look at it and if things go bad i would like it out of sight of other. That is a great price on hand pump. Thanks

[farmerjon]

I suggest a Liberty Pump Model 331

I'm bias tho...

[Chuck R.]

Originally Posted by vickie

We are thinking about putting a tank in the ground to catch the water from the roof of a 60x30 building. This would be used for watering animals and for emergancy for us. I have a 250 gl. tank. Would i need bigger? or maybe two. What would you do? Vickie

We’re having a barn built now 60x40 main roof and a 3000 gallon in-ground storage system (2 x 1500 gallon tanks) with electric pumps.

Based on our calculations: [Catchment area of building] x [inches of rain] x [.75] x [600 gallons] Divided by 1000

a roof our size should produce around 1080 gallons of water per inch of rain.

Your roof is slightly smaller, but I think you’re still going to need either a much larger storage tank(s) or a way to control the overflow. If you don't want to increase youre storage capacity, you may want to look at only capturing the rainwater from one side of the roof.

Chuck

[littlebitfarm]

I would use the biggest container that you can afford to build or buy! The size allows you to maintain a water source even during dry months (don't know where you are). My 1300+ sq ft house and attached 2 car garage (much smaller roof than you have) will give me 1000 gallons from a 1" rain. My cistern is 8000 gallons and keeps me and the critters in water all year round.

Kathie

[GoldenCityMuse]

Originally Posted by Common Tator

ISNIP

You can have your water storage out of sight and out of mind until needed. I would hate to have the state snooping around if they make water storage illegal like Colorado did.

Tell me about CO making water storage illegal. I have not heard that.

[bookfarmer]

Colorado used to have a law banning rain water storage. It has been rescinded.

[whistler]

Originally Posted by vickie

We are thinking about putting a tank in the ground to catch the water from the roof of a 60x30 building. This would be used for watering animals and for emergancy for us. I have a 250 gl. tank. Would i need bigger? or maybe two. What would you do? Vickie

For each square foot of roof, one inch of rain will yeild .62 gallons. Since your roof will be 1800 square feet, one inch of rainfall will produce 1116 gallons. Or put another way, a quarter-inch rainfall will fill your available storage.

I would recommend getting more storage. How much would be determined by your planned usage patterns. If you have a lot of animal or if the possibility of long-term water outage is uncomfortably high 1,000 gallons wouldn't be outrageous.

Whistler

[glazed]

Can you drink water collected from rainfall?

Is there a way to make it safe? Just boil it? Drop of bleach? Iodine?

Or is rainwater collection for irrigation purposes only?

[The Paw]

Originally Posted by whistler

For each square foot of roof, one inch of rain will yeild .62 gallons. Since your roof will be 1800 square feet, one inch of rainfall will produce 1116 gallons. Or put another way, a quarter-inch rainfall will fill your available storage.

I would recommend getting more storage. How much would be determined by your planned usage patterns. If you have a lot of animal or if the possibility of long-term water outage is uncomfortably high 1,000 gallons wouldn't be outrageous.

Whistler

I have 2300 of roof area, and a one inch rain yields about 1000 gallons in my cistern, a little less than the calculation above. The difference may be partly due to US vs. Imperial gallons, but there is also a certain amount that goes the wrong way through the diverter, or other inefficiencies.

Our cistern is 5000 gallons, and with only two of us, we can keep water consumption around 50 gallons per day. (no animals, water for garden from different source). With that much storage, and at that usage, we can go close to 3 months on a full cistern (which means after the fall rains stop in early November, we end up having to haul a load of water in early Feb.)

So in summary, more storage capacity is better, but the optimum amount depends on your usage and the frequency of rain in your area.

[WisJim]

I know people who get all the water that they use for everything from rainwater collected from their roof. They have a good metal roof and strain and filter the water before and after storage. They have been doing this for decades and have had the water tested, and it is great water, even after storage.

However, the water in my main tank isn't nice enough that I would drink it, but I don't filter it going into the tank, and since I only use it for irrigation, I am not so fussy about it.

[vickie]

Thanks. the water would be mainly for animals but it would be nice to know we have a back up we can filter for our drinking and cooking use if something were to happen. I have three ponds on the property. But i have seen what those animals deposit it there and i just don't want to have to filter that. We could have any over flow from the under ground run into a pond.Great ideas . Thanks again. Vickie

[ronbre]

we channel our excess water to a pond that we have dug..140 x 75....if we need water we can go get it there..it is also more useful than a tank..cause animals can use it..however..it isn't as clean i guess??