I want a rain collection system, bigger than the rainbarrels I'm using. Anyone know of one?

Question

My rainbarrels only hold 45 gallons and they are scattered around the house where downspouts come down, not necessarily where I want to use the water. Am interested in maybe an underground storage tank that could be connected to a pump and moved like a sprinkler to where I want the water.

Answer 1

Wow. This is a big question. Ideally you'd want the pump to be connected to a distribution system so that you wouldn't have to move sprinklers all over the place. From experience, I can tell you that the best investment you'll ever make is in a proper irrigation system, regardless of your water source. I'm frightened to estimate the time I've wasted connecting hoses, moving them all over the place etc. But back to your question, I found this website during my own research on the same topic. http://rainwaterharvesting.tamu.edu/

It comes under the general search heading "rainwater harvesting".

Things to think about include where you'll put all the soil you excavate to install your tank. To accomodate a 5,000 gallon tank, you'd need a hole approx. 10' x10'x10' in size (depending on the shape of the tank). This translates to 37 cubic yards of soil, which is a very large amount. A dump truck typically carries 3 to 5 cubic yards so you can see this would be a lot of truck loads.

Probably best to look at your water bill to find out how many gallons you need. No reason to spend $ building more capacity than you need. Also, you'll need some sort of overflow device to shunt water away if your tank overfills.

Lemme know if you find a good system. I've been wanting to install the same thing myself.

Answer 2

You are talking about a cistern - they used to do them all the time, now that is not too practical. You are talking about digging a huge hole, and tanks freeze and come out of the ground in the freeze/thaw cycle. You can do multiple rain barrels connected or stacked to hold more.
Do you pump sump water to the rain barrel or wash water?

Answer 3

Good for you. Rainwater harvesting is a very hot topic here in Texas. Check out this link which has detailed instructions on the subject. http://rainwaterharvesting.tamu.edu/

If you're a DIY person, you can build a fairly large system yourself. Billy Kniffen, the Extension Agent in Menard Co., Texas, uses only harvested rainwater at his home. It can be done!

Answer 4

What you want is called a cistern. Usually they are built with the house, but you could call a plumbing contractor and ask if it possible to retrofit.