That's the beginning of it.

I have used that guy above from the craigslist ad for some plastic barrels. He has good prices...

That is how I provide water for my chickens.

We have a 55 gallon drum setup to catch rainwater in the summer. It is disconnected right now for the winter. The City of Oklahoma City was running a program where they would order a few truckloads of them and we just showed up at a local recycling plant and picked ours up for not much money.

If came with a "kit" and instructions. I ended up cutting one of the downspouts on the gutter and I put a plastic "cup" that has a hole for a a hose and then the overflow goes on down the downspout. It is hard to explain but is a simple system except it does cut the downspout.

It filled up the barrel after the first rain. My wife could use it to water the plants in the back yard around our koi pond.

It will be real simple next spring to re-connect it to the downspout.

"I ended up cutting one of the downspouts on the gutter and I put a plastic "cup" that has a hole for a a hose and then the overflow goes on down the downspout. It is hard to explain but is a simple system except it does cut the downspout. "
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Take a photo for me, would you? I can't see it in my mind.
Thanks. ;)

Lots of options, I like something like this

Aquabarrel(R) - Aquabarrel: DIY Rain Barrel Parts Kit by EarthMinded - Aquabarrel.com

Its easy to make one of these way too complicated. Use a screen to keep some bug and debris out, have an overflow, elevate to allow gravity feed. KISS.

^^^
That must be the 'cup' that Glen wrote about.
Thanks for the link.
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I'll be needing a several hundred gal. tank...not much rain in the AZ summers.

I picked up one of the 275gal totes mentioned above. A little more complicated to plumb, especially if you chain several together but its straight forward work. Dont forget the barrels are heavy when full, make sure your base/support is up to the task. I think it makes sense to start small and see how a 1 barrel works before you rent the excavator. :)

275 gal. @ 8 lbs./gal. = 2,200 lbs.
I'd better know for sure where I want it/them, eh?

Do more math. How much rain do you get and when? How big is the surface area you can collect? Only if you get multiple rains throughout the year this will this make any sense. Otherwise your storage requirements are tremendous.

In my situation, doing the math, I realized that I would collect water only in winter and need a huge storage cistern which would be emptied in about 3 months worth of summer usage. Sure, I would save all that water, but it would be a very expensive project putting in a 15000 gallon tank.

It makes sense to catch rain water in climates where you see a good rain at least every month. If it is a rainy season - one time a year event - it makes no sense.

For me, it will be easier to further reduce water usage. I already dropped it by about 50% and have more front yard plans towards low water usage plants and replacing the lawn with gravel ...

G

As I originally posted, I would use rain water for salt intolerant plants...a few trees, mostly.
I don't need good rain water for other plants/trees - crappy Phoenix city water will suffice for that.
Besides, most of my place is desert landscaped...and hardscaped.
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;)
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PS I don't even use city water for coffee-making or drinking.
I buy filtered water in four 5 gal. containers.
Then fill two 2.5 gal. containers with spouts...cooled in my fridge.
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Thanks for the input.

This.

My usage over the winter is around 5k gallons per month which is for a family of four.

That starts to ramp pretty quick once summer hits.

In July we peaked at 52,000 for the month.

For the 4 months of June to Sept the total usage was 150,000+

So 130,000 of that was for external watering.

We got enough rain this spring to cover the entire state of TX 8 inches deep in water.

Then, drought.

We get enough monsoons where it's feasible to collect enough water for summer but it's not realistic to have the capacity unless you dig a pond.

^^^
So you collect rain water?
If so, how big is your collection unit?

Do you have a swimming pool filling business?

That is a ton of water, surely collection isnt going to work. I like the idea for localized usage. Easier than dragging a long house to water the veggies...

LOL, no.

Water is kinda cheap, like $0.0065 per gallon.

5,000 gallons cost me $40.00

Good Lord SM - that's a lot of watering. I am at 20% of your usage. Granted, I don't have a TX house / lot / pool. :D

G

Problem is it gets so hot and dry here in the summer that you need to water for a good hour or so to raise the humidity level so that for the second hour of watering it actually hits the ground instead of evaporating as soon as it leaves the sprinkler head.

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/photographs/61-102.jpg

Come on monkey, think of the children! :)

I am. Using all that water keeps our lake levels low so when we get those monsoons they don't breach and drown them in flash floods.

In all seriousness you can't let the ground get dry.

Homes in this area do not have basements, everything is on slab foundations, if the ground gets too dry it shrinks and your foundation cracks, that's mucho no bueno and a lot costlier to fix than using water.

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Do you water in the early hours?..like 3 - 4 AM?

That is a even better design than what ours came with. I will take a photo of mine if I can remember to do it.