Catching Rainwater for Emergency Use

This winter we had an epic cold snap in usually warm and sunny Texas, paradoxically the kind that will be more common in an energetic and warming climate. Places that have never experienced such cold weather and are poorly adapted for these conditions, will be caught off guard.

My house lost power for a day, which wasn’t too bad as the worst of the cold had passed. However, the more concerning thing was that there was no water for two days, and very low water pressure for another three. We were also under a water boil advisory for almost two weeks.

I had stocked up plenty of drinking water, and I have several different ways to purify water, so that wasn’t a huge concern. But, when you go to the bathroom and flush the toilet and the tank doesn’t fill back up, well then you start to get concerned.

It’s not only cold snaps that can threaten your water supply, but any of a multitude of climate and weather related possibilities. Anything that threatens the power grid or the water quality itself can cause water pumping stations to shut down.

Some of the disasters that threaten the power grid or quality of the water supply directly, include: forest fires, as happened in California where parts of the grid had to be shut-down due to fire risk; flooding and extreme rain, as happens all over large parts of the US quite frequently; hurricane force winds, mostly along the eastern and southern seaboard; and of course long-term droughts, which are expected to get worse over large parts of the western US.

Part of the solution is to stock up on water just before disaster strikes. If you live in an apartment or otherwise rent or can’t make changes to your dwelling, then having a few large water containers you can fill up could come in very handy, as well as a means to purify your water.

If you live in a house, then there is a lot more you can do, namely catching rainwater. Collecting rainwater can range from a simple bucket under a gutter downspout, to rain barrels, to a dedicated underground cistern.

Collecting rainwater is legal or unregulated, and often encouraged in nearly all states. Apparently, only Colorado and Utah have regulations governing this according to this website. But it’d be a good idea to check your local laws before going forward with your rain catching plans.

After my recent experience I decided to try setting up a rain barrel. Houston has epic rainfall most every year. The rain streams off my roof in literal torrents. Why not catch some of it for emergency use?

I went to Amazon first (of course) in search of something appropriate. A company called Good Ideas seems to have a multitude of decorative rain barrels to choose from. I got the Good Ideas Rain Barrel, Light Granite.

Unboxing

Unboxing it I noted two things, the bottom was slightly uneven (probably will flatted out when full of water), and the screen on the top was cracked because the manufacturer tapes the hardware bits to hang inside the barrel off the screen (so it’s flopping around during transit, putting stress on the screen). Other than these small nits, the thing looks nice, and was pretty easy to set up.

Placement

Figuring out where to setup your rain barrel is important. Some sections of roof are smaller than others, so you won’t collect as much rain. This is probably not important if you live in a very wet climate like I do, but could be more of a consideration if you live in a dry western climate. Some other considerations might include blocking any windows, disturbing landscape, or blocking sunlight to landscape.

I chose a spot that had easy access, and placed it so that it would not block the sun to some raspberry vines I planted last year. I did have to move two rose bushes to the left by 2 feet. They seemed to survive pretty well and only got droopy for a few days before perking up again (as a side note, Knockout Roses are tough!).

Ground Prep

Preparing the ground to support your rain barrel is obviously pretty important. You don’t want it tilt too much one way or another, and you don’t want the ground settling or shifting under it over time.

For this installation I got a couple of large and thick pavers from the local big-box hardware store. I carefully graded the dirt, then put down a layer of pea gravel and sand, then put the pavers on top.

I used a few patio bricks I had laying around to make a drainage channel for when the barrel overflows. I actually want this thing to overflow a bit to make sort of a water feature. So I made the bricks have a slight downward grade towards the patio. I used a hammer and stone chisel to cut some of the bricks in half to make sides for the channel. (By the way, cutting bricks is more art than brute force! Check out this video.)

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Downspout Diverter

Amazon has a few different diverters and most of them suck or are way overpriced. After careful study and also ordering several different ones, I found one that is a nice compromise between cost and function (thanks goodness for Prime, I sent all of the crappy ones back!).

I settled on the Catch A Raindrop diverter. The install was pretty simple, just cut the gutter with a hacksaw (easier than it sounds), then insert the diverter, install the clamp for the lower section, then put it all back together. I was skeptical about the minimalist clamp, but it seems to work just fine. Also not shown, I used a 3 inch deck screw to attached the clamp.

Wanting to make it look and work seamlessly I used a short section of hose to go from the diverter to the barrel. Unfortunately, all I could find that was not crap was the garishly colored green hose you see below. It works fine. One caution though, threading a metal hose onto the plastic threads of the diverter, it would be very easy to mangle the plastic. So if you go this route, be slow and cautions when threading the hose.

Also, the instructions for this diverter consist of a series of pictures, but no detailed text or explanation, so for general principles on how to install a diverter I watched a few YouTube videos first. Here’s a pretty good one that outlines general principles of rain barrel installation.

Also… make sure you get the correct size diverter kit. Gutters typically come in 3″ or 4″ width, so getting a 4″ kit for a 3″ gutter would be a problem.

One more hot tip… I used a hole saw on the barrel so I could attach the male threaded end. Do NOT try to catch the plastic bits underneath with your bare hand, because when that sucker punches through faster than you thought it would, you’ll end up with a bunch of shredded skin on your fingers. LOL!

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Important note… in the picture I installed the diverter above the water level of the barrel on purpose so that it would overflow along the channel and down the front and along the nice little bit of brick work I did. This might be contrary to how you may want to install it so watch some videos first to make sure you end up with it the way you want it.

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Some other thoughts… this water is not super clean, though it won’t have any fluoride, chlorine or other chemicals in it. If you put it through a filter you could drink it no problem. I’ve drank much, much worse water filtered from a cattle pond while backpacking. So this water is not so bad. In an emergency, this water will be used for watering the garden, and for flushing toilets and what not.

Mosquitoes are a big deal here, so I don’t want them to get into the tank to lay eggs. Keeping the screen intact is important. I might add an ounce of bleach in there periodically too. Also, I have been watching the weather report, and I empty the barrel out before it rains, so the water in the barrel will be somewhat “fresh”.

Last, if you live in a climate where it freezes regularly, you probably should empty your barrel out in the winter. The diverter comes with a plug for winter. Here in Houston, despite this last crazy freeze, which is what prompted me to do this project in the first place (!), it doesn’t get below freezing often. I might consider adding salt or alcohol to the water to keep it from freezing or putting a blanket around the barrel, or something. That part is TBD, but I would likely only have to protect it from freezing temps for a few days.

Anyhow, as you can see, a rain barrel is a handy thing to have, but it is not a “set it and forget it” kinda thing. Just like most things a little bit of upkeep is required. The rain barrel, diverter and hose cost $180 all together. I already had all of the tools, so there was no cost there.

However, there are many less expensive alternatives. There are lots of YouTube videos and websites that describe how to make a rain barrel for not a lot of dough, so if you want to try this without spending a lot, that should not be a problem. Seems like the big savings is found in what’s used for the rain barrel. I wanted one that blended in with the landscaping, but you could use something as simple as a plastic trash can, or used food-grade barrels.

But by whatever means, you should definitely consider catching some rain… to conserve public water resources, water your garden, and to be prepared for those times when the climate is not our friend (which I fear will be more and more often these days).

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Gear, parts and tools actually used in this project and recommended by me (Amazon affiliate links unless otherwise noted)…

• rain barrel (looks like the price for these rain barrels has almost doubled! I’d look somewhere else for these.)
• rain diverter
• hose adapter
• quick connect (Lowes.com)
• concrete paver (Lowes.com)
• bubble level
• hacksaw
• trowel
• hammer (hammer and chisel if you are going to do some brick work. Don’t forget the safety glasses!)
• chisel
• 3 inch deck screws (these are overkill. Should find them a lot cheaper at any hardware store)
• power drill (when Costco has these in stock, it’s a much better deal)
• drill bits (for the deck screw)
• hole saw bits
• fancy water filter (Costco has this for about $30 less than Amazon)
• 6 gallon water jugs (the bare minimum!)
• MSR backpacking stove (you could probably get it cheaper at Backcountry.com or similar outdoor store)
• Aeropress
• hand coffee grinder