Home Rainwater Collection System

We have been wanting to do rainwater collection since moving in to our home. After adding on another 900 sq ft to the house, we increased our collection potential significantly. After doing the math, we found that the volume collected will have the potential to exceed half of what we draw from the municipal supply for watering the lawn and gardens. The double-bonus is that the entire system including gutters will pay for itself in water savings in about two years.

We started with two 200 gallon Poly-Mart tanks at gutter downspouts, one on either side. They were made locally and sold by another local business, TanksForLess, which is a bonus in our permaculture efforts. Greg at Big Rain Seamless Gutters did a great job with the gutters and the downspouts into the tanks.

Here is the new design for the 200 gallon tank, with a fitting halfway up the side, good for adding a faucet for filling a bucket, etc. I believe the upper overflow is a 3.5" size, but haven't set that end up yet, since we don't have an overflow tank for storage at that end yet.

Each tank will also have a ball valve with a garden hose fitting for easy access, though getting down from 1.5" or 2" takes some creativity.

At the far end of the NW corner of the yard is a 1,500 gallon tank, with room next to it for another to match.

The composter will have to move when we get a second tank in this corner.

There is a good 2-3' drop from the house to the low end of the yard where we set the first of our 1,500 overflow tanks that will serve as the primary storage. We plan on adding another 1,500 next to it, with a pair at the other end of the yard near the gardens and future greenhouse.

Digging the trenches was fun. We had to rent a trencher for that part, since we have lots of limestone just under the surface. It still took the better part of a day to dig two trenches of about 200' total, so the trencher bucked like a wild mustang and wore me out as much as it would have dug by hand, but in less time.

Future plans might include a 2,500 gallon Poly-Mart tank at the other end where we have more open space near the gardens. We may even add gutters to the front of the house to collect for the front gardens, but the homeowner's association doesn't make sustainability project easy.