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Double Barrel Drainpipe Cistern
By Ray | June 14, 2007
It’s not all etching of brass and doing things about dice here at stately Whamodyne manor. With warm weather there has been a lot of yardwork and landscaping going on.
Just yesterday I put in this - a double barrel drainpipe cistern to catch rainwater to water the plants with. Here in central Virginia the water costs are some of the highest in the nation and running water from the hose to go and water the plants costs serious $$$. Catching rainwater for landscaping needs seemed to be a no-brainer.
Both barrels are rubbermaid 33 gallon trash cans. I put the grey one directly underneath where the drainpipe comes down and up on some blocks to give it a little height. After it fills up, all excess water runs out the side spigot into the blue barrel. The blue one was dug into the ground a bit to make sure it cleared the spigot. Run off from the blue one goes down a flexible pipe (purchased from Lowes for under $10) into where the drainpipe went originally. That way when it overflows we don’t get erosion and uglyness. Everything but the flexible runoff pipe was made via left over plumbing parts I already had.
The original drainpipe output goes into a buried pipe and under the property to the sewer lines.
I took the lids off for the pictures but normally both barrels have their lids on with cutouts for the various tubing and drainpipes in all directions.
So there you have it. About 60 gallons of water stored for watering the roses during a dry week which we do get often enough. Gotta make sure the roses are taken care of, they are so beautiful.
Topics: Projects |
June 20th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
What about mosquitos? How can you prevent them from laying eggs in the stagnant water?
June 21st, 2007 at 6:20 pm
For the pictures, I took off the lids. I took the lids that came with the garbage cans and cut out holes for the various plumbing parts and then put them back on. If you do it right there is very little room for insects to get in.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
How do you water your plants once the water is collected? Water pump?
July 28th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Gonz,
No, it’s old fashioned bucket action. A bunch of five gallon plastic buckets filled at the cistern and hauled to where it needs to go. They can get a might heavy.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
you can also install a spigot near the bottom to use a hose for watering.
May 30th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Dude, you’re a genius. I’ve been searching around for “rain barrels” and was unhappy with the costs. I can’t find any locally because we aren’t allowed to collect rainwater because that would cause the city utilities to lose money–no joke, it’s really not allowed here.
I never once thought of using trash cans. Man, that’s just brilliant. I feel like an idiot for not thinking of this.
Excellent tip and thanks for sharing! I’m doing this project this weekend. Thanks!!