I think we had three pop rivits in it before we realized they were just a hair too short. Since the cap was clamped down to the work-bench, we couldn't just flip it over to look at the bottom.

The screws worked great in the holes we already drilled. :p

Things never really go the exact way you plan.

That's life for you, I just make this all up as I go along@

Great video series Ben!

Here's an update to last summer's rainwater collection project:
Rainwater Catchment goes BIG!

I took the one IBC I had, plus one we got from a friend (who originally got it from me anyways) and put those with the one my Dad already had, to update the system to three 275-gallon containers.

It's still in the works. Needs the manifold built and the framing and exterior around the containers still needs to be built.

DIY Rainwater collection gets bigger - YouTube

lots of good info here. thanks for posting
Doug

I was planning to get a few IBC totes for rain water but after doing the math it doesn't help me very much. Just watering the back yard for a week used 9K gallons if you go by the 1" per week rule. And with our low rainfall amounts it looks even worse. The cost of the install doesn't pass the sniff test in my case. If I were to build a house etc I would put in a large buried cistern for rainwater so it can hold in the tens of thousands of gallons vs hundreds.

Elcam84
A pond liner in a matching hole then covered, could be as big as you desire / can afford.

Also buying land with a creek running threw it would be nice !

Funny you say that. One of the places we looked at in NC west of Charlotte had a year round stream. We are looking at moving to the area in a year or two. Going to check out the SC area next month. For now I have to deal with a 4" 100' well with a jet pump that puts out ~4gpm. Well is 54 years old and the casing has shifted and I can't get a submersible in there.

Well, I would say that Wisconsin is wetter than Texas.

9000 gallons is more water than my family uses for cooking, bathing, washing, and everything else for nine months!

If anyone wants to learn more about cistern designs, there's a couple of good books by Art Ludwig.

If you're working in Charlotte, the cost of living is quite a bit cheaper right across the border in SC. :thumbup: Having moved from CT the price of land in both states is ludicrously cheap, I don't know how it compares to TX though.

The areas we are looking at are the NW quadrant and SW quadrant from Charlotte. Out of town with at least an acre prefer 5 or more. I don't want to live in a city...

Compared to TX property is cheaper in the Charlotte area and much of it is better taken care of. Overall the cost of living is higher because the income taxes in either NC or SC. I had read that NC was trying to phase them out if so then we will be looking to live there.

As for the water subject I picked up a 40 gallon or so pressure tank off craigslist for $10 so it'll be ganged to the existing small one. So the pump will have a better duty cycle. Need to put up some solar panels for it though... Still electricity is cheaper than buying water from the city. It's less than 1/3 the cost.

I have thought of getting about 6-8 totes and putting them behind the shop. Then doing the elec plan where electricity is free from 10pm to 6am and put a timer on the pump to let it fill them at night. Electricity is free but you still pay the tax(now where is that AC battery...). Then have a second pump to run the sprinkler system.