BellaOnline Forums Money Frugal Living Rainwater Collecting - Moisture Farming

Today I realized that there really is a learning curve to this. Even the bins I thought were sealed can sometimes unseal themselves. I would assume there is some breathing going on in the sealed water bins...which stretch the plastic.

In any case, there were mosquitoes this morning and evening today - after I thought I'd eliminated all open standing water. One of my bins had expanded and unsealed itself. I was going to open one to water the yard anyway so I just used that one up. It's empty and dry now.

With the other bins i put rocks on the lids and will keel a closer eye out for expansion. I am using an imperfect solution - using rectangular plastic bins from target that I had already owned. I can't afford to buy a bunch of new trashcans just yet - so far i only have the one.

Eventually I will have this all set. I'd like to have five 55 gallon sealed containers of rainwater ready to go for next summer. It will have to happen when it happens. Also i need my bins back for my recycle area!

Leaning curve to all of this!

Update - my black round plastic garbage can now has a seep leak on the bottom. The ground around it is always damp. So it seems the garbage can is not up to the task of holding water continually.

it pretty amazing how much there is to learn about this. It's not just putting water into a container for later use.

You should see our backyard. We don't collect rain water but we do recycle our grey water and the contraption outside is hilarious.

Collecting rain water is big in Australia so Jus knows tons about this (he's from there). I'll ask him for some tips and post them when I get a chance.

I'd love to see what you do!

I found some very tight plastic container bins that are intended to hold liquids - they are $20 each at my local feed store. Blue barrels. So those will work better than the gabage can! I will have to think of a good use for the garbage can (and no, I don;t need to use if for trash - i have almost no trash).

I will try to get 3 bins tomorrow. Mom and dad gave me some money to get the bins before they left. So that is the next step.

I got my three 55 gal drums! They are now in my side yard waiting to be filled with rain water. These SHOULD be excellent for long term water storage. They were $20 each at my local feed store.

If they develop leaks then i will have to suck it up and spend th cash on 'official' rain barrels. I'd rather not have to do that - they are spendy. But since these drums (blue) are made for long term liquid storage I bet things will work out nicely. (crosses fingers).

The trash can that developed the seep leak: i will use up the water in that one first. Then i will move that container to become a aluminum can storage for crushed cans. Right now I have uncrushed cans in a ton of various containers. Crushing them - once they are dry inside - will take up much less space.

This is really fun.

there are a few more barrels i found on freecycle. I am trying to get those too.

I have so much water now that I am starting to wonder if i will be able to ever use it all! I am thinking of experimenting with turning off the water service for a few months just to see what happens. I can use a composting toilet instead of the sewer system also.

TO do this, I will need to fill my water tank in the RV. Hmmmm. Need to make a plan.

Have put the bat house on my Christmas/birthday list. Sadly no luck so far in convincing my wife to have one here. She says a Witch and Wizards' house with bats flittering around it is "Too stereotypical". Maybe for the family place in France....?

Ian, if you have mosquitoes like we do, no one would think twice about a bat house in your yard. They might even thank you for installing it. Bats are bug-eating powerhouses and generally welcomed in our area. People are still a bit skittish, but realize the benefit outweighs their antiquated suspicions.