#42 Our Rainwater Tanks and Harvesting System- how to turn a wet line to dry

This is our rainwater harvesting system that will supply the water to our house. This is the only form of water we will have. We filled these tanks (3,200 gallons) with one day of rain. We use rain filter heads at each down spout and I have designed and built a 1st flush system that takes a typical wet line system and converts it to a dry line. The head pressure is balanced in the (2) 4 inch lines with shuts offs on each tank and room for expansion capabilities.
Equipment used on our homestead property:
Wood Mizer LX150 Sawmill
Kubota L4701 Tractor
Stihl MS391 & MS171 Chainsaw
Countyline 30 ton log splitter
Woodland Mill WC88 Wood Chipper
Woodland Mill WG24 Stump Grinder
Instagram: / dawnredwoodgroves
Pinterest: / dawnredwoodgroves

[@humbledhomestead658]

Great looking system. Thanks for sharing

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

Thanks for watching!

[@jerrydee3144]

thank you for making this video !!

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

You are very welcome. Been running the system for 3 years no issues

[@chrisshanks3130]

The over flow has to match diameter of incoming supply line and you could have ran 3 inch from your skimmers to your consolidation collection supply line and you should run a Y strainer right before your tank. Silt will accumulate there and you could flush the line from there also through your Y strainer . You can retro fit additional port flanges for proper over flow capacity. First flush is a joke and a waist of precious water in our off grid situations . Run a gunner on the inside of the tank out going port with the tail end above the floor of the tank so your not sucking dirt off the bottom of your tank and don't glue it fixed this way if a water line breaks you still have a reserve and you can remove it in a dire situation. Hope this helps.

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

Thanks for watching and your comments. So far the system has been running great.

[@jimw3799]

thanks for the video... seems like your supply lines are not very far from the house and also not very deep? I would be afraid of hitting a line while putting in shrubs or flowers, etc.

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

I ran the lines down the stones path to get to the front door. So we shouldn't/wouldn't hit them. The 1st flush drains the lines so there shouldn't be any water standing in them plus I live just outside of Atlanta so we don't get real cold weather to freeze them. So far everything still works great.

[@krperry2007]

Nice that you have enough elevation drop to essentially drain your underground lines. Have you determined how much rain you need to do the first flush? Good that you got this done before prices took off!

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

Hey Keith, yes i used a rain harvesting company site recommendations to help determine the volume recommendation to collect for the 1st flush. Then used the 6" pipe to collect it. I don't remember the exact numbers but remember i was in between a "clean area" and "dirty area" volume. The filtration and UV light work great.

[@daveducas3993]

In the first flush system what is the purpose of the ball, I under stand that once the first flush is full the ball rises and seats causing the first flush to seal off and divert the water to the tank , is the purpose of the ball to stop dirt stiring back up and going into the tank pipes? Also once the first flush is full and the ball seals off does the water flowing past the ball create like a Vaccum and hold the ball against the seat or does the ball constantly go back and forth as the waters releasing from the first flush then re filling again

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

Dave you are correct, the ball is to help stop dirt from swirling up and into the tanks. The drain is a very slow pin hole so in theory the ball goes up and down during the process but it leaks so slowly it more or less stays seated. Thanks for watching and asking the questions.

[@lehmannadventures3439]

Excellent video! I enjoyed the thought process, your commentary, and your design. I plan to do something similar. Where did you purchase the gutter leaf funnel catchment “thingy” - I may haven missed it.

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

Thanks, I've done multiple rain water harvesting design videos. You can actually buy them now on Amazon . Search Rain Harvesting RHUL100 Leaf Eater Ultra Rain Head, 3" & 4" Round Dual-fit. Good luck on your system.

[@CoinSpill]

Are the fittings for the first flush diverted available at Lowe’s or other big box store ie do you need to source them from a plumbing supplier? Where do you get the ball?

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

you should be able to get the standard elbows and tees from a big box store. the ball and flange and drip drain I ordered on line from a supplier that sold Water Diveters First Flush kits.

[@dpoopie]

Hi, do you have to raise the angle of those underground pipe so they drain towards the tank or you can just keep them on level?

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

you have a slight grade in them to help water flow and reduce water seating in the pipes

[@andreperez6162]

Great setup. I plan on copying your plan as much as possible. I saw that you have 2500 sqft of roof. I have about 3000sqft but wanted to have all my gutters go into a single pipe and use the overflow of a single tank to fill future tanks and just daisy chain to expand. Why did you run two 4” pipes? And what is the elevation difference between your gutters and tanks? Now to watch your aquaponics videos.

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

1st thanks for the nice comment. i used (2) 4" pipes for a couple reasons. a 4" pipe can flow about 240 GPM. Here in Georgia we get heavy down pours and had concerns that 1 pipe couldn't handle these down pours. Then I could only get tanks with a 3" NPT opening and knew that couldn't handle the down pour rain so a little extra cost in pipe gave me the extra insurance not to lose captured rain water. the 3"NPT connection why i went into both tanks plus if i ever need to shut one tank down for any reason I can keep collecting without and issues. the elevation drop is about 10 ft. We've been going like this for almost 3 years no issues and i can still see in spots the bottom of the tanks so very little foreign material is getting into the tanks.

[@andreperez6162]

@@DawnRedwoodGroves I think our homes are situated very much the same. My tanks will be about 100ft from the house. If I can find tanks with a 4” NPT, Is it feasible to run all the gutters to one pipe? And if not, could you explain the H system that you mentioned in the video to equalize pressure? As far as the sizing of the first flush, have you found that it could have been smaller or the size has been good? I saw you had at least a few people helping you, but I’m gonna attempt a go at this myself, hence all the questions. Thanks again!

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

@@andreperez6162 I don't know how your down pours are to say 1 4" pipe would work or not. simple answer is yes it's possible the only issue will be two much rainfall will just spill out in your 1st screen down spouts. the H is used because 1pipe captures the front of the house and the other the back of the house. they are by no means balanced on sq ft of the roof. So the H allows a better balance to allow both tanks to capture the water. i think the 1st flush is appropriate. if i was to do it again i might make it a little bigger..... maybe keep less foreign material out. I did have a crew do the digging and laying pipe and tanks. At that time i never ran an excavator so it made sense. today i would rent one and do it myself too

[@steamerstanley5948]

Nice setup. How are you getting the water up to the house? Is the pressure in the tanks enough, or are you using some type of pump?

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

video 92 gives a newer walk around but i use 1/2 hp shallow well pump.

[@steamerstanley5948]

@@DawnRedwoodGroves Thanks! I just watched and liked. I live middle of nowhere Mississippi power and water are constantly going out. I’m thinking of doing a system like yours , put one tank up the hill for when we lose power we can gravity feed.

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

nice! 53-55 videos I build a water tower to have gravity feed water. It works well for irrigation but you need high elevation for house water pressure. send pictures once your done.

[@oojai]

What is the sq ft of your roof? Please provide a link where you purchased the rain filter heads shown at the beginning (0:30-0:37 seconds into the video).

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

The roof is approx 2,500sq ft. The rain spout diverters were order from rainharvest www.rainharvest.com/rain-harvesting-pty-leaf-eater-ultra-downspout-filter.asp

[@davidsirois9164]

Hi Keith how would this set up for the rain harvesting change rain harvesting change if you were doing this up in the northeast with the frostline and for freezing in the Winter time

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

Good question, Winter freeze is always in issue. But simple solution would be to open the 1st flush drains before you get frost. Snow really doesn't turn into rain so nothing really flows. Your tank capacity would need to be increased if you are trying to use it over the winter. Plus the tanks would need to be enclosed in a insulated building so they don't freeze. OR switch to underground tanks. Underground tanks cost more but adding in the building cost. Hopefully this helps. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions.

[@ibisman1593]

I didn't get the check valve stuff

[@ThaDiscoFreak]

so how did u go with leaf catch box being not much higher than the top of tanks giving u less head pressure ? did the leaf catch boxes overflow with water?

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

There is still about 10 ft of head pressure. I put the screens chest/head high so I can clean them without a ladder. To date the only time I've seen water shooting out of them is during a heavy down pour and screens are dirty.

[@haroldgray5811]

Where is this located. How do you keep it from freezing?

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

So I live in Georgia so it doesn't freeze. Plus this pipe never holds water only transfers it to the tanks

[@David-ll8bt]

Do you live on overkill hill?

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

I don't think so, always better safer than sorry. Lol

[@saseboy]

Why not below frost line?

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

I live in Georgia and the frost line is surface level. If its raining its above freezing and the water doesn't seat in the lines.

[@darylogle6696]

Let's see it when it rains

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will work on getting a video made next good rain storm. System is working great without any real issues.

[@dabinslc12341234]

Where did you get your tanks?

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

plasticwatertanks. com but search for a source near you freight on these units add up fast

[@dabinslc12341234]

@@DawnRedwoodGroves thank you. I appreciate the information and your content.

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

very welcome and thank you for the nice comment.

[@CoinSpill]

*diverter

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

I'm sorry not sure what you are asking

[@victorm7274]

2:32. PCV ? 🤔. You mean PVC 🤣😂🤣😂

[@DawnRedwoodGroves]

you are correct PVC. :)

[@victorm7274]

@@DawnRedwoodGroves I’ve done that before 👍🏼