Rainwater Collecting and System Maintenance

Yesterday I went out to my RV to get some things ready since I will be living out there in a week. The most important was my water supply. There is no city water available and digging a well would cost $30-$35k so I will have to live with rainwater for now.

The tank that is connected to the pump can hold 125 gallons. The water is collected from the roof of the garage which is about 50 feet away downhill. Getting the water transferred uphill to the 125 gal. tank is a chore. I know it can be done easier than my system but this is what I do for the time being:

First, I take the tarp off of the 125 gal tank and try not to disturb too many creepy things living underneath. Then I take off the lid and put the garden hose in.



I go to the garage, take out the small pump, put a bucket under one of the holding tank spouts, open the spout, put the end of the garden hose which is connected to the pump in to the bucket and turn on the pump. On this particular day a black widow spider came out of the spout. Eew.



I bought a big pump for this water system not realizing that it is easier to push water uphill than to pull it uphill. My big pump is at the top of the hill, useless for bringing water up unless I install a large pipe to my garage. I don't want to put money in to this system though because it is temporary. When I build a house I can collect water off the house roof directly in to the tank to which the pump is connected. So for now I use a small pump and garden hose to push the water up the hill.





It is really slow, less than a gallon per minute. I also added bleach to each tank to keep the algae from growing. About 1 ounce per hundred gallons usually does the trick.



This is the second tank on the other corner of the garage. I wanted to take water out of both tanks so that I can collect the most rain possible, if it happens to rain. I have room for about 70 gallons more of rainwater since the tanks are still mostly full. My total water capacity is 975 gallons not counting what is in the jacuzzi which I could use if I was really desperate.



Here is the ever-present neighbor dog saying hello. His buddy was not far behind.



Another chore I had to do was to fix my sewer line which was a little out of line after the last storm. This is another system which needs to be improved. The sun eats these cheap plastic hoses so I should replace it with PVC pipe. Another thing for my to-do list when I am bored because I won't have cable TV anymore.