We got our system installed in January, before we had significant rainfall. The husband designed, and set up the system himself, I told ya he was handy 🙂 We anxiously awaited the rain, because we were ready to collect 3500 gallons of water….yeah, we got a little crazy!
Our average amount of rainfall is usually around 30 inches. As of today, almost every tank is FULL, from only about 15 inches of rain! Our rainy season usually ends by April, so we’ve probably collected the max. amount for this year. We anticipate that we’ll use all the water this summer. So without further adieu, here are pictures of our do-it-yourself system.
The smallest tanks we have, two 60 gallon barrels. I use these to water the few decorative plants I planted.
Three of our large, slimline tanks. They fit neatly under the eave, on the side of our garage.
Two more of the large, slimline tanks. These are under the back eave of our garage. Please ignore the mismatched paint where the old downspout was located! I’ll be doing the touch up painting soon!
The biggest tank, 865 gallons, collected from the roof of our shed. This will provide irrigation for our orchard.
Hope you enjoyed the picture tour of our system, and that I’ve inspired you to consider rainwater harvesting!
Should this be something (maybe on a smaller scale), that most of us do? Share your thoughts!
Honeychick Homestead 
May 6, 2014 at 1:24 am
I LOVE this! We are blessed to have a separate irrigation system that was built into our property and basically floods our entire backyard once a week. (We have to coordinate with the other neighbors who share it) Amazingly it’s enough to keep things green and thriving all summer. We don’t have any system for our front yard yet and my husband has been brainstorming ways to get some of that water to the front so we don’t have to use the municipal source. I’ll be showing him this post for sure!
May 8, 2014 at 2:51 am
Glad this helps! So cool you’re considering rainwater harvesting.