11 www.SmallFarmCanada.ca If you could, why wouldn’t you collect rainwater? It is free! Steel roofs are best suited to collection, but all will work. Even when it doesn’t rain you can still collect morning dew. REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD: • By collecting rainwater, you get to control the runoff by using the water at a time and place it is best put to use. • It conserves groundwater. • It also doubles as a fire retardant in case of a grass fire. • It is there to wash down the equipment, or the dog, or the Boss if she gets sprayed by a skunk while trying to release it from a cage • And finally the ultimate reason… it’s this Scotsman’s favourite four-letter word, “FREE!” HOW To start with, you will need an eavestrough. The longer the trough, the more water you collect from the roof and the faster you fill your container. It doesn’t matter whether you use a round drum or a square tote for collection. If you can raise it off the ground a bit it helps with the outflow and allows easy access. If not, you can use an automotive heater hose to make up a manifold for discharge. Your reservoir does not have to be directly under the trough downpipe, I used white plastic drainage pipe to build my intake manifold. This allowed me to shelter my totes under a roof which slows the plastic breakdown caused by UV rays. Note here, that the end of the pipe where the water will flow into the tank should have a 90° elbow to direct the water into the tank. Otherwise, in a heavy downpour, the water will glaze over the screen and miss the hole. The most important part of collecting water is to ensure the filler hole is covered with a screen to prevent mosquito larvae. This is a good tactic to prevent the spread of diseases like West Nile virus. For the totes, I have both used a bungee cord and silicon caulking to hold the screen in place, either work just fine. As for fire prevention, leave a five-gallon bucket and an old corn broom beside the rain barrel. I once came across a grass fire heading across a field towards a home. The owner was not there but they had left a pail and corn broom beside the rain barrel. I partially filled the pail, called in the fire on my radio and headed out to meet the blaze. By wetting the broom, I just dragged it along the leading edge to extinguish the fire. I was able to snuff out about 300 feet before the fire department got there (it felt like two days). What a workout! PRACTICAL H2O COLLECTING ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY DAN KERR Two 45-gallon malt barrels with adjoining plumbing on the top which then becomes the bottom Totes showing the intake pipe with 90° elbow into tank with screen Totes raised on skids showing outlet manifold made from auto heater hose CHECK IT OUT! MOBILE RAIN BARREL - FREE WATER WORKS ON WHEELS TOO SFC Magazine | July/August 2021 TOTE Totes can be expensive, but barrels are quite reasonable. It is best to use containers that have had food-safe products in them for safety’s sake.
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