Folks stopped by to help!

The system so far!

Gutter diverter

5 barrels connected

How it flows

when one fills up, a tube connects to fill the next

Contact information:

Nani Teves and Jonas Herzog
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Project description:

We recently put gutters on our roof and decided we would capture some of the runoff to use in the summertime.  I checked out some info on CCAT's website (a link on this site), and got the basic idea.  What we decided to capture was mostly based on how many 60 gallon barrels would fit along our fence and a guess at what our three fruit trees would need.   We decided on 5 barrels but we can add more depending on how the summer goes.  First we gathered the parts; old olive barrels from Mad Dog Wholesale ($10 each), faucet parts ($6 each), old gutter from Freecycle (free), diverter (~$20), tubing ($1/ft), and some screening (free).  Bell-Carter Olives in Corning is currently selling 55gallon used olive barrels for $2 - call (530) 824-2901 to get directions and confirm they still have them.

The barrels opened at the top with lids but were too small for an adult to climb in or even reach down to attach the inside of the faucet.  We luckily have a brave 4 year old who climbed in and attached the bolt (which was latter tightened by a long wrench).  Even though we had never done this before and were just learning we posted the installation in the events section and a few people came to help and learn.  We first installed the diverter which moves water from the center of the downspout and then attached the old rain gutter to divert the water to the barrel.  The whole process was really easy and fun.  We later added the remaining 4 barrels and connected them with tubing that was just tightly fit into the holes, no glue or attachments.  To use the water we just attach a hose to the faucet on the bottom of the barrel, and move the hose when the barrel is empty.  The only barrel without a lid is the first, which will be closed up once all the barrels are filled, so we aren't creating mosquito habitat! 

Thank you Todd, Bob, Jocelyn, and Rob for stopping by and helping out!  p.s. we still have some old gutter if anyone needs it.