So we purchased some lake property. There are some improvements already done. Driveway, electrical power, a storage shed and a 16X24 car port. It's really set up to park a rv on it which we plan to do. Actually several rv's as it's 3 acres. There is no well for water which doesn't pose a big problem as our rv will hold 50 gallons of fresh water for showers, dish washing etc. Plan is to haul 20 or 30 gallons every time someone goes out there to replenish the rv tanks. For drinking water we have bottled water and a office water cooler set up.

I thought a rain barrel or two might not be a bad idea to have around. I Googled rain water collection systems and got inundated with info and prices from thousands of dollars to under a hundred bucks. So is it as simple as to just gutter one side of the larger car port building into a rain barrel and then use a hose and a pump system to pump the water into the rv? Or is there more I need to know?

No direct experience, but as long as it's just for flushing the toilet and watering the flowers, I'd think it'd be pretty simple.

Only thought that occurs is maybe some bleach or algaecide to keep stuff from growing in it and a cover to keep it from becoming a mosquito nursery.

I use 8 totes and collect water from gutters for my gardening.
used food grade ones are too pricey for me but some have had things like liquid soap and those work well as plants do not seem to mind,after one use they are as clean as rain water can be.
My plants love it,none of that treated water from the county get to my plants.
I ran out a couple years back and used county water,plants curled up and died in three days.

A consideration with rainwater collection systems such as roofs and gutters is that they also collect fine dust, pollen and bird poop which washes into the rain barrels. About 10 years ago Mrs. 'Hood dragged me to a rain barrel making class where we made one each. During the class they said two or three times that these are only for watering gardens because they do not collect potable water. This is why gardens do so well with collected rainwater vice city water.

We clean ours out every other year or so and the bottom of the rain barrels are caked in mud and gunk. I would never drink the water from them even after boiling because I'm convinced it would taste like the bottom of a lake.

Here is one way to haul water. You might notice his water filtration system at the back of his 5th wheel.




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/eIpoeIzNhMA

no expert here

but I have read direct sunlight stimulates algae type growth so keep it shaded

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Might find some useful info here.

https://stormwater.pca.state.m...arvest_and_use/reuse

You are going to need a pretty elaborate system to minimize all the contaminants that will surely get into your water, even for grey water you don't want those.

If you were just watering plants it would not be that big a deal.

You need a diverter to collect the first runoff from the roof that has the most contaminants.
https://www.rainharvest.com/ra...h-diverter.asp?bc=no


Then, some sort of purification unless you are going to use it for toilet flush type gray water and plant watering. That's the safe answer. Personally, I'd be fine showering and washing hands in it as well. Could treat the holding barrel with a little bleach.

Hmmmm. To bring fresh water in to the location you could get a water tank for the pickup bed. 35 gallon is $99. 12 volt transfer pump, or a siphon hose to the RV.
Tractor Supply link
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quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Hmmmm. To bring fresh water in to the location you could get a water tank for the pickup bed. 35 gallon is $99. 12 volt transfer pump, or a siphon hose to the RV.

People around here who live "off the grid" use something like this, a different Tractor Supply container shown on the same page. It fits nicely in the bed of the pickup.
 

 
Click the picture for details.
 
I passed a guy on Grand Ave one day who was carrying one, and his truck radiator had lost water and overheated. The only portable container he had was his jumbo drink cup, so he was going back and forth from the bed of the pickup with a cup full or water, to the radiator to fill.

As a lad my Grandfolks and Grandaunts and uncles had cisterns on the side of their homes. It is in Avon, NC. They were these painted white concrete tanks the size of a sedan. It had a wooded door on top to check the water level.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
You need a diverter to collect the first runoff from the roof that has the most contaminants.
https://www.rainharvest.com/ra...h-diverter.asp?bc=no


Then, some sort of purification unless you are going to use it for toilet flush type gray water and plant watering. That's the safe answer. Personally, I'd be fine showering and washing hands in it as well. Could treat the holding barrel with a little bleach.

This, for a really good collection system you're going to need to baby sit it. Have a diverter for the first 10 minutes or so of rain to run off. Then you can have it flow into your collection barrel, BUT you will also need to add 1 drop of chlorine bleach per gallon (don't overdue it or your plex tubing in your rv's will get brittle and start cracking everyhere). Also I wouldn't suck from the last 6" in the barrel, but also have a pump you can suck from the bottom and get the contaminents out.

Honestly, you're better off with a water barrel on a trailer you can tow behind the rv or truck and bringing 100-500 gallons of good clean water out with you for the week. Most normal people use 25-30 GPD of water between shower, toilets, and cleaning hands and dishes.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Hmmmm. To bring fresh water in to the location you could get a water tank for the pickup bed. 35 gallon is $99. 12 volt transfer pump, or a siphon hose to the RV.

People around here who live "off the grid" use something like this, a different Tractor Supply container shown on the same page. It fits nicely in the bed of the pickup.
 

 
Click the picture for details.
 
I passed a guy on Grand Ave one day who was carrying one, and his truck radiator had lost water and overheated. The only portable container he had was his jumbo drink cup, so he was going back and forth from the bed of the pickup with a cup full or water, to the radiator to fill.

That’ll take a pretty stout pickup. 275 gallons = ~2,300 lbs plus the weight of the container.

I think that you have a good idea but just so you know there are actually places in the USA where it is against the law to collect rain water! I know that is insane but check for yourself. I could not invent a story that crazy!

As usual lots of sound advice on here. I planned on a diverter and a ten micron filter. I can't be there to babysit it is part of the problem. I also thought about those tanks in the pic above and I still may go that route. I don't have a open bed pick up so that poses problems with hauling certain things. Like water tanks and gas power equipment or gas tanks. There are going to be 2 rv's that will be permanent on the site. Our own and my son in law and daughter and grandson. They will use more water than we will just because of the little guy.

My plan was to take my showers in the lake using the proper soaps etc. so we wouldn't use much grey water as a matter of course. Based on the responses here I'm thinking we will steer away from the rain water idea.

This Instructables just showed up in my email... perhaps there's some good information there for you:


https://www.instructables.com/...ter&utm_medium=email

You have electricity on the property and the property is on a lake. Are there rules against pumping lakewater? We had lake property when I was a kid, but no electricity. My brother and I hauled 5 gallon buckets uphill from the lake.

As far as hauling things without an open bed pickup, a small utility trailer solves that.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
Here is one way to haul water. You might notice his water filtration system at the back of his 5th wheel.

This is perfect! I can fit this in the back of my Expedition whereas a tank I couldn't. Our rv has a on board filtration device already. Thanks for the post I ordered one off Amazon today!

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
That’ll take a pretty stout pickup. 275 gallons = ~2,300 lbs plus the weight of the container.

A one ton should carry it, though lots of folks also haul that, and bigger ones, on a trailer.