Guerrilla Homesteading 101: Let it Rain

They are predicting drought here this year, and it finally spurred us into action on setting up rain catchment to assure our garden gets water without pushing any rationing limits. Since our town is on a number of small municipal wells, water quality can greatly decrease if the aquifers run low, increasing the concentration of things like boron and sulfur.

A few days before a predicted storm, I had a couple of days off, and set out to start saving the rain. 

I began by acquiring two used plastic barrels from the local cookie factory. Given that they had previously contained organic molasses, a decent garden nutrient, I opted to not even rinse them out, as the trace amounts that find their way into the water will actually be beneficial for the plants.

The next step was to level out the ground where I wanted the barrels. I used cheap cinder blocks as risers, and actually leveled it so the barrels would lean slightly towards each other. When full, these barrels will weigh 350lbs each. The idea of them crashing down on my dog does not appeal to me.

I gathered the tools I needed. A drill to modify the barrels, a tape measure and level to get the right size of cut out on our down spout, and a step drill bit for placing the next fittings. I did not have a normal hack saw, so I originally intended to use the sawall here, but instead opted to use an angle grinder, as it would give me a cleaner cut. You, of course, can just use a hack saw.

In the back, you can see the box for the rain diverter I got. I got an awesome deal on it, so was happy to get such a nice one, as it normally sells for around $80. You can easily make your own with an open system, but this closes off the barrels to avoid mosquito problems, keeps dirt out of the water and allows the downspout to be used as normal when the barrels are full.

The Rain Reserve diverter came with everything I needed to set up one barrel. Even the spade bit to place their fittings in my closed top barrels. The system also comes with a nice sticker to advertise their company while warning people not to drink the saved water.

My diverter kit was for one barrel, so I was going to get creative on the connection of the two. I acquired three 1/2"  flanged rubber grommets from the local hydroponics store and the matching barbed irrigation fittings. The 1/2 tubing I bought at the hardware store, as it was much cheaper. The connection will run from the bottom of the first barrel to the top of the second, and the clear tubing will allow me to easily see the water levels inside, though I suspect I will have to scrub it out each year, as algae LOVES growing in clear plastic tubing.

The Rain Reserve diverter came with everything I needed to set up one barrel. Even the spade bit to place their fittings in my closed top barrels. The system also comes with a nice sticker to advertise their company while warning people not to drink the saved water.

The next step in set up was to drill the inlet hole in the top of the first barrel. The manufacturer included the proper rubber grommet and insert for this, though it was a bit difficult getting the grommet through the barrel as it was a cold day and the rubber was not very flexible. Forewarned, I put the remainder of the grommets in my pants pocket to warm them up before I needed them.

Next up was cutting the existing downspout. I followed the measurements given in the manual, but double checked by measuring the gap between the inlet and outlet. 

If you are renting, accept that you are going to spend $15 to replace the cut downspout if you plan to take your rain barrels with you. Most are a continuous section, and those long enough to be made up of multiple sections will almost never have the gap in the right place.

The Rain Reserve divertor in place!

I chose to place the divertor rather low. This way, the downspout can serve as my overflow once my barrels are full.

While I could have placed it higher with no ill effects, the sag of the pipe will serve as an sediment trap during the first rain of the when moss and a dry summer's worth of dust are sent rushing down the drain.

After the first downpour, the capped outlet to the left was half full of dirt.

The next step was where I left the manual behind, opting for my own method of connecting the barrels using the aforementioned rubber grommets and clear tubing.

getting the grommets in place proved to be more difficult than I expected as they are meant for a 5 gallon bucket, and the 50 gallon  barrels were about 4 times as thick.
 

Side view of the grommet

In order to the grommets to fit, I lubricated the flanged end (with spit, use oil if you must) and then pushed it into place with a flathead screwdriver. Wear gloves for this step, I could have easily stabbed my hand if I had slipped.

The Grommet in place

The barbed fitting.

When you place the barbed fitting into the grommet, it pushes out on the edges of the hole, making the connection water tight. Once placed, wiggle the grommet back and forth. An improperly placed grommet will just pop out. (I won't admit to how many times it took me to get this one set, but the rest were easy once I realized how it worked.)

I'll skip the barrel drilling pictures, but I placed a similar fitting on the top of the next barrel and connected the two sections with clear tubing.

Deepwoods salvage. The tank on my tank.

To hear my neighbor tell the story, fifteen years ago, the sheriff, the army and the DEA came rolling up the narrow dirt road to our side of the mountain and raided the entire community. Helicopters floating in the air, HMMWV’s in the road, machine guns and loud speakers. Often, Ryan and I will be walking around our parcel and wonder at what kind of chaos must have occurred to leave the place in such desolate shape. Off the side of one hill lies a stack of half a dozen aluminum framed windows, the animal pens are littered with old tin cans and random trash, ranging from the skeletal remains of a baby stroller to some very impressive aluminum machine parts. When possible, I salvage what I can, and thanks to some dedicated British WWOOFers, the animal pen area has been cleared of junk and rotting wood, leaving only the old coop and a grove of ancient Yerba Santo.

On their last day there, I promised something different than the incessant clearing and foundation work we had been doing. With three able bodied young men to assist me, I knew the time was ripe for some serious salvage.

Looking down off the side of the hill approaching the cabin, you can see an impressive length of ¾ inch PVC running from a culvert to a deeply wooded spot nearly half a mile away. There, overgrown by poison oak, surrounded by decade old trees was a thousand gallon water tank, doubtlessly used by the previous tenant’s marijuana cultivation system. Shaded by a grove of madrone, the tank was in remarkable condition and I had been figuring out how to get it out of the woods and next to the cabin where it would be the main storage for my rain catchment and fog harvesting systems.

We began the morning by walking tooless up to the tank, amazed at how invisible the road had become. The poison oak was everywhere, ranging from little spouts springing up from the duff to enormous vines, brushing dangerously close to our faces. After a winding trip up the hill, we found the tank and proceeded to scout out the path of least resistance.

The easiest way to get it out involved clearing a six foot wide swath through the woods, then abruptly turning west towards the drive way. Of course, once we got set to clear, the chain saw wouldn’t work, so I grabbed my cordless reciprocating saw, a brush cutter, a set of loppers and strapped my hatchet to my belt. An hour later, we had a passable road to the tank, which led to a six foot drop off beside the drive way. All that was left was to free the tank from the poison oak, and the thirty five foot madrone that had sprung up between the tank and the clearing.

The chainsaw would have made the task simple, but since we didn’t have it, I told the boys to go relax a hundred feet down hill and proceeded to get down to work with the hatchet. Now, this is not your standard deep woods hatchet, it’s an ultra light gerber camping hatchet. Fortunately, it’s light weight and short handle is offset by the fact that I keep it razor sharp, so wedging the tree and girdling down to the heartwood was easy. However, upon reaching the hardwood, the work slowed. Hearing my pauses become more and more frequent as my shoulder began to ache and a blister formed on my hand, the boys shouted up, “need some help?” I told them to send up one person, and a few seconds later, Tim arrived with his wry smile.

I showed him what we were doing and explained how the tree would fall. I pointed to a large tree to the left of the path of the fall to run to when he heard the crack. And we started at it again. Five minutes later, we shoved on the tree and Tom let out a bellowing “TIMBER” that echoed through the valley below as the tree fell neatly across a strand of brush I had decided not the clear for just that reason.

I limbed the tree and tied some of my climbing rope into a harness around the tank. Pulling it free from it’s foundation, we set it on end and used the downed tree to get the tank up and onto the trail we had cleared. It wasn’t easy work, but compared to clearing the trail, it was simple and not as exhausting. Once we reached the main trail, it became a downhill battle, and we split up, two men to push it down hill, two to make sure it didn’t go careening into a stump or branch and puncture.

Our goal had been to get it right to the edge of the roadside, and leave it there until Creek returned with the big brown truck. Looking down at my truck and back at the trail we created, I asked the guys if they wanted to give it a go and take it all the way. Their response was an immediate and resounding “YES!”

To get the tank onto the truck, we had to stop rolling it, and instead begin to tumble it, end over end until we could slide it onto the roof of my SUV, a 94 chevy blazer, which could have easily parked inside the tank. As we worked, we joked how the story would improve with age, about how the mountain lion that moved into the tank had chased us, how the tank and started to roll down the hill prompting a Raiders of the Lost Ark Moment and how the tank would get larger and the car smaller until we were pulling down a 20,000 gallon tank and slapping it on the roof of a Mini.

It took four 25 foot tie downs to get the beast strapped on properly and then the cameras came out. The appearance is farcical. My truck, which I once considered large was dwarfed by the immense tank and the only thing that let us know it was safe was knowing that the tank probably only weighed 100 lbs. I had used low four wheel drive to back my truck up the side of the driveway, and had only two feet of road between us and the hillside below. I carefully maneuvered the truck back onto the driveway, and Tom hopped in.

A few minutes later, we were parked in front of the cabin, still laughing at the absurdity of the incredibly large tank on my now dwarf sized truck. We maneuvered the truck around for a few pictures of the group before unstrapping it and rolling it off the side.

In place, we clapped and patted each other on the back. It was the Brits’ last day at work with me, and we had accomplished a lot, though this was the crowning grace, as we had started the project together, worked past various obstacles and completed it. Our spirits were high, through we were quite tired, and I drove everyone up the hill for a much needed Tecnu shower to rinse off the poison oak that covered us from head to toe.

Huge thanks to Dave, Tom and Stu who spent way more hours than they needed to, working way harder than they needed to to help make my dream of living in the cabin in the woods a reality. I'll miss you guys and look forward to the kind of trouble we can get into when I get out to the other side of the pond for a visit. Another game of Kings Cup is definitely in order.